Are consumers talking about your brands at events? Are you looking for a unique way to leverage your brand at a running event (marathon, half-marathon, 5K, running expo)?

In 2006, Adidas ran an innovative "Reason to Run" campaign that served as an incredible way to get runners talking about the Adidas brand on race day. The program, a benchmark for others, distributed bibs on race day to runners that asked them to fill out what their reason to run was (along with their name and email). These "Reason to Run" bibs became conversation starters throughout events across the globe (from Singapore to Toronto to San Francisco) as it spurred people to discuss their "reasons" pre-race, during the race, on their blogs post-race.

The "Reason to Run" bibs also translated to Adidas' activation at indoor running exhibitions. Adidas would ask all consumers who entered their footprint to fill out a Reason to Run bid and post it on the Adidas wall. The collection of bids would become a wall of art that would attract herds of people who were interested in seeing why others were running... The bids also became a database of names and emails of runners that Adidas could market to in the future.

The "Reason to Run" bibs are such a great, unique way to get people talking about your brands on race day. At a relatively inexpensive cost, you can make a big splash in an uninterruptive manner at race events and running expo's. Even if a race already has a title sponsor (who in turn, has the rights to the bibs), your brand can consider handing out similar "Reason to Run" bibs as a premium that you encourage runners to wear pre/post race.

"Reason for Being an "XXXXXX" Fan"

Is this an idea that also translates to other sports? Have you asked your season ticket holder base why they are fans? This could be a great idea to implement at draft parties, women's 101 clinics, and team appearances (for consumers to fill out while waiting in line for an autograph at a player appearance) for team's looking to build their fan databases.