• by Karl Greenberg , November 8, 2010

Among the participants in the ING New York City Marathon was Marketing Daily's own Karl Greenberg. He says that Nissan's involvement was prevalent throughout the race, although he wasn't anywhere near close enough to the pace car to smell the absence of exhaust. Marketing Daily talks to Marketing Daily about the race.

Q: How was it running the marathon?

A: What?

Q: The marathon -- the New York City Marathon -- how was the run?

A: It was great, since the only running I did was to the buffet. I was at the finish line banquet and then in the bleachers.

Q: Wait. Did you or did you not participate in the race?

A: Yes, I did. As a spectator -- which is an important part of the race, and believe it or not, also a lot of exercise.

Q: How do you figure that?

A: Just the clapping. Then the standing up, sitting down, standing up, sitting down. It was like being at Mass. And also because I had to take two subway trains to get there, and the idiots at the MTA decided on race day to mess up the A train. I actually had to help some runners from Belgium find the R downtown, and some other poor runner was heading out to Williamsburg on the 7, thinking he was heading to the starting line. So I ran about 20 miles just chasing this guy up and down the platform to get him headed in the right direction.

Q: All right, so what about the finish line? Which brands got the most exposure?

A: Well, ING, of course -- and you didn't forget for very long that they were title sponsors. We all had ING cowbells to ring when people crossed the finish. There were ING sunglasses, ING colors, bunting, and the race announcer mentioned ING quite a lot. And the CEO of ING held one end of the finish-line ribbon -- Hizzoner held the other.

Second was Nissan, which used the race to promote the Leaf electric car, and they also had people driving the 280Z up and down the finish. Full disclosure: I was there as a guest of the Nissan folks, so I had to say that. But they did actually have a lot of vehicles on the course, and the Leaf was the pace car. They also sponsored part of the live televised race coverage.

Q: Whom did you speak with from Nissan at the race (or were you too busy at the buffet to actually speak to anyone)?

A: Jay Schaffer, their promotions and lifestyle marketing manager. He said some very interesting things about their strategy for Leaf. They're doing a 20-city road show with the vehicle, but rather than creating their own events for each place, they are piggy-backing on targeted events in each market that have environmental, tech or green product themes.

They are also sponsoring a bunch of marathons, bike races ... they sponsor several centuries -- 100-mile bike rides that aren't races, technically. Some of them are under Lance Armstrong's LiveStrong umbrella. You know, Armstrong actually has a Leaf and he's been tweeting about the car. Schaffer said that's a big deal because Lance Armstrong's social media fan base is in the millions.

Q: But why are they promoting the Leaf at marathons and bike races?

A: Duh.

Q: I could have you fired for insubordination.

A: That wasn't me; it was my 12-year-old daughter who, by the way, enjoyed watching the race, which pretty much torpedoes my theory that marathon running is the worst spectator sport since meditating. I also enjoyed watching the endless parade of suffering humanity.

Q: Why is Nissan touting Leaf at marathons?

A: Remember the TV spot they had with Lance riding behind the Leaf and saying for once he didn't have to smell the exhaust? They are targeting an affluent, health-conscious group of people who almost by definition like new technology. Look, if you're into bike racing, or running for that matter, you almost have to be a tech freak. Forget those $5,000 Seven bicycles -- do you ever look at the watches runners wear? Their shoes? Also, the TV viewership of the New York City Marathon is huge. It's the Big One among marathons in terms of media.

Q: How does this fit into what Nissan's doing overall?

A: Schaffer said Nissan has four pillars that drive affinity marketing programs, including athletics (thus their sponsorship of NCAA football); personal achievement (marathons, bike racing, for example); and music (which they used to do a lot more of with Nissan Sets a few years back).

Q: What was the fourth one?

A: I think maybe philatelic? I can't remember. Schaffer said that because the Leaf is such a departure from traditional cars, they are having no trouble signing up people to come to the experiential events they are doing in the 20 cities. Basically, it comprises an exhibition on the car and the technology that works it, followed by the chance to drive it.

He said that typically with events like these, you have to lure people to come with other brands, events, concerts, food, etc. But with this they've had to do nothing but announce they are going to have such and such Leaf event in such and such a market and people come in droves. He pointed out -- and I tend to agree -- that a part of the appeal is just seeing if it really works.

Q: Where are they going with this tour?

A: Well, he said right now it's the smile states -- so California, then the southern states, down to Florida in January. He said the company won't bring such an event to the Northeast until later in 2011.