Asics Run with Ryan

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com


Zenith comment: A similar idea to our FAAS campaign in Singapore.  This is a good example of how media placements and good creative can compliment each other.  What could make an execution like this better is by implementing an interactive element such as RFID / NFC Facebook check-in to amplify campaign by sharing timings of the public against the runners. (by Berlin Ng)

As part of its campaign for the recent New York City Marathon, Vitro conceived this video wall that depicted long distance runner Ryan hall sprinting at marathon speed across a tunnel in NYC’s Columbus Circle subway station. The wall featured a countdown, which allowed passersby to get in position and then see how they fared racing alongside the athlete.

During the promotion, Hall himself stopped by to race against his virtual self. Who won? Check out the video to find out.

Source: http://www.adverblog.com/2011/11/18/asics-run-with-ryan/

In the Philippines, site connects runners and brands for promotions and freebies

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com

Finisher.me is a social network in the Philippines that helps brands connect with runners for exclusive freebies and promotions.

For sports brands, growing competition has made reaching target consumers in a cost-effective way increasingly challenging. Aiming to give brands an alternative to costly event sponsorships and other traditional approaches, Finisher.me is a social network in the Philippines that helps brands connect with runners for exclusive freebies and promotions.

Now in beta, Finisher.me is a social networking website for running enthusiasts in the Philippines. Runners get involved simply by signing up with a unique user name and photo, before going on to promote their Finisher.me page online and wearing their user name on race bibs. Finisher.me’s partner brands — including Thermos — then award exclusive bags of freebies to those participants after each race. Using the social network, those brands can also continually promote themselves online between events.

Offering brands a highly targeted way to reach and reward target consumers, Finisher.me is ripe for emulation in other sports niches and locales. Time to help make sports marketing in your area more lucrative for everyone?

Zenith Comment:

This is an interesting new social network that's in Beta in Philippines.

Tried to register to see how it works, what it looks like, what the profiles of the users are that register (serious or fun runners) etc. however there seems to be a problem with the verification email.  I have forwarded to PH office to see if they can find out more details on this and what their thoughts are. 

Source: http://www.springwise.com/lifestyle_leisure/in-philippines-site-connects-runners-brands-promotion-freebies/

Reebok Relaunching EasyTone Shoes After Settling FTC Suit

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com

Reebok got itself into a heap of trouble with the Federal Trade Commission when it put out an ad campaign that claimed that the design of its EasyTone and RunTone shoes help give anyone who wears them better muscle tone than anyone who wears other shoes.

The company had such noted muscle-tone experts as Kim Kardashian spreading the news of its effects. Back in 2009, the kontroversial starlet blogged her love for the product, the Daily Mail reports. 

“You guys wouldn’t believe it, these shoes have a ball (kind of like that big balance ball you use to do sit ups on) on the bottom of the shoes!” Kardashian wrote. “So basically it works your leg and butt muscles as you simply walk!”

Back in September, the shoemaker agreed to pay the FTC $25 million to help settle the matter, but that didn’t mean Reebok didn’t think its shoe was doing the muscle-toning job. “Settling does not mean we agree with the FTC's allegations; we do not,” the company said in a statement, the Mail reports. “We have received overwhelmingly enthusiastic feedback from thousands of EasyTone customers, and we remain committed to the further development of our EasyTone line of products.”

Now, Reebok has announced that it will re-introduce the shoes to the marketplace and continue developing them, the Mail adds.

Since the toning market is 85 percent made up of women, that is likely where Reebok’s advertisements will continue to be aimed. “Toning was driven by the insight that women care about their looks, and that insight doesn’t change,” said Reebok president Uli Becker, the Mail reports.

One suspects that Reebok won’t likely restart its “Make Your Boobs Jealous” campaign that raised the hackles of feminist consumers everywhere.

Source: http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/12/21/Reebok-EasyTone-Relaunch-122111.aspx

 

Nike’s ‘Lunar Runs’ Encourage Chinese to Run at Night

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com

Nike has rolled out a new ad campaign in China that  calls on people to run, even at night. Nikes effort to challenge Chinese, especially from big cities, to put on running shoes is reinforced with a new web video featuring runners who talk about why they run. A highlight of the video is the story of Salad, a stressed-out 25-year-old office worker who lives in noisy Shanghai and decides to run at night.  

The video asks people to submit their own reasons, says Ad Age. Runners submitted their stories to Nike’s microblog account on the Sina Weibo platform, and the AKQA, the agency behind the campaign created a collection of professional videos based on the best entries.

The idea behind the campaign is to show running not as a painful and poor initiative but to demonstrate its cheerful and dynamical nature.

“We wanted to make sure it wasn’t necessarily Nike telling [consumers] why running is good, so the whole entry point with the communication is really leveraging stories of the few runners who are out there,” said Johan Vakidis, exec creative director at AKQA in Shanghai.

As part of the campaign, Nike hosted ‘Lunar Runs’ in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan. The nighttime events featured fitness instructors, live music and a few celebrities, to remind college students and young professionals that running is a fun activity that can be done at night, after classes or work. The event also promotes Nike’s Lunar Glide running shoe. The ‘Lunar Glide’ campaign also goes on in the USA calling on Americans to ‘never stop running’. The maximalistic slogan coincides with another Nike’s current campaign ‘Basketball never stops’.

The campaign seems to raise interest in running among young Nike’s audience as Nike engaged with more than 35,000 potential runners during its Lunar Runs and during a four-day Festival of Sports event in Shanghai.

Source: http://popsop.com/50679

 

ASICS Expands "Support Your Marathoner" for 2011 ING New York City Marathon

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com

Social Media Program Inspires Runners With Personal In-Race Videos 

 

 

ASICS America Corporation, official sponsor of the ING New York City Marathon, is expanding its award-winning "Support Your Marathoner" program for the 2011 race. This year, Support Your Marathoner will leverage the power of social media to deliver additional moments of inspiration to more runners than ever before, ensuring that no marathoner has to finish the race alone. 

Recently named the "Most Innovative Communication Strategy" of the year by Promo Magazine, the inaugural Support Your Marathoner program in 2010 gained international attention by allowing friends and family to send pictures, texts, and video messages of support to the marathon runner of their choice. Utilizing innovative technology, motivational messages were delivered to the right runners, at the right time, as they ran past giant video screens placed along the course. More than 7,000 runners from 17 countries utilized the program and created their own virtual cheering sections. 

ASICS is bringing back the Support Your Marathoner activation with significant additions. This year, the enhanced program will incorporate a new website ( www.supportyourmarathoner.com ) allowing the runners to use their own Facebook communities to ask for messages of support. Every time a support message is uploaded, the runner's entire Facebook community is alerted, and encouraged to upload more messages. The Support Your Marathoner website will also give runners their own personalized support gallery of messages, pictures and videos to have after the race is done. 

This year, ASICS will also debut the "Share Your Glory" Facebook application. The "app" lets runners update their social media community on their race progress in real-time by pre-writing three Facebook and Twitter posts which are then sent out as the marathoners pass each of three areas at the 9-, 13-, and 22-mile marks. 

"ASICS is committed to giving marathon runners everything they need to compete at their best, including motivation and inspiration during the race," says ASICS' Vice President of Marketing Erik Forsell. "Last year, we were blown away by the reaction to Support Your Marathoner. We saw runners who were digging deep for the final miles look up and break into tears when they saw their kids and their friends urging them on. We instantly knew we had to do more." 

The Support Your Marathoner website ( www.supportyourmarathoner.com ) goes live October 14, and will be supported by email blasts from the New York Road Runners and ASICS' own growing social media community. Fans can follow the tweets and create their own with #ASICSrunsNYC. 

Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, meaning "A Sound Mind in a Sound Body," is an old Latin phrase from which ASICS is derived and the fundamental platform on which the brand still stands. The company was founded more than 60 years ago by Kihachiro Onitsuka and is now a leading designer and manufacturer of running shoes, as well as, other athletic footwear, apparel and accessories.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asics-expands-support-your-marathoner-for-2011-ing-new-york-city-marathon-2011-10-13

‘Running Monks’ film promotes Nike tie-up with Japanese fashion brand Undercover

PumaPulse Curated By ZenithOptimedia, The ROI Agency Find out more at http://puma-pulse.blogspot.com

Nike has launched a short film shot in Kyoto to promote its tie-up with Japanese fashion label Undercover.

 

Entitled ‘Running Monks’, the film follows three runners against the backdrop of a 13th Century Buddhist temple, ancient Shinto shrines and Kyoto woodland.

The launch of the Nike x Undercover ‘Gyakusou’ performance clothing range marks Nike’s third collaboration with the Undercover brand, which was founded by the designer Jun Takahashi.

The clothing line incorporates traditional Japanese design elements with high performance sports functionality. It will launch later this month. The film was created by art director Tetsuya Nagato and photographer Katsuhide Morimoto in conjunction with Takahashi.

Source: http://www.campaignasia.com/Article/276003,8216running-monks8217-film-promotes-nike-tie-up-with-japanese-fashion-brand-undercover.aspx