• Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home IAAF

Beijing Diaries, Day 5, How brands combine content and context, and make the brand a hero, by Larry Eder

Larry EderbyLarry Eder
August 22, 2015
0
0 0
0
SHARES
1
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

EU4A5619.JPGDavid Rudisha, Jessie Ennis-Hill, Tori Bowie, August 20, 2015, Beijing, photo courtesy of adidas Running

Part of the build up to major events is the press events that various brands provide around Championships and Olympics. As adidas is the global sponsor of IAAF, they put together several events around the World Champs. I was fortunate to interview David Rudisha, Jessie Ennis Hill and Tori Bowie at the adidas presser for ten minutes each (we posted audio from SoundCloud on Runblogrun yesterday). Here is a little bit behind the scenes.

RelatedPosts

2023 Allianz Van Damme Memorial, Some deep thoughts on Another epic 1,500m race…

2023 Allianz Van Damme Memorial Diary, Thoughts on Brits in Brussels…

2023 Allianz Memorial Van Damme Diary, the excitement of Brussels

There is an art to brands presenting their athletes and product to media. Do they oversell it and loose the interest and credibility? Or, do they find the way to provide content and context to the media while also providing a positive experience with the brand.

EU4A5595.JPGJessie Ennis Hill, Tori Bowie, assembled media, photo from adidas Running

In my mind, there have been several great examples over the years of how use access to athlete content and promote the brand. The best EVER was 1995, with Nike at the Goteborg World Champs. While Reebok was sponsor, they did not manage the opportunity well. Nike provided access to athlete interviews each day, with content, product access and interviews done by Steve Miller, then, VP of Sports marketing at Nike. Managed by Keith Peters, the zen master of communications, media came to expect a great performance each day with athletes, some early digital content and the brand stories were woven in, not shoved down our throats. 1996 was pretty good, but the Olympic venues are a challenge.

The content from Nike in 2000 allowed me to provide daily content to our then growing web presence, even with me in US with a busted eardrum. The Sydney content from Nike had stories on each athlete, pictures of uniforms and product info. Again, Nike did it better than anyone else.

In 2004, adidas provided content some time out and access to their iconic athletes. Between them and Reebok’s daily press conferences, and a few pressers with Nike, we had access to most of the brands.

Reebok in 2005 Helsinki and 2007 Osaka were two of the best managed. Access to athletes, in a quiet, easy to find center made a lot of sense. By this time, Nike was doing some fine interview opps, but much less than before and more oriented to the brand and product stories.

In 2008, Nike did some fun opps in Beijing, around unique athletes and product. adidas provided access to some of their iconic athletes and a historical context to the brands’ committment to the Olympic movement. The adidas launch in 2008 in Beijing was one of the best managed I have ever experienced.

Over the years, the Steve Jobs-Mark Parker collaborations over Nike running were pretty spectacular, part of it was Jobs and Parker’s chemistry (Parker once noted he asked Jobs how to make Nike better, and the turlenecked Apple meister noted, ” Stop making crappy shoes.”).

For several years, Nike did spectacular events around Nike running application, Lunar product and the biggest was the 2012 Olympic product launch. Probably 400 media and a well run, focused event, promoting the absolutely complete line Nike had built around Olympic events.

It is a challenge to put all of those pieces together. In the successful times, I have seen, and several have done this with very modest programs. ASICS in 2012 had a nice afternoon access to athletes and a chance to interview their new President, Kevin Wulff. Again, access to their athletes, a brand story, and some access to executives to speak about the brand and sport.

EU4A5909.JPGTori Bowie, in blocks, adidas media event, August 20, 2015, photo courtesy of adidas Running

At the World Champs, adidas did three media events, focusing on unique approaches. I went on one where we accompanied Jessie Ennis Hill, David Rudisha and Tori Bowie as they walked us through the Call areas under the stadium and then a chance to see the track and behind the scenes operations of the Beijing Bird’s nest. It was fun and also weaved in the brand story. It was well done.

Interviews with David Rudisha, Tori Bowie and Jessica Ennis-Hill were short, focused and ten minutes each. I enjoyed the access and posted all three.

EU4A5900.JPGTori Bowie, Beijing Olympic stadium, photo from adidas Running

Some times, the most unrehearsed situations are the best. I remember a 2011 event in Daegu, where Trey Hardee had taken gold and Ashton Eaton taken the silver medal. Nike did a quick press event and the communication between Ashton and Trey was amazing. The honesty about their performances was telling and it provided a fine moment. Likewise, in 2007, in Osaka, Carolina Kluft, the magnifiscent heptathlete, did a pressser after her win that was both telling and startling in its honesty. Moments like that come few and far between.

In 2000, David Mingey had a public relations disaster to deal with Marion Jones and CJ Hunter. “Minge” as those who know the guy call him, did not become unglued, but handled it well in public and tried to control what was quickly becoming a disaster. I believe, in retrospect, it may have been, along with Keith Peter’s comprehension of where content and context could support the Nike brand, some of the best moments and support of the Swoosh.

I am reminded of this when I saw Tori Bowie in awe of the Beijing Stadium. I forget sometimes that these young athletes are human too, and besides running, jumping and throwing, they can take the time to see the wonder and beauty in such a stadium and what they do.

Author

  • RBR Admin
    RBR Admin

    View all posts

Previous Post

Beijing World Champs: Day One, Session One, Eritrean wins marathon gold, heptathlon battle starts, by Alex Mills

Next Post

Ghebreslassie surprises as youngest ever World Marathon Champ, by David Monti, RRW, used with permission

RBR Admin

RBR Admin

Similar Post

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing Program, Week 4, Day 3, A recovery day on Wednesday

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing Program, Week 4, Day 3, A recovery day on Wednesday

October 4, 2023
2023 Allianz Van Damme Memorial , The Women’s Shot Put

2023 Allianz Van Damme Memorial , The Women’s Shot Put

October 3, 2023
The Great Days of Track & Field: Here is Elliott Denman’s Very First Segment of his favorite moments in our sport!
Athletics history

The Great Days of Track & Field: Here is Elliott Denman’s Very First Segment of his favorite moments in our sport!

October 3, 2023
The Budapest 2023 World Champs are Underway…

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing, Week 4, Day 2, Tempo!

October 3, 2023
Coffee With Larry, Nike Pre Classic, Some Deep thoughts on 2023 version

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racining Program, Week 4, day 1, Monday is recovery…

October 3, 2023
NUGUSE SMASHES AMERICAN RECORD FOR THE MILE: 3:43.97

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Running Week 3, Day 7, a long run on Sundays…

October 2, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to RunBlogRun's Global News Feed

Wake up to RunBlogRun’s news in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll keep you informed about the Sport you love.

*we hate spam as much as you do

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
USATF / Day Four:  USA’s Assembled Team Is Ready!

Abby Steiner replies via twitter, on the curiosity about her new professional running contract

August 27, 2023
An epic pole vault competition

An epic pole vault competition

August 26, 2023
2022 USATF Outdoor Champs: Melissa Jefferson takes the Women’s 100m title in windy 10.69!

The curious case of Sha’Carri Richardson: How can the sprinter turn around her career?

February 8, 2023
Reborn Sha’Carri Richardson comes back from the brink and is now ready to become the world champion

Reborn Sha’Carri Richardson comes back from the brink and is now ready to become the world champion

July 17, 2023
What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

7
Asafa Powell, Considering Longevity in Sprinting

The RunBlogrun Interview: Asafa Powell

5
2022 Munich Diary, Day Five, a Great Friday Night

2023 European Athletics Indoor Champs, The Women’s 60m, who will win the final tonight?

5
TCS New York City Marathon Broadcast to be Available in More Than 530 Million Homes Around the World on Sunday, November 6

RunblogRun Editorial: The Sorry State of Running Television Coverage, by Peter Abraham, note by Larry Eder

4
2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing Program, Week 4, Day 3, A recovery day on Wednesday

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing Program, Week 4, Day 3, A recovery day on Wednesday

October 4, 2023
2023 Allianz Van Damme Memorial , The Women’s Shot Put

2023 Allianz Van Damme Memorial , The Women’s Shot Put

October 3, 2023
The Great Days of Track & Field: Here is Elliott Denman’s Very First Segment of his favorite moments in our sport!

The Great Days of Track & Field: Here is Elliott Denman’s Very First Segment of his favorite moments in our sport!

October 3, 2023
The Budapest 2023 World Champs are Underway…

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing, Week 4, Day 2, Tempo!

October 3, 2023

Popular Stories

  • USATF / Day Four:  USA’s Assembled Team Is Ready!

    Abby Steiner replies via twitter, on the curiosity about her new professional running contract

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • An epic pole vault competition

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • The curious case of Sha’Carri Richardson: How can the sprinter turn around her career?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Reborn Sha’Carri Richardson comes back from the brink and is now ready to become the world champion

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing Program, Week 4, Day 3, A recovery day on Wednesday

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing Program, Week 4, Day 3, A recovery day on Wednesday

October 4, 2023
2023 Allianz Van Damme Memorial , The Women’s Shot Put

2023 Allianz Van Damme Memorial , The Women’s Shot Put

October 3, 2023
The Great Days of Track & Field: Here is Elliott Denman’s Very First Segment of his favorite moments in our sport!
Athletics history

The Great Days of Track & Field: Here is Elliott Denman’s Very First Segment of his favorite moments in our sport!

October 3, 2023
The Budapest 2023 World Champs are Underway…

2023 RunBlogRun Fall Cross Country Training & Racing, Week 4, Day 2, Tempo!

October 3, 2023

Recent Tweets

Next Post

Ghebreslassie surprises as youngest ever World Marathon Champ, by David Monti, RRW, used with permission

runblogrun

RunBlogRun comments on the global world of athletics, sports & ethics, and the Olympic movement. @runblogrun

Browse by Category

Newsletter

Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox!

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Home page
  • My Account
  • Sample Page

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

Select a password for yourself. (minimum length of 8)

Paste here the user biography.

Provide here the twitter screen name. i.e. @RunBlogRun

Provide here the instagram screen name. i.e. @RunBlogRun

Provide here the facebook profile URL. i.e. http://www.facebook.com/RunBlogRun

Provide here the linkedin profile URL. i.e. https://www.linkedin.com/in/larry-eder-5497253

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist