Some 20,000 people ran the Boston Marathon just a few days ago (I was one of them, plodding my way along the legendary, 26.2 mile course – all the way from Hopkinton to Boston – in a painful, interminable 4:24:51), but only 26 of them had been selected to tell their stories prior to the mother of all road races and heralded as one of the Saucony 26. For the chosen few, it must have been a tremendous honor to be able to personify the marathon as such pillars of inspiration. From a marketing standpoint, of course, putting a warm, identifiable face on the company and its products was a brilliant way for Saucony to connect with its constituency.
“While each person will have a very real and very intense motivation to run this year’s marathon, these motivations are different for each and every one of them,” reads the copy from a 32-page, pull-out section – featuring all 26 runner profiles – commissioned by Saucony inside the April 2005 edition of MetroSports Boston magazine.
“It’s those differences that have inspired us to introduce the second selection of the Saucony 26 in Boston,” the copy continues. “Twenty-six stories of people from communities in and around the racecourse have been chosen to represent each full mile of the race. It’s a way for all of us to celebrate our differences as we also celebrate our collective and passionate love for the sport of running.”
This special section, entitled “Every Runner Has a Story,” is not unlike a custom-published magazine, intermingling quality, relevant editorial (e.g., “26 Tips for Marathon Race Day,” “26 Sites for a Runner in Boston,” etc.) with a little advertising and a lot of PR, including a letter of introduction from company CEO, John H. Fisher (e.g., “Just like last year, we have selected from those who will run the marathon 26 stories that are amazingly unique from one another except, of course, for their passion for running.”), and, of course, the 26 tales of triumph and adversity.
Speaking of which, you can read about each of these fascinating runners – most of whom ran Boston for one charity or another, five of whom were my teammates on the Children’s Hospital Boston Kids at Heart Marathon Team – on the exclusive Saucony 26 Web site, which you will find by clicking here. The accompanying head shots alone are worth taking a look. All 26 shiny, happy faces are not as much photographed as captured in pure, unadulterated pride and joy, a credit to the individual behind the lens (Rich Cruse Photography) as well as to the subjects themselves.
Yes, like the marathon is to the runners, clearly this special event-related marketing campaign was a labor of love to all concerned. It was crafted from the heart, but not without first grounding itself in a sound, time-tested strategy that can’t help but engender unanimous – and universal – raves from both runners and those who aren’t quite so peripatetic. It’s less about the brand than it is about the people who embody that brand. It’s more about the Saucony 26 than it is about Saucony. It’s a winning campaign from which we can all learn a thing or two or even 26.
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