Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon
Case Study
In the 34-year history of the Cleveland Marathon, the event has seen the ups and downs of the running boom and the Cleveland economy. The race, which is one of the 50 oldest road races in the country, was suffering from decreased participation when they hired Highland PR in 2004 to promote the event.
Initially, our responsibility was to handle all public and media relations aspects on behalf of the event. As our familiarity and success with the event grew, we requested that the race directors also let us handle their advertising and marketing strategy and implementation.
With interest in running mounting throughout the country, we saw the opportunity to position the event as not only a quality road race, but also as a destination for runners looking for a flat, fast and entertaining course. The theme “Cleveland Rocks & Runs” soon turned to a call to action for runners from around the world - “Rock & Run in the Rock & Roll Capital of America!”
A strategic advertising and marketing communications plan as well as the implementation of a strong national brand helped grow the race from 5,000 runners in 2004 to 18,270 runners in 2010 – the most in the history of the race. A 265 percent increase in runners in eight years is a feat that most national marathons would envy, let alone a mid-sized race in the Midwest. The Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon, Half Marathon & 10K creates over $15 million in economic impact to the city of Cleveland during race weekend.
In 2010, the City of Cleveland joined forces to officially support the event and the Cleveland Neighborhood Development Coalition created neighborhood parties and cheering sections all along the course, bringing thousands of local residents to the streets in support of the runners. The cheering sections were even bigger in 2011, despite the rain.
As the event and race weekend in Cleveland continue to grow and improve, the theme for the marketing campaign has changed to “The Cleveland Experience.” Though sponsorship dollars and fans on the street can be hard to come by in the current climate, it seems that runners from around the country and world are still anxious to have their own “Cleveland Experience.” Runners can’t get enough of “The Cleveland Experience” running gear, participant feedback is strikingly positive and registration for 2012 is already elevated - again.
