NEW YORK — The ING NYC Marathon taking place Sunday has evolved from a one-day elite athletic event to a weeklong marketing and selling bonanza.
Asics and Foot Locker are principal sponsors, and a number of brands and stores are holding events and activities in Manhattan this week to reach the thousands of runners and spectators descending on the city. A major selling opportunity is The Health & Fitness Expo, held this year today through Saturday at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. More than 100 vendors, including Nike, Adidas, New Balance and Reebok, will be peddling their wares, and it pulls in upward of 80,000 visitors, including the 35,000 runners who must stop at Javits to officially register.
“We have many companies that want to be associated with the marathon now,” said Ann Hinegardner, vice president of sales and marketing at the New York Road Runners Club, the nonprofit group that organizes the race and the expo. “It’s a huge opportunity for companies because they get wide exposure to an international audience.”
As one of the nation’s premier athletic events, the 26.2-mile race, now in its 36th year, is attracting corporate sponsors from industries of all stripes: Henkel duct tape, Duane Reade and Coors Light beer are three new ones. This year, there are 29 sponsors of the marathon, more than ever before, Hinegardner said.
For Asics, the event’s apparel and accessories sponsor, the marathon is a key marketing activity, as well as a sales opportunity, since the company makes and produces the official marathon gear. This year, the firm will also have a 19,000-square-foot booth at the Expo selling its cobranded ING marathon merchandise, which is bigger than any of its previous booths, said Gary Slayton, vice president of marketing for Asics America.
“The marathon is important to Asics because of the international exposure it gives our brand and to showcase how Asics understands and supports runners worldwide,” Slayton said.
Asics has a wide selection of official marathon merchandise sold at the Expo and at select stores around town, and on the NYRRC’s Web site. This year, looks include performance items such as shorts, tops and running bras, jackets and tracksuits, as well as hats, gloves and bags. Asics, which has been a marathon sponsor since 1988, also has a number of billboards around town, and is holding a series of events and activities this week.
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Overall, the marathon collection accounts for about 5 percent of Asics’s overall sales in the U.S., with the bulk of that business coming during marathon week, Slayton noted. The company, best known for footwear, has been building its apparel business, he said.
The NYRRC began allowing companies to sell merchandise on-site three years ago, and the event is also free and open to the public.
Hinegardner declined to divulge overall sales from the Expo, but said it has become a “huge selling opportunity.”
“Many runners are very goal oriented, and very much want the latest gadgets and apparel for running,” she said.
Among other companies having events at their stores around town are Fila and Adidas, both of which opened flagships in Manhattan this year. Fila had a clinic last week at its store for participants, with tips from elite runner Julia Stamps. Adidas-sponsored runner Grete Waitz will sign autographs at its SoHo performance store on Saturday.
Niketown is holding a Runner’s Lab, a series of free services, this week that include T-shirt customization for those running the race and gait analysis. Nike also has an ad campaign around the theme “Something for Every Run” that includes store and outdoor signage.
Others getting in on the action are Equinox Fitness, the health club chain, which will offer a “Sports-Specific Post-marathon Massage” for marathon participants, and is promoting running clothes in its city shops. Other retailers around town — including Macy’s, New Balance and the Super Runner’s Shop — have marathon-themed windows and special in-store promotions.
There is also a photo exhibit for those who want a more artistic take on the marathon. For the first time, Magnum Photos will host an exhibition in New York of photos taken by a legion of its photographers at last year’s race. Slated to run at the Rudin Building at 345 Park Avenue through Nov. 11, the photos range from close-ups of runners to overview shots.
Last year’s marathon was designed to have a festive atmosphere with bands playing along the race route and this year’s edition will feature even more entertainment, Hinegardner noted. As they wind through the five boroughs, runners will hear some 100 bands from around the country playing along the route. The bands had to submit tapes to NYRRC for a spot along the course, and there will be a broad spectrum of music, including Latin, rock and soul, and even a high school marching band.
“It’s a unique sporting experience in that the everyday person runs the exact same course as the professionals do and everyone sees and hears the same things along the way,” Hinegardner said. “That is something that doesn’t happen at the U.S. Open or other sporting events.”