Activation Tactic of the Week

Are you looking for new ways to bring your marathon events to life for consumers? Are you looking to showcase celebrities participating in your events?

In November 2009, Nike and BBDO teamed up to create a unique application that enabled people to receive real-time updates from celebrities, runners, and journalists participating in the Nike+ Human Race 10L Live from Argentina.

Nike provided five (5) select runners with iPhones that transmitted their voice recordings (during the race) into text messages that were posted on Twitter and related social networking websites. The phones were also equipped with GPS devices, allowing fans, participants, and onlookers the ability to track their exact location on the course when sending the message.

The tactic served as an effective way for Nike to bring the actions, thoughts, and emotions of its celebrity participants to life for all to enjoy. Check out how they implemented the campaign below:

Nike+ Human Race 10K LIVE from the INSIDE from BBDO argentina on Vimeo.

Brian Gainor is a passionate sports marketer with agency experience as well as an extensive background working in the NFL, NFL Europe, and collegiate athletics. Brian completed his MBA/MSA graduate work at Ohio University (Athens, OH) and currently resides in Charlotte, NC. As a Sports Partnership Activation Consultant, Brian created Partnership Activation, Inc. to provide sports business professionals with "industry best practices" - creative ideas that provide opportunities to generate incremental revenue. Be sure to check out all of Brian's past posts, too. The opinions expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the publisher, SponsorPitch, LLC.