Recent days have seen some admirably inspiring marathon marketing (think of the #HeadsTogether cause campaign from the official charity of the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon) and some distinctly less impressive activation (consider Adidas’ apology for its ‘Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!’ e-mail), so we’ve put together our ‘Top Activation Tips’ & ‘Top 10 Marathon Marketing Campaign Case Studies’ from the past two years.
Marathon sponsors, whether it’s the title partner, the sports apparel sponsor, the official water brand, hotel or car, all face the challenge of standing out from the crowd.
Whether you are backing one of the thousands of mini, half and full marathons that take place every year, or whether you are backing one of the Big Five races with their myriad of commercial partners and tens of thousands of runners (eg London has 18 official partners and 40,000 runners), cutting through the clutter.
Classic tactical approaches range from working with high profile ambassadors, media partners, to performance incentives, stunts and, of course, fund raising alliances.
The goodwill around such events is a key benefit for marketers.
It’s not just the celebrity nature of the events or the scale of the personal achievements, but the individual stories associated with competing and associated good causes.
Another tactical advantage compared to other sports properties is that the pre-event training timeline is long and thus offers plenty of opportunities for engagement – particularly in the form of support and utility.
Plus there are usually plenty of other touchpoints too – from sign-up phases to marathon expos and official number/pack collection events and official cheerpoints and on-course markers – to engage through pre-race tips and pro athlete guidance, to free training runs and running club connections, pre-loading suppers, to post-event celebration and event benefits for supporters and friends/family.
Data, particularly timing data, is another utility activation option – from training objectives to live, real-time race progress information (for both runners and supporters) – is a popular and practical approach.
It is worth remembering that during the pre-race phase many marathon runners are a little nervous and single-mindedly focused – so activation through trivia and unrelated clutter is often ignored, or, worse, can backfire.
On the positive side, marathon runners often make good customers: not least because each race is typically something ‘unknown’ and a ‘major life moment’ for every participants and for their families too.
This is also why race physical and digital memories and mementos – from giant selfies, on-course motivation messages, to finishing photos and videos to medals and goodie bags – can stay with runners for many years.
Successful strategies and those brands with relevant synergies that naturally fit with the event can lead to long lasting consumer relationships
1 > ROYALS, MADAM TUSSAUDS & VIRGIN MONEY LINK ON HEADS TOGETHER LONDON MARATHON HEADBAND-LED CAMPAIGN
2 > LUCOZADE SPORT’S ‘MADE TO MOVE’ INSTAGRAM CHARITY DONATION INCENTIVISES LONDON MARATHON RUNNERS
3 > SNAPCHAT PARTNERS WITH LA MARATHON FOR ‘RUN, SNAP, SWIPE, MAKE HISTORY’ INITIATIVE
4 > SAMSUNG ‘MARATHON GAME’ VIRTUAL COINS CHARITY INCENTIVES TURNS TEL AVIV RACE INTO VIDEO GAME
5 > ASICS LINKS WITH ‘GIRLS ON THE RUN’ (& RUNKEEPER) FOR NEW YORK MARATHON ‘EXTRA MILE’ CAUSE CAMPAIGN
6 > FOOT LOCKER & ASICS RUN ‘REAL LIVES, REAL RUNNERS’ MOFILM NYC MARATHON COMPETITION
7 > DUBAI MARATHON ’16 SPONSOR STANDARD CHARTERED GIVES EVERYONE #REASONSTORUN
8 > ASB’S AUCKLAND MARATHON ‘RUN DOWN YOUR RATE’ LINKS FINISH TIMES/LOAN RATES
9 > WORLD’S BIGGEST SELFIE STICK FRONTS ASICS’ NYC MARATHON SPONSORSHIP ACTIVATION
10 > NIKE+ RUNNING CLUB GEARS UP FOR FALL MARATHON SEASON BY CELEBRATING COMING ‘LAST’
