Starlight Runner Entertainment is the name of a company that is a “hot commodity in marketing circles,” at least according to Business Week (May 25, 2009, “Selling by Storytelling,” p. 48). The premise of Starlight Runner is interesting: it helps companies tell stories about their products and services and creates background “mythologies” that boost brands and extend franchises.
Even more intriguing to me his how Starlight Runner’s founder, Jeff Gomez (pictured left), picked the name Starlight Runner: It refers to “friends who come running even if you call them in the middle of the night.”
Ah! True friends, friends who are there for you, friends who stand by you, friends who come running even if you call them in the middle of the night. Recent medical research has emphasized what we probably instinctively know: people with lots of friends and close family ties live longer and are healthier. Those who are apathetic about their social connections, people who are isolated, are greater health risks. (I’m beginning to see a solution to rising health care costs here. Now if we all will just be nicer to each other…)
So who are your starlight runners? Perhaps more important, for whom are you a starlight runner?
Closing Quote:
“When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we’ll see.
No I won’t be afraid, no I won’t be afraid,
Just as long as you stand, stand by me.”
— Ben E. King, opening verse of “Stand by Me”