Nate DeMercurio Portfolio

Image: Ironman As the final selection of videos nears for the " Kona Inspired " promotion and the winners are chosen for their spots in the World Championships, Ironman is asking athletes to submit letters (and artwork, photography, lyrics, etc.) detailing what makes Ironman a part of their daily lives. This submission request is to help celebrate the 35th anniversary of Ironman in 2013. Like the Kona Inspired promotion, this will generate plenty of emotional content that can later be used in advertising and other promotion. See more about promotions and contests from Ironman on their Facebook page.

At the end of April, the brand formerly known as Athletes HoneyMilk changed names to a more generic " Core Power ." The intent is to be able to expand into other product lines, presumably other recovery forms, perhaps even energy and hydration options that round out the sports nutrition portfolio. It's interesting to see the different strategies as sports nutrition brands maneuver through the market.  Gatorade has done a great job of marketing the nutrition occasions - before, during and after - which seemingly has helped the rest of the industry more easily take advantage of separate opportunities. In this case, Athletes HoneyMilk saw an opportunity to offer a more natural ready-to-drink product option for the "after" occasion than competitors like Muscle Milk (which has a parent brand, CytoSport ) or EAS . Chocolate Milk is capitalizing on this as well, but the business structure doesn't translate to product line expansion. Companies like Clif Bar , GU E...

While many people across the country, and the world, witnessed the final stage of the Amgen Tour of California weave through the streets of Los Angeles on Sunday, the general public had the opportunity to ride the 5-mile closed circuit course before the professional riders took over. Sponsored by Nissan, the Ride Before the Pros was free to participants and allowed anyone with a bicycle the experience of crossing the official race finish line. This appears to be a growing trend for events with streets closures, which can increase participation and exposure while maximizing permitting costs. In this case, the Amgen Tour of California gave spectators a chance to participate in the event at no cost, encouraging people to stay and watch the race which drives higher attendance and greater on-site sponsor value, and generally creates a more exciting event atmosphere. In other cases, participatory events are seeing value in the efficiencies of adding bike tours prior to traditional running ...

Travel and tourism continues to be one of the largest economic impact factors of endurance events, which has led organizations and events to look at ways to capitalize. In other cases, travel companies tied to endurance brands and events are evolving vacations for athletes looking for unique experiences of a lifetime. Star Events  - producers of cycling, triathlon and running events - recently launched a travel division, Star Travel  offering accommodation packages exclusively for Star Events. Benefits for using this event-hosted service is described as accommodation in preselected hotels, private apartments and villas all in walking distance from the start and finish line, insider information for training facilities, cozy restaurants, and attractive sites worth sightseeing. It's not surprising to see an event series branch out and offer it's participants travel packages and could be a likely brand extension for a series like Rock 'n' Roll or Ironman, provided they t...

Photo: Edward Reed/NYC Mayor's Office Citi recently announced a $41 Million partnership with New York City's bike share program, to be called " Citi Bike ," as well as a campaign to activate their sponsorship of the US Olympic and Paralympic Team called " Every Step of the Way ." They are promoting both through Facebook ( Citi Bike , Citi Every Step ) and Twitter ( @CitiBikeNYC , @CitiEveryStep ), and have released viral videos and advertising spots for Every Step, including featuring Team USA marathon runner Meb Keflezighi: Another Every Step viral video features Team USA triathlete Gwen Jorgensen: It will be interesting to keep an eye on Citi and their increased investment in the active lifestyle space as a supplement to other sports marketing initiatives.

It's refreshing when a company as large as Nike listens to their environmental conscience. Changing even the smallest things in certain business practices can translate exponentially to a massively reduced carbon footprint. Nike Better World is a global campaign to accomplish two objectives: become more environmentally responsible and better the world through sport. Succinctly put, "redefining performance and innovation to serve the athlete and the world." In typical Nike fashion, this campaign is vast and all-encompasing with regard to initiatives, tactics and outlets. The online web presence extends to multiple sites and pages portraying the efforts Nike is taking to streamline waste and inefficiencies through their products, packaging, supply chain, energy usage, etc. The " product " page has an incredibly innovative and unique user experience depicting images that appear to be on different layers and move at different rates as you scroll down. Ni...

Endurance sports can push athletes beyond limits they thought never thought possible, and yet while fulfilling, these accomplishments can be intrinsically lonely and create a yearning for more. Longer distance, tougher challenge, faster finishing times and so on, but endurance sports also allow athletes to use their passion to help others. Through solo efforts or with a team of other athletes, much can be accomplished in the way of charity by going a great distance and causes can be significantly enhanced by a strong social media plan. Staff members from the Rev3 Triathlon Series recently ran continuously, distance-relay-style across the country from California to Washington, D.C. to "Run Across America" in support of the Ulman Cancer Fund for Young Adults. The endeavor took the crew 21 days and covered over 3,000 miles as they updated their progress via Twitter and their event website blog . They managed to raise $40,000 for their charity. A group of friends from Wales an...