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Challenge

Human Race was the first big running event in Turkey, a country with a non-existent running culture. Nike wanted to use this global event to get a non-running nation think and talk about running, create a base for upcoming running campaigns and activities and build a direct association between the sport and their brand. The primary challenge was getting 10,000 people to run.

We needed to encourage the local population whilst maintaining alignment with the global strategy for the Human Race. It was decided that to inspire the city, the impactful use of media wasn't enough. A campaign involving celebrities with whom the target audience associate themselves was designed alongside a media partnership with the Dogan Media Group enabling us to be inspirational and motivating.

Platform/Idea 

Nike Human Race 2008 was a global phenomenon and this was a truly localised version of that event strictly catering to the Turkish market. We knew that the target audience of non-athletes would need reminders of their lack of motivation and so we tailored the strategy around this idea.

The cross media partnership with the Dogan Group facilitated this process. A deal of this type was unique within the local market. The Dogan Group agreed to a central deal for all their media which we needed in the campaign. They gave us their celebrities, agreed to produce, promote and air the celebrity spots, engage their columnists to write about the event and integrate the event story into their programs, serials, news and talk shows. Our online strategy included both display and social networking advertising. The outdoor campaign raised awareness with strategically placed messages at busy traffic spots.

Government support came from the ability to harness the event to promote the nation's health. Government endorsement further raised the profile of the event as we were given permission to run over the famous Bosphorous Bridge for the first time ever. Streets were closed down on the day of the race. This endorsement promoted the merits of the campaign to an even wider audience.

Consumer Journey

Our partnership with Dogan included access to nine television stations, five newspapers, thirteen monthly magazines and six online sites.

Each of the television stations produced customised spots promoting the event with their in-house talent.  The same message ran through all the TV material, that this was an opportunity to get involved in a local event that was part of a global spectacle. The script editors were instructed to include reference to Nike Human Race into programming wherever possible. On one of the Dogan music channels the preparation of every VJ for the event was aired as content.

Five newspapers and eleven columnists were involved in the promotion of the experience, each columnist putting a different spin on the event. The PR surrounding the event appeared in all local media including editorial pieces on television, in print and online. The celebrity association was key in creating the level of interest and coverage.

Online we used interactive banner ads to promote the event and encourage people to do more than just observe. The event was also integrated as a mini-game into one of the biggest social networks. Mobile was used for location-based MMS messaging, which was sent to the Nike database. Wap banners also led to an event Wap page where people could find Nike Human Race videos and event information.

For OOH the municipality owned bridges and overcrosses were used for the first time by any brand. 150 bridges and overcrosses throughout the city were dominated by the Human Race.

Results

On the day, the full 10,000 places were taken for the Nike Human Race in Istanbul countering the cultural norm. The event was three times over-subscribed in this supposedly lethargic city and due to the promotion, 860,000 individuals visited the bespoke Nike Human Race website.

The uplift in sales of Nike Plus (Nike's iPod compatible running product) was beyond expectations with 5,000 Nike+ kits sold in Istanbul over three months during the campaign - the equivalent to the total amount of units sold during the previous two years.

Overall this was a spectacular achievement with the whole city embracing the brand, the event and the sport, paving the way for similar activity in the future on both a personal and city wide level.