The Campaign

CW-X, a running wear brand, wanted to launch their new brand at Kyoto Marathon 2013. The goal was to create a new communication no marathon runner has ever experienced before. First link your Facebook or Twitter account to a RFID chip, by entering your hopeful goal time at the special site before the race. Then all you had to do was just run with the RFID. Your RFID will tell you what your split time is, calculating how fast or slow you are against your hopeful goal time. Without using any smartphones to log in, the runners’ time was automatically posted on to their SNS every 10km, from start to goal, real-time. The runners’ families and friends saw the posted time wherever they were, and cheered for them through SNS. The SNS cheers were then re-written into a 2,000 year-old traditional way. Onto Japanese handmade paper and ink. All by the calligraphy school teams in Kyoto city. The hand written cheers were posted on to Kyoto’s historical shrines, temples and walls, and also held by people who were cheering by the road side. The idea to automatically post real-run-time data during the race engaged the consumers strongly to the CW-X brand, which linked directly to the product sales of over 90,000USD at the marathon goal booth.

The Brief

The goal of this campaign was to create a new communication no marathon runner has ever experienced before. And to reach the runners in Kyoto, who have never heard of the CW-X brand. 1,837 runners participated in this SOCIAL_MARATHON campaign, 12.4% of all runners, everybody who had a SNS account participated. The idea to automatically post real-run-time data during the race engaged the consumers strongly to the CW-X brand, which linked directly to the product sales of over 90,000USD at the marathon goal booth.

Results

1,837 runners participated in this SOCIAL_MARATHON campaign, 12.4% of all runners, everybody who had a SNS account participated. The idea to automatically post real-run-time data during the race engaged the consumers strongly to the CW-X brand, which linked directly to the product sales of over 90,000USD at the marathon goal booth in a single day, creating an immediate impact on business. The percentage of recognition for the CW-X brand in Kyoto, rose from 15.4% to 58.8%, calculated from the interview research from before and after the marathon race. Over 130,000 Likes were tagged onto the “SOCIAL_MARATHON in KYOTO” web page. The word about the new marathon platform spread throughout Japan, and now all Japanese city marathons are considering to implement the platform in their race.

Execution

This campaign was held on March 10th, 2013 in Kyoto City. The runners who applied for the KYOTO MARATHON 2013 race were all checking the facebook page of KYOTO MARATHON 2013, gathering information about the course and weather. On this page we announced the new runners’ platform, SOCIAL_MARATHON in KYOTO. Through facebook and twitter the news spread immediately about the new experience, and every single runner who had an account participated. By registering their accounts, the runners’ time were automatically posted on to their SNS every 10km, from start to goal, in real-time. Through the posts, they received cheers from their families and friends. The SNS cheers were then re-written by the calligraphy school teams in Kyoto city, and posted on to Kyoto’s historical shrines, temples and walls, never before used as a media in 2,000 year history. Changing the whole ancient city into a social linked cheering media.

The Situation

Marathon runners want to know their race pace and goal time as soon as possible, and many wanted to communicate with their family and friends during the race. So we created a new platform where both problems were solved and marathon was no longer a solitary sport. Also advertising in the oldest capital city in Japan was strict. No advertising was allowed during the race or around the course. Therefore we created a new media, by using a 2,000 year old method, Japanese calligraphy. The Kyoto city council specially allowed the calligraphy to be posted throughout the city.

The Strategy

Create a completely new way of running a marathon. First link your SNS account to a RFID chip, by entering your hopeful goal time at the special site before the race. Then all you had to do was just run with the RFID. Your RFID will tell you what your split time is, calculating how fast or slow you are against your hopeful goal time. Without using any smartphones to log in, the runners’ time was automatically posted on to their SNS every 10km, from start to goal, in real-time. The runners’ families and friends saw the posted time wherever they were, and cheered for them through SNS. The SNS cheers were then re-written into a 2,000 year-old traditional way. The hand written cheers were posted on to Kyoto’s historical shrines, temples and walls, and also held by people who were cheering by the road side.