FM 2023 complete (1) - Flipbook - Page 18
can connect with people in a very consumer-oriented
environment. The stand was bright and upbeat, with
superb screens and graphics, and yet it managed to
convey the serious side of the sponsor-event
partnership.
As event participants we were all a little nervous that
our much loved event would be targeted by climate
protestors. The London Marathon showed its was
moving in the right direction and also used the Running
Show as a speaker platform for the Green Runners.
There was also an environmental pledge to sign. It
seems that talks took place behind the scenes with
both Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion and the
event went ahead without any protests being made. In
that sense TCS is a great headline sponsor to have as
the company has a very active CSR program.
Mark elaborated: “For TCS, and for that regard for
Tata, CSR has been at the heart of the company since it
started over 150 years ago. Still, to date, a fair share of
each of the groups company profits flow back to
communities and societies through school, hospital
and charity funding. Through our sponsorships we
promote well-being and a healthy lifestyle through
running, by raising funds for charities like City Year UK,
developing internal running programs, the Rescore
sustainability app, GoIt school programs, a Team TCS
Teachers program and more. In this climate the public
demands any company take responsibility through CSR
programs that focus on sustainability, diversity, equity
New Balance
The other unmissable at the Running
Show was the somewhat overwhelming
New Balance store by RPM, a brandagency partnership that has been
building progressively since New
Balance first took up the event apparel
sponsorship in 2017.
When I say overwhelming, what I really
mean was big and popular. The store is
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Summer 2023
& inclusion etc. At TCS we are already doing this for
over 15 years through our running partnerships.”
I was especially keen to understand the Rescore app,
which is in development for help race event directors
improve sustainability. When I later discussed the app
with the Green Runners group who organised an
environmental awareness run around Parliament
Square the day before the marathon, they were aware
of the app and excited to see its potential impact. “We
think it is the real deal”, renowned green ultrarunner
and author Damian Hall told me.
Back at the Running Show on the Saturday, the TCS
experience was seeing some heavy footfall. I asked
the team behind the stand to tell me about it the
challenges.
Paul Martin, creative director, Set Creative told me:
“There is a very fine line to tread between delivering a
high-impact, highly engaging experience and ensuring
that you aren’t a victim of your own success. We know
it’s human nature to follow the crowd – to want to play
with the shiny new thing that others are engaging with.
So, we have to mitigate this with highly trained
on-stand staff that can manage the crowd, facilitate
queuing when needed, and be able to answer
our guests’ questions quickly and effectively. This
paired with robust audience journey planning – preagreed with event organisers – means that we can plan
for worst-case scenarios, even if they are never to
happen.”
the first bit of the Show that you get to
and IKEA style, you have to walk
through it to get anywhere else. There
are 3000sqm (or ¾ acre) of it and
every rack is busy with shoppers
sorting out their size, every photo
opportunity is being taken, every
assistant is answering a question,
every treadmill has a runner trialling
shoes and every till has an impressive
fast-moving queue.
At the event I met RPM’s Account
Apart from being simply robust, the stand provided an
exciting and shareable space. Paul explained the
strategy:
“When designing a stand like TCS’s, it’s important to
remember that although our audiences all have a love
for running in common, that’s where a lot of the
similarities lie. Different types of audience demand
different levels of engagement and are interested in
different types of things. To address this, we use a
strategic framework called ‘paddlers, swimmers and
divers’, which aligns different levels of audience wants
and needs to varying levels of interaction and
engagement. For example, most people visiting the
event would be classed as paddlers, those with no real
intention of engaging with the stand, but can be
encouraged to engage. So, we created a visual
spectacle that people simply could not avoid - the LED
arches. This ‘attractor’ has been so successful that it
became the selfie destination of choice for visitors
and has been used for multiple live TV
broadcasts, creating organic sharing opportunities.
Once they are closer in they can be encouraged to
further explore the stand, discovering more to
engage with and more to share via social channels.”
I couldn’t dispute this, having been intrigued by the
stand myself and then encouraged to get a selfie with a
backdrop that I liked and used as my social media
image.
Manager Abbie Hansford, and it was
immediately obvious that she liked
being in at the heart of this event,
seeing so many consumer touchpoints
interacting at once.
engagements with the Test Run and
Signing Wall experiences.
Agency RPM told me post-event that
the store had seen 9.29% increase in
sales vs 2022 and enjoyed 14706
•It’sagreateventtosponsorthatwill
have helped win the brand a special
place in the hearts of the running
I’m not surprised in the least. You can
imagine a few factors at work to
deliver this, but I would guess: