What announcement did Nike make today about its Nike + Human Race for 2009?
Today NIKE, Inc. (NKE) kicked off registration for the Nike+ Human Race 2009, a 10k worldwide running event back for its second year. With nearly 780,000 participants in its inaugural year, this multi-city event will take place on October 24, 2009 celebrating the sport of running by giving runners everywhere the opportunity to run together. Nike-hosted Human Race events will be held in more than 24 cities from New York City to Los Angeles, Buenos Aires to Rome. Through Nikeplus.com, however, every city and every road can become a race day course. By combining the virtual running world with the physical, the Nike+ Human Race is open to anyone, anywhere. Race registration opened August 18 on Nikeplus.com. By registering, runners will be able to participate in one of several Nike-hosted events or choose to run where they are on race day. The “Run Where You Are” option allows runners to run an
Nike should have pulled off a marketing and brand coup with its Human Race: one week after the close of the Beijing Olympic Games, 24 international cities, each hosting a 10k race, runners competing together against the other cities to be the fastest in the world. Frank Vial wrote earlier in this forum about how the Human Race aimed to bring the Olympic spirit home and translate that goodwill into Nike sales. But in this neighborhood, the actual race had little enjoyment and could potentially become a brand emergency for Nike among serious runners. I ran the Human Race in London, and my own personal experience left me wondering how Nike let such a smart idea go so wrong. Nike’s Human Race was announced here in London in mid-June with great fanfare: bus sides, full back-page newspaper and magazine ads, web banners; you name it, they were plastered with inspiring, team-building slogans like “The day I raced the world” and “Runners of London Unite.” The race was to be held in the home of
