The Corporation Game : Sponsors Pay Big Money for Marathons, but Who Gets the Runaround?
In Minnesota, a company whose marketing mascot has been a roly poly “doughboy” puts up the prize money for the Twin Cities Marathon. In Houston, an oil and gas pipeline company sponsors the year’s big race.
An insurance company recently made a $10 million, 10-year commitment to the Boston Marathon. And an airline has agreed to become the chief sponsor of next spring’s Waterfront Marathon in New Jersey.
The four companies--Pillsbury Co. of Minneapolis, Tenneco Inc. of Houston, John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. of Boston and People Express Airlines Inc. of Newark--are among corporate sponsors with no readily apparent link to running that have nonetheless forged ties with marathon races.
The companies say their association with such events shows they want to be good neighbors and give something back to the communities in which they make their homes. They say the events inspire a spirit of camaraderie among their employees, many of whom volunteer to arrange the races.
But the events also have proven to be effective marketing tools, helping expand awareness of the sponsor’s name long after the race has ended.
A spokesman for Beatrice Cos. Inc., which has been the exclusive sponsor of America’s Marathon-Chicago the past seven years, said the $2.5 million that the food and consumer products company spent on the 1985 race represents “an alternative to television and print advertising.”
“People read about the marathon being a world leader, and that carries over to our products,” said Gary Beckner, Beatrice’s director of special projects.
Manufacturers Hanover Corp., one of eight sponsors of the New York City Marathon, tries to get even more mileage out of its decade-old association with that race. It keeps the names of marathon participants on file in case its retail banking unit wants to use them for marketing purposes.
Charles McCabe, senior director of marketing for the nation’s fourth largest banking company, said the company’s $450,000 investment in the 1985 race was “very cost-efficient” because the people who participate “exhibit the profile of people who we would like to have bank with us.”
Fred Lebow, race director of the New York City Marathon since 1970, said more than 80% of the participants are college graduates, while 60% earn more than $45,000 per year.
In addition to its involvement with the marathon, Manufacturers Hanover has conducted a series of Corporate Challenge races across the country since 1977. Companies in each city are encouraged to enter teams of runners.
McCabe said the races leave corporate executives with a “good feeling” about Manufacturers Hanover, and these executives often become advocates for the bank the next time the company needs one. He said a list of between 6,000 and 7,000 names has been assembled in this fashion.
But other sponsors say their marketing goals are more modest.
A Pillsbury spokesman, Larry Haeg, said he doubts his company’s involvement with the Twin Cities Marathon “will result in any direct way in us moving a greater tonnage of food.” But he said he thinks it enhances “the esteem with which the the corporation is held in the community.”
Pillsbury contributed $200,000 to the Twin Cities Marathon in 1985, its fourth year with the race, and spent an additional $65,000 marketing it, Haeg said.
Dave D’Alessandro, a spokesman for John Hancock, said the insurance company’s sponsorship of the Boston Marathon may not result in new business, but “could help cement some old business.”
Tenneco put up $150,000 in prize money for the Houston Marathon last January, its seventh year as chief sponsor of the race. People Express declined to estimate what it will spend on the Waterfront Marathon in May, its first year as chief sponsor.
The intense interest that corporate sponsors are showing in marathons ironically occurs as both the number of marathons and participants declines.
According to the National Running Data Center in Tuscon, Ariz., the number of people finishing marathons fell 15.8% to 117,957 in 1984 from 136,659 a year earlier. The number of certified marathons was 136 last year, down from a peak of 208 in 1980, the center said.
Ed Ayres, editor of the magazine Running Times, said many former marathoners are opting for shorter races. “They feel that it is not healthy or good for their performance to run many marathons,” he said.
Some longtime sponsors have cut back on their spending in connection with marathons.
Nike Inc. has cut its spending on running promotions by about 15%, said Mike Cook, running events coordinator for the Beaverton, Ore.-based athletic footwear company. He said Nike thought it needed to reduce its promotional spending on running to reflect its contribution to the company’s overall mix of sales.
Avon Products Inc. has discontinued the races for women that it had sponsored for seven years around the world, including a women’s marathon.
Pat Lewis, spokeswoman for the New York-based beauty products company, said the company achieved its goal “to provide an opportunity for women to compete, and we feel that is continuing on its own momentum.” Avon is focusing its resources more closely on marketing its own products, she said.
But Don Kardong, president of the Assn. of Road Racing Athletes in Spokane, Wash., said overall corporate interest in sponsoring marathons appears to be up nonetheless. “As long as the race still has a positive image for a city and lots of people come out to watch, it doesn’t seem to matter if the number of participants is 5,000 instead or 6,000,” he said.
An exception to the trend toward fewer participants is the Portland Marathon, a 15-year-old event that has been on the rise since nearly expiring in 1981.
Les Smith, a lawyer who is directing the revival, has boosted the number of sponsors to eight from three and is broadening the event’s appeal by holding shorter races simultaneously with the marathon.
Smith said he recruits new sponsors by telling them “they don’t get as much punch for the dollar from anything as they do in backing a marathon.”
Pillsbury’s Haeg said the indirect benefits of sponsoring a marathon are substantial. He said the Twin Cities Marathon, which begins in downtown Minneapolis and ends across the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul, draws the cities together and has the air of a community and family celebration.
“We are being identified in the public’s mind with a first-class event. There are companies that can search for years and never find an event like this with which to be associated,” he said.
