Q2 pitch
- 1. World’s Toughest Mudder Prompt World’s Toughest Mudder is the culminating event of the Tougher Mudder series. You’ve been asked to pitch an initial concept to drive interest in the event. Describe the concept and how you envision it coming to life. Foreword • Tough Mudder is a challenge, not a race. However, the team at TMHQ has provided a championship round to those who want to push their limits in a competitive setting. • With the Tough Mudder demographic (athletic millennials, mostly male, likely with a Type-A personality), there is opportunity for WTM to grow in size if the right incentives are presented. • At twice the price (excluding travel/other expenses) World’s Toughest Mudder is not just for the interested athlete-it’s for the those willing to devote time, money, and resources to accomplish something remarkable.
- 2. World’s Toughest Mudder Big Idea We are going to get participants to World’s Toughest Mudder by Tapping into herd psychology and the natural drive to compete
- 3. World’s Toughest Mudder Insight After speaking with a few members of MudderNation, I came away with one crucial insight/problem: “People who qualify and submit their times for World’s Toughest Mudder are more interested in finding out whether they make the WTM cut, than they are in actually participating in the event” -Paul Smisek, MudderNation “President” Objectives a) to build momentum for World’s Toughest Mudder amongst the MudderNation b) to convince the 5% who submit their times/qualify, to follow through and compete Mediums Location-specific event booths at start/finish of each race Interactive Website Social Media Campaign
- 4. World’s Toughest Mudder Execution: In Person We will hold booths for World’s Toughest Mudder at the start and finish of each race, dubbed “Taking The Black” in reference to the black headbands competitors receive at WTM The booths will profile participants in last year’s WTM, with an emphasis on competitors from that immediate region e.g. If at the 2012 World’s Toughest Mudder there were 53 contestants from Texas Then at the Austin, TX Tough Mudder in April 2013, the booth would: a) Profile as many of those 53 participants as possible b) Profile participants from other parts of the US/globe who competed c) Provide information/enthusiasm about World’s Toughest Mudder We want to associate people with their community, and trigger a do that, so can I!” “Hey, if she can response
- 5. World’s Toughest Mudder Toughest Mudders in Texas “Angela Sternberg from San Antonio ran two Tough Mudders last year to qualify for WTM ‘12. (Her favorite part of WTM ‘12) “Ashley Sternberg from Houston ran two Tough Mudders last year to qualify for WTM ‘12. (How training was for WTM ‘12) (Her favorite part of the event) (How training was for the event) (What she’s looking forward to this year) (What she’s looking forward to this year) “Dan Marver from Wimberly ran Tough Mudders in five different states last year before WTM ‘12. (What has different about the events? ) (What do you like about doing it in home state?) (What’s best about World’s Toughest Mudder?) ‘ Americas Toughest Mudders 2012 “Ashley Sternberg from Houston ran two Tough Mudders last year to qualify for WTM ‘12. (Her favorite part of the event) (how training was for the event) (what she’s looking forward to this year)
- 6. World’s Toughest Mudder Execution: On The Web One of the biggest problems we currently face with World’s Toughest Mudder is that people are more interested in submitting their time to see if they would qualify, than actually competing. The website to submit times will have an interactive splash page where the general public, but more specifically those submitting their event time, can view and interact with profiles of people in their community and across the nation who have already qualified and signed up for World’s Toughest Mudder. 1307 Toughest Mudders and counting see you in november We are injecting personality and momentum into World’s Toughest Mudder Patrick Weiss from San Francisco qualified last month at Tahoe Summer (Her favorite part of the event) (How training was for the event) (What she’s looking forward to this year) Enter your time here Screenshot from American Airlines Ipad App
- 7. World’s Toughest Mudder Execution: Social Media We will provide a driving force to MudderNation by broadcasting relevant posts on our twitter that report how many people from a certain region or event has signed up. Again, engaging herd mentality. e.g. “@ToughMudder Miami is really showing up this week with 65 sign-ups to this year’s #toughestmudder, Florida has the most contestants so far, where you at Tri-State?!” We will engage in partnership marketing to drive interest not only across Mudder Nation, but also with people who haven’t yet participated in a Tough Mudder but are associated with our sponsors. Content is essential in driving interest, especially photos and videos. If we can highlight all things WTM (past participants, new obstacles, TMHQ R+D) through channels like Instagram, Tumblr, and YouTube, it can create additional klout across our social media.
- 8. World’s Toughest Mudder Reasoning We can reach our target demographic, a group of highly dedicated participants, by promoting the competitive spirit and the elite status of WTM. They will be extremely receptive in participating because not only do they want to compete with the best, but they also wouldn’t dare pass up the opportunity to prove themselves on Tough Mudder’s largest stage. In other words, we subtly hint at their fear of missing out and the obligation they have to themselves to compete. Those who compete and qualify in the top 5% of Tough Mudder events can be grouped as some of the most competitive and committed of the Tough Mudder lifestyle. But by profiling those local WTM participants, who are as equally dedicated to the Tough Mudder lifestyle as potential participants, we’ve created a common bond between the two. It will create a driving force to actually compete in WTM, rather than just qualify. It gives personality to World’s Toughest Mudder and opens up opportunity to bond with the Tough Mudder brand.
- 9. World’s Toughest Mudder Other Ideas Host the event at a “destination.” The cold weather of New Jersey in November is part of what makes World’s Toughest Mudder so unique and difficult, but it sure isn’t a destination spectators and participants can get excited about. If someone is sinking $450 on the ticket +travel/gear/expenses, they probably want to make a weekend out of it. So let’s give them a destination. That’s likely why Ironman Hawaii is so popular. Past contestants of World’s Toughest Mudder could be rewarded with free entry to their local Tough Mudder event if they agree to become ambassadors for the WTM. Tasks might include engaging with participants at the booths, rallying other community members, reaching out through social media.