The world’s largest 10K, the AJC Peachtree Road Race, takes place in Atlanta each Fourth of July weekend. Atlanta is also home to long-time Brandware client and race sponsor Mizuno USA. In conjunction with the race’s 50th anniversary, Mizuno USA asked Brandware to help it gain media and consumer attention for both its brand and a new Limited-Edition Peachtree 50th Rider WAVEKNIT™ custom running shoe prior to, during and following the race.
Key challenges included standing out among multiple high-profile sponsors with larger budgets, battling for attention on a major national holiday weekend and creating excitement around the brand and product line before and after race weekend.
To generate content with proverbial legs, Brandware created and executed a multi-audience event at the Mizuno Experience Center at The Battery Atlanta six weeks in advance of race weekend. Targeting media, influencers and retail business partners, the event included numerous elements designed to provide participants with exclusive shareable content for their channels, from a private “first look” product reveal to exclusive training and nutrition advice from local health and wellness businesses.
Attendees for this day of brand and product immersion included fully-vetted and hand-selected local influencers with dynamic health, wellness and running-minded audiences. On-site experiences ranged from advanced shoe gait testing with Mizuno’s Neo Precision Fit system to learning the latest in fitness theory and practice from Mizuno’s partnership with Atlanta’s newest and most popular fitness and wellness social club – The Fit Atlanta. Guests also received branded gear and custom content for easy-to-deploy visuals and copy. We created incremental reach by inviting local health and wellness businesses to join the event – a win-win that produced even more unique content for all to share.
Published content not only outperformed target audience reach pre-, during and post-event, but engagement with running, fitness and wellness fans was at a strong 3.5%+ rate. In addition, attending partner vendors expanded brand and product reach by sharing their event experience, along with the latest product news, via their own social media profiles. The event also helped forge new, ongoing a relationships with authentic brand enthusiasts who are now part of the ongoing Mizuno Ambassador Program.
Event PR and Marketing