Nate DeMercurio Portfolio

Anyone who's produced or managed an endurance event knows how much time, effort and resources go into creating a memorable experience for the athletes. What if you could get more out of the investment by offering more options to athletes? Often times in longer and larger events, the selection of distances is focused one or two - marathon and half-marathon - or in most cases of Ironman, only one. There are certain exceptions, of course, but a new triathlon series is looking to make multiple distances more of the rule. The HITS Triathlon Series began with an inaugural event in Palm Springs at the end of 2011, but with an ambitiously full schedule for 2012. There will be 12 events throughout the first full year and the series will culminate with a championship back in Palm Springs in December. The series is branded to be inclusive of all types of athletes, which is precisely why they offer five different distances over two days: open, sprint, olympic, half (70.3), and full (140.6).  ...

Adidas has come out with a new star-studded ad campaign for the ClimaCool Seduction running shoe. In an article posted on  Sports One Source , an Adidas executive points out the emphasis on breathability and ventilation to keep runners cool and comfortable during the hot summer months. The shoe will hit retailers in April, but is currently available online in 10 different color choices at a $100 price point. Adidas may be seeking to compete with the  Nike Fly Knit  shoe with innovative sock-like knitted upper to decrease weight and increase comfort, however it will be priced at $150. As mentioned in Business Week's Nike Fly Knit article , lightweight shoes have seen a tremendous upswing, accounting for all of the U.S. running shoe growth last year and comprised 30% of the $6.5 billion market. On the Adidas advertisement itself, it seems more of a brand ad than a shoe ad, playing on the different situations and reasons why people run. There are plenty of shoe sh...

While Adidas has maintained an Official Supplier and Outfitter partnership with the Boston Marathon for over 20 years, that hasn't stopped other brands from having an impact in the category. Creative slogans on t-shirts that circumvent usage rights and expansive expo activations are commonplace from nearly every footwear and apparel brand looking to capitalize on runners' open emotions and open wallets on race weekend. With such a large investment for a small window of time, brands are beginning to look at other areas surrounding the race through which they can reach consumers. Boston-based footwear and apparel company, New Balance, took to the streets along the course this past weekend to support runners training for the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16th. Anticipating local runners would be scouting the course on their last long training run, New Balance representatives greeted athletes with a temporary reprieve. "We interacted with more than 150 runners throughout th...

Running USA released the annual Half-Marathon Report, looking at last year's trends in the sport's fastest growing distance. Half-Marathons have become increasingly popular over the last decade with double-digit growth each of the last six years. Similar to the Marathon growth trend released earlier this year ( Marathon Report ), participation in the 13.1 mile distance has slowed when compared to 2009 and 2010 (24%), however still benefited from a 16.2% increase in 2011. Since 1990, the total number of US half-marathon finishers has gone from 303,000 to over 1.6 million in 2011, including a 234% increase since 2000. Of course, the Rock 'n' Roll Series didn't exist in 1990 and seven of the top 10 largest US half-marathons were Rock 'n' Roll events in 2011, including the largest domestic 13.1 mile race: Zappos.com Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas (33,257 finishers). The largest half-marathon in the world in 2011 was in  Göteborg, Sweeden with 42,904 finishers, ...

Rev3 Triathlon and blueseventy are running a co-promotion through which athletes receive a free race entry to any Olympic or Half Rev3 event if they purchase a Helix wetsuit (from the Rev3 Store); the offer is also good for half off a race entry for a Full Rev event. The total with shipping for a Helix wetsuit is $665.99, while registrations for the events range from $125-$175 (Olympic), $210-$275 (Half) and $425-$575 (Full) - registration figures reflect price increase after early and middle registration periods. As the offer is good only through this week - March 7th is the deadline - the best registration value is half of the Full Rev, or $212.50, which equates to a 32% discount off the price of the wetsuit. There are three scenarios where an athlete could take advantage of the offer: The athlete is planning to race a Rev3 event The athlete is in the market for a wetsuit The athlete is planning to race a Rev3 event AND is in the market for a wetsuit For scenario #1, would this offer...

Ironman "Kona Inspired" Ironman Triathlon has announced a new promotion, titled "Kona Inspired," which will allow eight lucky athletes to compete against the best in October at the Ford Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. In what is sure to generate an enormous amount of emotionally charged user-generated content, Ironman has invited the greater triathlon community to submit 90-second videos exemplifying the "Anything is Possible" spirit of the event. Not only will athletes generate the content, but the online community will play a role in selecting the winners, along with Ironman representatives. Assuming all athletes agree to release the rights of their videos to Ironman, this contest could provide the event with a vast library of human-interest promotional material for future use in other campaigns. It also gives Ironman a head start on the production process for filming background on these types of stories typically featured on the television b...