We have been supplying teams of staff to marathons and fun-runs for years. There is so much potential for brand promotion at such events- from sponsoring the event, setting up a branded tent, or having your mascot running the race, the opportunities are endless. In fact, we recently published an article about the promotional potential at such events, which you can read here.

We have supplied various teams of staff to marathons, including brand ambassadors, retail staff, product sampling staff and mascot staff to name a few. Here is some of our marathon experience:

Great North Run:

We were excited to work with AJ Bell at their UK Great Runs. We are providing a team of staff to each event including brand ambassadors, mascots and chaperones. These events were as follows: The Great North Run (Newcastle), The Great Birmingham Run, The Great Bristol Run, The Great Manchester Run, The Great Scottish Run (Glasgow) and The Great South Run (Portsmouth).

Each Great Run involves a number of individual races such as a family Run, 10K and half marathon, which take place around the host city. There are also fun games and competitions to enjoy along the way!

AJ Bell is a financial services company and sponsors the Great Run. Their mascot is a musical pig! Therefore our character costume staff got suited and booted, entertaining the crowd and taking lots of photos as the pig. Mascot chaperones also worked alongside the mascot to help them dress, direct them around the area, and offer general assistance.

Our mascots always get truly stuck in- taking photos, attracting attention, dancing, and interacting with the crowd. 

Our Great Run brand ambassadors handed out free branded items such as buffs (headbands), caps and bells to participants and spectators. They ensure that the product samples are distributed throughout the day so each new wave of participants feels the AJ Bell love.

Additionally, we have also provided event managers to oversee our teams of staff. They ensured that all jobs were completed to our high standards. They also act as a seamless point of communication between event organisers and staff on the ground.

Staff enthusiastically cheered on all of the runners and had a great time in the Great Run atmosphere.

Aqua Pura:

We provided a team of 9 brand ambassadors to work for Aqua Pura at the Great North Run in Newcastle. Our staff worked at various water stations along the route as well as at the finish line. The run sees over 60,000 people complete the 13.1 miles (21km) half marathon, with thousands more attending as spectators, and raises millions for charity!

6 of our brand ambassadors work at water stations along the run route. They were fully involved in the whole process from loading the tables to handing out water bottles to individual runners. They worked alongside large teams of volunteers and the water station leaders. 

Their aims for the day was to:

1. Ensure that the Aqua Pura brand remained at the forefront

2. That all runners left the water station with a super positive brand experience.

Water station staff acted as cheerleaders for the runners, encouraging them to ‘embrace the adventure’. 

Moreover, our staff were given several brand-related phrases to communicate to the public throughout the day. E.g. ‘Stay refreshed with Aqua Pura’, ‘Hydrate with Aqua Pura’ and ‘Embrace the adventure’.

Finally, once all the runners had passed, water station staff helped to tidy and pack up the station.

Additionally, the 3 remaining brand ambassadors worked at the finish line, cheering on the runners and promoting the water brand to the public.

We were also provided with branded t-shirts, hoodies and caps to wear throughout the day-long event.

It was a fabulous day that Push was thrilled to be a part of. Our brand ambassadors worked hard throughout the day and so successfully ensured that the runners and spectators had positive brand experiences.

Emerge:

We were delighted to work with Emerge throughout 2023! Event managers and sports drink brand ambassadors were provided to represent the Emerge Sport isotonic drinks at UK Tough Mudder events.

Tough Mudder runs events across the UK throughout the year, e.g. 5ks, 10ks and 15ks. All of these races contain a series of challenging obstacles and plenty of mud! Emerge is the official drinks partner and, therefore, is present at every Tough Mudder event (excluding Scotland). 

Our staff engaged with thousands of Tough Mudder guests and participants, promoting the sports drink. They carried out product sampling, created content for social media, and also supervised a Batak machine competition!

Event attendees were encouraged to participate in the competition and given 30 seconds to hit as many lights on the Batak machine as possible. Our promotional staff recorded their names and scores on a leaderboard, and also directed participants to a QR code to enter a competition.

Additionally, our staff were all given branded t-shirts to raise further brand awareness. They were also provided with key brand messages to ensure they promoted Emerge sport drinks effectively.

Our brand ambassadors get stuck in at every event by embracing the inevitable mud and infectious atmosphere!

Engie:

ENGIE is a leading energy and services company focused on 3 key activities; production and supply of energy, facilities management, and regeneration. In 2019 we were asked to provide ENGIE with teams of energy company brand ambassadors. These teams included event managers, general promo staff, costume character staff, and chaperones for their nationwide promotional activity. 

Our staff has worked with the energy company on promotional activities in cities such as Birmingham, Manchester, Portsmouth, and Glasgow. We often work with the brand at fun-runs and marathons. An energy company may not appear to be an ideal brand to promote at a run but 1. people are in a good mood, and 2. people are often standing around waiting for a while. This wait time can be exploited by brands for shameless self-promotion!

Being an energy company, the public needs to be able to rely on our staff for accurate information. Our staff were therefore carefully selected to ensure they could bring the fun to events as well as important information. All of our staff undertook a rigorous interview before being hired and were provided with specific brand-related training before any ENGIE events.

Our character costume staff have extensive experience working as mascots/characters and often have performing arts experience. They are therefore able to fully bring the character to life and engage effectively with the public- drawing public attention.

We hope to keep working at such marathons and fun-runs with great partners and brands. The atmosphere is infectious with everyone in a positive and inspirational mood. Such events bring thousands of people together to celebrate the human spirit, and a little brand promotion of course. For more info about our staff or to book a team, please see our website or contact us directly.