Technology Firms Quicken the Pace of Marathon Sponsorship
As Carlos Aguilar edged toward the finish of his first 5K race, his pager went off--again.
“We can still see you and you’re doing a great job.--The Hollywood Boys and Girls Club,” the text message read.
Encouraged, the weary 7-year-old quickened his pace for a block or so before again slowing to a sluggish walk.
The pager was one of 25 loaned last Sunday to the Run for Youth participants in Hollywood by TRS Wireless, a Fort Lee, N.J.-based company that is one of a growing number of technology firms racing to court amateur runners.
Tech firms say that runners are an Internet-savvy, well-educated group and that sponsorship of racing events offers a quick and economical way to reach them.
Of the nine sponsors of the upcoming Los Angeles Marathon, one--Sprint PCS--is a telecommunications company. But several technology firms are mulling sponsorship next year, according to L.A. Marathon President William A. Burke.
“We’re just at the beginning of high-tech sponsorship,” said Larry Eder, publisher of Madison, Wis.-based Shooting Star Media, which publishes three running trade magazines. “In the last several years, more high-tech and Internet companies have been fighting to get in, and it’ll continue to grow. Runners are the dream marketing group--they’re multiethnic, young and well-educated. It makes a lot of sense.”
There are about 800,000 runners in California, participating in nearly 1,250 events a year. The big races attract tens of thousands of runners and millions of spectators.
While sponsorship of top-tier events such as this Sunday’s Los Angeles Marathon can run into the millions of dollars, sponsorship of such well-attended local races as last weekend’s Run for Youth can cost from mere hundreds to thousands of dollars--a bargain compared with other mainstream sports.
For tech sponsors, the races offer more than an opportunity to reach potential customers. An increasing number of sponsors are using the races to recruit potential employees. And participation in grass-roots events helps companies in somewhat esoteric businesses appear community-minded and approachable.
The events also give companies a chance to cultivate their image as technology leaders. Sun Microsystems Inc., a maker of computer workstations, cybercast the Aetna U.S. Healthcare Greater Hartford Marathon in Connecticut in October, so runners could later view their finishes at home on the Internet. Sun also gave participants so-called ChampionChips, electronic devices attached to runners’ shoes that record their times.
For TRS Wireless, providing pagers to the Run for Youth helped boost its visibility in Southern California while introducing its product to dozens of potential young customers. The 25 Boys and Girls Club members in the race also served as moving advertisements for TRS, running in T-shirts with the slogan “Paging Partners.”
TRS said its prime motive in sponsoring the race was not to peddle its $200 pagers to the youngsters. “We’re not doing it for sales as much as name recognition,” TRS spokesman Steve Rosenthal said. “Maybe when people want to buy pagers from a community-minded company, they’ll think of us.”
Spending by technology companies doesn’t yet approach the level of such traditional marathon sponsors as auto makers. According to Chicago-based IEG Inc., which tracks corporate sponsorship, tech companies will account for about $4 million of the estimated $100 million that corporations will invest in running sponsorships this year.
But the influx of tech money and the gadgets that come with it have raised runners’ expectations.
“The days are long gone where you draw a line across the street and hand out oranges,” said Lynn Flanagan, a representative of In Motion, which coordinated the San Diego Marathon in January “Now people are more concerned with the quality of the race.”
Purists worry that as sponsorship dollars grow, the actual competition might become overshadowed by the advertising. But at least some participants in the Run for Youth viewed the dose of commercialism as a fair trade-off.
“I think anything’s good if it helps the children,” said Julie Moore, 42, a Los Angeles City College custodial supervisor who took part in the race. “If they’re giving money for youth, I don’t think anything can be too much.”
As potential customers, runners are a desirable bunch. Entrants in the Suzuki Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon, held in San Diego in June, were typical. They averaged 38 years old, had college degrees and good incomes. Half of them earned more than $70,000 annually.
And they formed a promising recruitment pool. The leading occupation was manager, followed by medical professional and engineer. Sixty-two percent of entrants registered for the race using the Internet.
Palo Alto-based Sun Microsystems uses its race sponsorships specifically to scout for potential employees. A full-page ad in January’s San Diego Marathon souvenir program invited runners to “cool down with Sun” and pointed out the company’s “flexible hours, casual dress code and less bureaucracy.”
“It’s a competitive market,” explained Cydney Ewald, a Sun marketing manager. “Everyone’s competing to get talented people with other companies.”
Tech companies also are finding race sponsorship a useful tool in strengthening bonds with existing employees. Menlo Park, Calif.-based RHI Consulting said it sponsored the Silicon Valley Marathon in October because the event was a fund-raiser for a technology museum in nearby San Jose.
“This was more of a local effort that promotes morale among workers and supports the community,” said Brian Smith, marketing manager at RHI.
Races also give sponsoring companies an opportunity to informally network with one another and make business-to-business contacts. Electronic Data Systems, a Plano, Texas-based technology products services company, had its eye on new business when it joined the Aetna U.S. Healthcare Greater Hartford Marathon as a sponsor.
“We want to become more of a household brand to the insurance companies,” said EDS representative J.P. James.
For Sprint, Sunday’s L.A. Marathon is a way to encourage people to sample its PCS wireless service. In an elaborate stunt, it will provide the 20,000 runners in the 26.2-mile race with free wireless calls at mile 19. Volunteers from West High School in Torrance will dial the numbers and hand off the phones for marathoners to talk to friends and family as they run.
“It gives people an opportunity to test and hear the clarity of our phones,” said Denise Crew, a representative of Sprint, which is paying a six-figure fee to be the L.A. Marathon’s exclusive wireless sponsor.
