The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2008
adidas spent £140,000 and turned the London Marathon into 5,250 personal messages
With a tiny budget, Carat tracked runners by WAP and beamed personal messages onto Cutty Sark screens — and won the Grand Prix.
adidas
The solution
adidas sponsored the London Marathon but had only £140,000 to make it felt — a fraction of what category rivals could spend on media. Carat's research found one fact that stood out: athletes never achieve their goals alone, but through the support of friends and family.
Carat built two campaign elements from that insight. First, a WAP-based runner tracker giving spectators real-time positions on their mobile phones so they could be in the right place at the right time. Second, Personalized Runner Messages: supporters submitted messages that were displayed on large digital screens at the Cutty Sark as runners passed.
The screens delivered messages to 5,250 of the 35,000 runners, the site drew 3,500 runners on the day, and the WAP tracker was used to follow 4,000 participants, generating 107,000+ page views.
The idea won the Grand Prix at the 2008 Media Week Awards, judged the standout entry of the year.
Why it worked
- The tracker and messages solved a real emotional need — being there for someone — rather than just broadcasting a slogan.
- The Cutty Sark screens sat inside the TV broadcast, so the activation reached the 3.1 million watching at home for free.
- A tiny budget forced a functional idea instead of paid impressions.
- It made the brand inseparable from the most meaningful moment of each runner's day.
What can be applied
When you cannot outspend rivals, out-function them: turn your sponsorship into a utility that changes the experience for both participants and their supporters.
Aftermath
The campaign won the Grand Prix at the Media Week Awards 2008, and Carat's judges cited it as proof that budget constraints need not constrain impact. It became a reference point for low-budget, high-utility sponsorship activation.
Sources
- Media Week Awards 2008 — Grand Prix: Carat for the Adidas London Marathon campaign
- New and improved — how adidas' 'Impossible is Nothing' used experience over ads
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