Car companies frequently "run horses" And there is no other choice?

Source/Upstream Journalist Yan Wei

Editor/Su Airlines

On December 19, at 9:00 a.m., with the sound of a starting gun, the 2021 Changan Automobile Chongqing Marathon Guangyang Island Welcome Run with the theme of "Burning Heavy Horses and Wisdom Chang'an" officially started. At the scene, 500 runners started the welcome run on Guangyang Island, The Green Island in Jiangxin, the largest area in the main urban area of Chongqing. In fact, not only Changan Automobile, BMW, Beijing Hyundai, Dongfeng Renault, GUANGC Honda, GAC Toyota, Geely Automobile, FAW-Volkswagen and other car companies have all been associated with the marathon.

Why do car companies prefer marathons? "In 2011, after the first cooperation was launched, this year is the tenth year that Changan Automobile and 'Heavy Horse' have joined hands." The relevant person in charge of Changan Automobile said that the "heavy horse" is integrated with the marathon spirit of the company constantly challenging itself and surpassing the limit. At the same time, 2017 CS95, 2018 Ruicheng CC, 2019 CS85 COUPE, 2020 UNI-T... With the help of the heavy horse racing field, Changan Automobile's new cars were also unveiled, taking on the role of running timed cars, participating in the whole race, and escorting runners in service guarantee, material supply, track guidance, post-race service and other links. In the increasingly fierce market competition, the "Heavy Horse" race field allows people to see the scientific and technological strength of Changan Automobile and understand its brand concept of unremitting struggle and continuous struggle.

BMW sponsored the Xiamen Marathon, Lanzhou Marathon, Chengdu Double Legacy Marathon; GUANGC Honda sponsored the Hangzhou Marathon; GAC Toyota sponsored the Guangzhou Marathon; Beijing Hyundai sponsored the Beijing Marathon; Geely sponsored the Ningbo Marathon; Dongfeng Renault sponsored the Wuhan Marathon... Nowadays, almost all mainstream car companies in China sponsor marathons or are preparing to sponsor marathons. Marathon events have a lot of demand for cars and can provide high exposure, which is a great temptation for many car companies.

According to the data released by the Chinese Athletics Association, there were only 22 marathons in China in 2011, which increased to 51 in 2014, and more than 900,000 people participated in the races throughout the year. In 2015, the number of marathon events has reached 134, and the number of registered marathons in 2016 has reached 322. Not only are the events more and more organized, but the number of participants is also growing rapidly, and the participation area is also more extensive, which attracts many famous enterprises to show their faces.

According to media reports, in 2016 alone, a total of 80 car companies sponsored officially certified marathon events, ranking fifth in all industries.

"This is not only simple marketing, but also the display of the entrepreneurial spirit behind the corporate brand image, and indirectly stimulates the increase in automobile sales." Industry insiders said.

Who are the people who run the marathon? It can be seen that the post-70s, post-80s, post-90s, and post-00s are undoubtedly young consumer groups, which is also the mainstream user population of automobile consumption. The youth strategy of car companies has long been an unavoidable topic.

According to public information, for every 1% increase in corporate brand awareness, about $20 million in advertising costs are required, but if you use large-scale sports competitions to promote, the same advertising costs can be improved by 10%.

Choosing which marathon to sponsor is also a time to test the skills of car companies. As one of the most enthusiastic car companies to sponsor marathon events, BMW has been the title sponsor of the Berlin Marathon, one of the six grand slams of the world marathon since 2010.

The Berlin Marathon is the "fastest marathon in the world" famous for its frequent world records. BMW's senior vice president in charge of sales and marketing has said that the Berlin Marathon is very conducive to setting world records and coincides with the excellent driving experience of BMW cars and the GENES of the BMW brand. Since the advent of the BMW i series model, BMW has used the car several times as the official timer of Boma, and completed the "Boma Parade" under the attention of tens of thousands of runners.

However, in addition to the current marathon, the fashion week focusing on fashion design, the interaction of the "rice circle", various trend music festivals, and the high-speed rail body that focuses on speed... These have also gradually become a new choice for cross-border marketing of car companies.