As an official sponsor of the New York City Marathon, global sporting goods leader ASICS was challenged to activate their sponsorship in a way that connected directly with runners, drew positive attention to the brand, produced an organic social media groundswell, and also created a “can’t miss” happening for the media. With a global audience for the biggest road race of the year, ASICS had a unique opportunity to not only promote its industry leading running products, and its exclusive New York City Marathon collection of shoes and gear, but also conveyed a strong brand message to running fans world wide: ASICS is the brand that best understands, supports and celebrates the accomplishments of runners brave enough to tackle a marathon.

Our solution: we brought the idea of a “big” race to life in a breathtaking way. We turned the racecourse into the most spectacular light show in the history of marathons. Two nights before the race, we placed 27 massive spotlights, one at each mile marker. After sunset, we flipped the switch, creating a monumental progression of lights that painted the sky. Local news helicopters rushed to carry it on TV, as social media lit up too. In the age of the cell phone camera, seemingly, everyone in LA rushed to post images of the awe-inspiring lights.

Our goals for the mini-marathon activation were two fold: engage runners one-to-one and generate PR and social media buzz that would spread around the world. On a one-to-one level, the plan was an overwhelming success. Marathon runners were so excited to get their statues, we gave away all 500 statues within two hours. Once runners received their statues, just days before the race, they rushed to social media to brag about their mini look-alikes, which created an organic groundswell of digital support. Social media monitoring revealed it was ASICS best day ever on Twitter and Instagram, with all sentiment positive. The activation was so innovative, leading marketing, technology and 3-D printing blogs jumped at the chance to report the story, leading to numerous PR placements. As the result of brand lift and improved brand affinity coming, ASICS America had their best sales year ever.