• by Karl Greenberg , April 7, 2010

The ING New York City Marathon, now in its 41st year, may be seven months in the future, but New York Road Runners (NYRR) is launching marketing programs now in an effort to monetize sponsorships and get the message out that everyone -- not just runners -- is invited in.

The new campaign with a new tag-line, "I'm in. We're in," launched Wednesday with the announcement that NYRR has picked up three new sponsors: Unilever, Nissan, and Tata Consultancy Services, a unit of the eponymous Indian industrial and financial giant.

Title sponsor ING, which has signed through 2013, is in its 10th year as sponsor, per Ann Wells Crandall, NYRR SVP of business and marketing, who adds that the race's 31 sponsors each fall into one of three levels of sponsorship. After title sponsorship are principal sponsors who have a category-exclusive "official" status, signature and finally, supporting sponsors.

Principal sponsors include Continental Airlines, which has sponsored the race for 15 years; athletic shoe and apparel company ASICS; Timex; The New York Times; and The Foot Locker. At the next or signature level are the three new sponsors Tata, Unilever and Nissan, which replaces Toyota.

Unilever has inked a two-year deal that focuses on Dove, Degree, Vaseline, and Axe, per Wells Crandall, who says Unilever is also the first consumer packaged-goods sponsor of the marathon. "They are a phenomenal fit because they are focusing on healthy lifestyle," she says, adding that Unilever's promotional activity includes sample giveaways to all 43,000 starting runners.

Nissan will use its deal to promote the forthcoming Leaf electric car and further its athletics-centered marketing channel "Master the Shift." One of the "Nissan Masters," Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall, will offer runners training tips during the run-up to the race. Nissan will also display vehicles on the course at "cheer zones" and provide the official vehicles on the course, at the expo, and throughout marathon week.

Wells Crandall says the "I'm in. We're in" campaign is intended to broaden both NYRR's window of opportunity for marketing the race and the audience. The campaign launched with a live webcast of the lottery for racers and is divided into four periods that lead up to the race: Inspiration, Anticipation, Dedication and Celebration.

"We came up with it internally, and from name, thematic, and programs, it was developed in-house. It was based on the realization that everyone has a story to tell about the marathon, and everyone seems to rally emotionally around the marathon," she says.

"One hundred twenty-five thousand people apply to race in the marathon, but only 42,000 get in. And we have 2.5 million people watching and 6.5 hours of TV coverage reaching 1.6 billion people worldwide, so it has become more of a spectacle than anything. In order to grow and broaden reach in relevant ways, we needed a context that is inclusive, not exclusive."

Next up this week will be 11 parties, one in each of New York's five boroughs and three in Manhattan for runners who got the lottery nod and their friends. "The goal is to have marketing campaigns in each phase and get those campaigns monetized," says Wells Crandall.