Special Program Week - Tough Ten Miles

Having a fresh look makes the environment more vivid

MASTERPLAN

TOUGH TEN MILES

Having a fresh look makes the environment more vivid

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SPECIAL PROGRAM WEEK 2 MAY | GROUP 5 Gijs van Beers | CO | 2185170 Sarah Bartholomé | CO | 2188970 Conny Gruter | CO | 2178996 Gerard van Muijden | CE | 2185522 Remy van Zandvoort | CO | 2156411

Commisioned by Coordinator Coach Client Date

Fontys Academy For Creative Industries Sanne Heesbeen Bram Cuijper Tough Ten Miles May 2015 3

PREFACE The Tough Ten Miles (TTM). Four weeks ago still unknown to the greater part of Vivid, but now we are not just aware of TTM, but even small fans of TTM. From the first briefing on the 28th of April client TTM gave inspiration to Vivid. TTM has been coming close to the perfect client to us. A truly fun concept but still enough to work on, to improve and to be creative with. There was enough information to work with and every question has been answered in one way or another.

The client came to us with a clear question, help us get more participants for our runs both the Tough Safari and the Farmers Run. Even though the run started off with a nice amount of runners in 2013 and had an increase with every run, last February the growth was far gone when there was a sudden increase of 50% in runners.

The first step in the process was the project plan with a debriefing, an overview of Vivid as a company and a plan for the next few weeks. Before writing an advice, information is needed. Every team member choose a different marketing communication theory, analysed this and applied the theory to the TTM. The outcome of the analyses were combined in the analysis conclusion that can be found in this final product. From these analysis came some clear handles to work with for the TTM.

In this final product the information from the analyses was used to first choose a target group, than create an advice, with a concept, communication tools, strategy and roadmap and finally a budget for the TTM.

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content chapter

CONCLUSION ANALYSIS PHASE

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chapter

FROM ANALYSIS TO STRATEGY

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chapter

TARGET GROUPS 10 3.1 SPORTY FAMILIES 10 3.2 FUN GROUPS 12 3.3 KIDS 14

chapter

CONCEPTS 16 4.1 FUN GROUPS 16 4.2 FAMILIES 18 4.3 KIDS 20

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02 03 04

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23 COMMUNICATION

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27 BUDGET

chapter

28 CONCLUSION

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chapter

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06 07

REFERENCES

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APPENDIX SURVEY DEBRIEFING INTERVIEW DIRK 6

1. Conclusion analysis phase TOUCH POINT MODEL

Vivid used four marketing models to analyse the external environment.

The touch point analysis emphasised the importance of all the moments when TTM is in contact with the potential customers. The model emphasised how important it can be to provide a correct experience from the beginning to the end including the ‘smallest’ facets. Also the points of improvement which were mentioned in the survey were in accordance with the results of the touch points. The dominating points were:

Below all the marketing models will be recapped:

STP MODEL

The Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning model was based on four groups. The testosterone men, healthy people, families and fun groups are the most interesting target groups.

- The lack of facilities for the people on the sideline - The (after) party of the run.

Stages in Consumer Decision Making and Evaluation of Services

The two most interesting groups were: families could have a ‘family day’ and the fun groups could have their day out together as well. After reading several reviews about Tough Ten Miles’ runs, we can conclude it isn’t known as a very tough run. Having the families and the fun groups as target audience makes the runs of Tough Ten Miles (TTM) a more unique run.

Finally we have the model “Stages in Consumer Decision Making and Evaluation of Services”. This is about how the target group is shown that TTM will take care of their needs. The potentials like to work out, they also want something more adventurous besides going to a fitness centre. They have a social need (like to do something fun in a group), don’t mind getting a bit dirty and appreciate nice locations.

The outcome has shown us that the social need of the potentials is something that is really interesting to base its product and so marketing on. Furthermore that everything what the company does should be done and performed well.

EMPATHY

The Empathy model creates a personality of the potential target group. The result of this model, along with the results of Tough Ten Miles’ survey the following points of improvements: - the price of the runs - the organisation of the barbeque - the (after) party of the run - the communication (concerning the run of 16 kilometres) - location of the showers

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DEBRIEFING

is fun. Both groups don’t mind getting a bit dirty and appreciates nice locations, two facets of the current identity of TTM. Targeting on these two groups puts the run also in more unique position than its current.

The main points of improvement are: - the price of a ticket - the organisation of the barbeque and the after party - the communication with the customers - the location of the showers and the facilities for the people on the sidelines.

These are among other things the most important factors to set a full experience.

From the debriefing the following things got our attention: - The price of the tickets - The lack of targeting - The way how Tough Ten Miles is presenting itself.

- The lack of a clear target group - No experience and a vague concept Something what we found very interesting was that TTM has been elected as the second best family run of 2014 in the Netherlands. (Obstakels. com, 2014)

CONCLUSION

The survey was first of all a great resource that helped during the analyses as confirmation. We noticed that the following points of improvement came back in the results, namely the price, the organisation, the showers, the barbeque and after party. Concluding there are several to improve to create a full experience.

Recapping the whole analysis phase, the best target groups for Tough Ten Miles are families and fun groups. Tough Ten Miles is known to have a less challenging run in comparison with its competitors, this fits the two target groups perfectly. The fun group has a social need, having a fun day out together in a group, something challenging but not too much, the main motive

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2. from analysis to strategy The goal of the advice is to get more runners to sign up for the Tough Ten Miles. From the analysis came some clear information of improvement for Tough Ten Miles. The following point will be leading in the advice to reach our goal.

- The target group - The concept - The experience - The communication - The Ticket price The first focus will be the target group for it will be the guidance for the rest of the advice.

TTM clearly stated they have the noble aim to be a run for everyone. But when you want to be there for everyone, you are actually there for no one.

exclusively, via the children. By targeting on the children you immediately reach the parents who are very much influenced by the opinion of their children (packagingdigest.com, 2013). Also there is a clear trend of entering psychical activities with the idea of improving health (Allender, Cowburn & Foster, 2006). Since there is a clear problem of obesity in both children and adults ( Schokker, Visscher, Nooyens, van Baak & Seidell, 2007) we believe a fun run would be a great response to the demand.

A second target group could be groups of friends who just want a fun day together. The group that doesn’t want to train diehard but love to have a laugh and join the run together with the foresight of having a party afterwards. The day could be suited for both the families and the fun groups.

When describing themselves the TTM want to be a tough and hard obstacle run. They want it to be an achievement to have finished the Tough Ten Miles.

This suggests that the TTM should focus being a tough run for tough runners. When looking at the research however, it is seen that TTM is not seen as one of the tougher miles (Toughtenmiles, 2015).

When profiling itself as a fun run that is suitable for families with all extensions but also groups of friends who want to have a fun day TTM is going to work in a niche where there is not a lot of offering yet.

What the research does suggest is that TTM is a very child friendly run since they have won a price for this second best children’s run in 2014 (obstakels. com, 2015). Also there are less runs with a focus on children than there are adults runs (Schrama, 2015).

When we look at the types of runs that are offered the most, the mud runs are proudly on top. The so called fun & obstacle runs have the lowest 10 % of the market when it comes to runs (obstakels.com, 2014). The fact that the TTM now has an image of not being an amazingly tough run but more of a fun run with also a great kids run makes us suggest the following main target group.

Families with children. The image of TTM already suits this target group, which means they don’t need a total make-over like when TTM decides to focus on the testosterone driven men.

When it comes to marketing and communication we used the guidelines of van Ruler (1996). The campaign needs to be in operation for one year to have a long-term result for several years. In this campaign we want to inform the potential runners about TTM. Also the focus will be about giving information about what a fun and obstacle run is.

It is important to get people and local organizations enthused and activate them so sign up or sponsor events. We will use a transformational positioning strategy. TTM has to change the way the position themselves in the market. A cross medial campaign both offline and online will be used to reach this goal. The physical communication will be the most important part of the campaign. To personally inform and activate potential runners to sign up.

The master plan will be a total advice, strongest when all the aspects will be used.

A way to approach the families could be, but not

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3. target groups 3.1 SPORTY FAMILIES

Right now, TTM has no specific target group.

The focus is on everyone from the age of 4 and above who like mud and obstacle runs (Liere, 2015). This makes it difficult for TTM to be consistent in their ideas and communication.

Based on the briefing, our analyses and the survey results we choose to focus on two adult target groups. The age of both groups are in the following age category:

Couples and families that search adventure outside the city and who frequently work out.

According to Bommel (2013) in the chart on

the next page, “Tabel 1”, 108.913 households in North-Brabant are part of the target group Sporty Families. This is 11% of the households in North-Brabant.

Men and women between 20 – 40 years old The average age of participants of mud and obstacle runs is 29 years and 11 months (Dirk, 2014). Which suggest this to be the best target group. After the survey, it became clear the ratio men/women of the TTM is 60/40 (2015).

They enjoy creative hobbies or workshops in their spare time, for example painting, or drawing. But they also like to be active and work out frequently like cycling or having a walk in the woods. If they visit cultural activities, they are mostly activities like fairs and folk festivals in the nearby area.

Because the focus is on the local environment of the events, we take the municipalities where the events of TTM take place: Hilvarenbeek and Oisterwijk.

The Sporty Families are spread over Brabant, in the chart on the next page,

“TABEL 2”, we can see that 10% of the

households live in Middle-Brabant. That are 18.923 households who are potential participants for TTM: they live near to the locations of the TTM runs, they are very willing when it comes to participating in such an event (sporty and outdoors).

Demographical facts Hilvarenbeek (Oozo.nl, N.D.)

• Residents: 15.090. 7.625 men and 7.465 women • 21% of these residents are between 25-44 years old.

• Households: 6.115, with children (39%) - without children (36%) That’s the second biggest age category, so it is useful to make them aware about TTM.

What is appealing to them?

Carnaval is one definitely one of the yearly events they look forward to But they also enjoy local events like concerts, fairs and folk festivals.

Demographical facts Oisterwijk (Oozo.nl, N.D.)

How do you reach them?

• Residents: 25.800 - 12.695 men and 13.105 women • 21% of these residents are between 25-44 years old.

• Households: 10.815, with children (36%), without children (34%) That’s the third biggest age category.

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They have an average interest in media.

They watch, read and listen as many as the average Brabander. They frequently read magazines like Linda and the Libelle and read regional newspapers like BN/De Stem and Brabants Dagblad. Also they spend an average amount of time on the Internet on social media, Google and holiday platforms.

Source: PON Kennis en Uitvoering (2013)

Source: PON Kennis en Uitvoering (2013)

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PERSONA - DE GRAAFF FAMILY

Here you can see the family de Graaff, a peaceful and active family with father Rein (39), mother Barbara (36) and daughter Melanie (6). They live in Oisterwijk, but they are often not home. If they aren’t working, you can mostly find them outside in their garden. They also like to cycle in the surrounding nature of Oisterwijk. Rein is a full time accountant who likes to stay fit. He is a driven and enthusiastic men who likes to spent time with his family. Barbara works part time at a beauty salon.

She is a little bit a health freak: she likes making fruit shakes, eating and cooking with superfoods and doing exercises. She fears that Melanie doesn’t

3.2 FUN GROUPS

working, studying and working out they like doing things with their friends or social club.

Mostly beverages are included with these activities: it is about relaxing. When it comes to weekends and spare time these people love to have fun with their friends, go to concerts, have a beer and maybe do a spontaneous barbecue.

Women and men who are motivated to improve their lifestyle and sport frequently but mostly they love having a good time.

This target group is relatively broad: in the age of 20-40 years old, so this group consists men and women in different life stages: (working) students, (starting) entrepreneurs, working people. But what those people all have in common is that they are motivated to work out, practise a sport in their spare time and have good time with friends. They are member of a sport club in their environment, like a gym. But also people that practise a team sport are part of this target group.

Students participate in student sport associations as part of the University of their city. In this case, sports like tennis, soccer and basketball at the sport centre of Tilburg University. Besides

get enough exercise, because she really likes to eat candy. With some useful tricks she manages to make Melanie eat healthy and uses candy on special occasions. Furthermore, Rein and Barbara love to spend time with family and friends, that’s why they often organize a barbecue with family and friends.

They also like to go on holiday to Center Parcs to escape from their daily routine. Melanie is an active girl who likes to dance and play football after school with classmates. Also she likes playing with her friends.

WHAT IS APPEALING TO THEM?

They are familiar with sport events like marathons, city/urban runs, sport events organised by their own sport club or society. It could be that they aren’t familiar with obstacle & mud runs, but after being aware of them they are willing to participate in one, since it sounds like working out and having fun.

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For those who already have participated an obstacle & mud run, it might be appealing to

HOW DO YOU REACH THEM?

participate in a fun mud run with a strong theme.

According to Parker (2012), it can be a great motivation to be chased by crazed, brain-eating zombies in an obstacle course race.

This target group is online on social media. In the age category 18-25 years, 74% of the younger internet users are on social media like Facebook or Twitter on their smartphones. For the age category 25-35 years this is 58%, with is also quite a lot.

Source: CBS (2013)

PERSONA - SIMON VAN HAAG (30)

This is Simon, a sympathetic and undertaking guy that lives in a nice apartment in the city centre of Tilburg. He owns his own online ICT business for 6 years after studying ICT & Media Design. In his spare time he likes to build computers, travel around the world when possible, being active and staying in shape, dating and hanging out with friends. Also, he joined a sport cycle team to stay active. Also he likes to run. Yearly he walks 2-3 marathons with his closest friends. But he wants to do something different. He found out about TTM through his cycling team: a mud & obstacle run in Hilvarenbeek with a very local touch and a nice party. You can sign up as a team and it looks really nice to participate because of the location at Safari Park Beekse Bergen. After the run there are hot tubs, warm showers a party and most of all: beer to celebrate victory. He is willing to pay the â‚Ź40, because he has enough money, now he is going to convince his group of friends.

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3.3 KIDS

In total there are 6.693 children between the age of 4 and 14 in municipalities Oisterwijk and Hilvarenbeek. This means that the target group children is very well represented in the area of the runs. Children from the age of 4 until 13 are attending pre-school. Usually they are participating in one or two sports like soccer and swimming. Children have a high level of energy and are very sensitive to external impulses.

Most children have friends to hang out with after school and have high social needs. They search for these needs offline and online.

Currently there is a trend that children stay inside their houses playing video games for far too long (Classroom20.com). They do not get enough exercise and are commonly eating junk food. In the year 2013 12,1% of the total children population between the age of 2 and 20 got overweight or are extremely overweight (Obesity) (Convenantgezondgewicht.nl, 2014 & 2013). Since 1981 the amount of children who are overweight has been rising. It has now been declared a social problem. The government started a campaign to reduce the amount of adults and children with overweight. JOGG is an institute which supports municipalities in the fight against overweight. They do this by supporting local sport events and giving advice on how to create a more healthy environment (Rijksoverheid.nl, 2015).

The TTM organizes a special KIDS obstacle run during their events, both the Farmers Fun and Tough Safari. These kids can participate in this mud and obstacle course from the age of 4 until 13th. When becoming older they can join the adult run. The kids course has two different distances, 0.5 km and 2.0km. These runs are specially made for kids, the obstacles are adjusted to fit their abilities. The TTM Farmers Fun is held in Oisterwijk and the Tough Safari is held in Hilvarenbeek. Below are some facts about the percentage of children in these cities

Oisterwijk (Oozo.nl, N.D.)

• Total amount of citizens: 25.800 • Total amount of children between the age of 4 and 14: 4.128 (16%) • Total of households with children: 3.893 (36%)

Hilvarenbeek (Oozo.nl N.D.)

• Total amount of citizens: 15.090 • Total amount of children between the age of 4 and 14: 2.565 (17%) • Total of households with children: 2.385 (39%)

tabel 4: Ondergewicht, normaal gewicht en overgewicht (bevolking van 4 jaar of ouder)

Source: CBS (2012)

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PERSONA - HENRY WOOD (6) education: pre-school Henry is a very active child. Besides his activities at pre-school he plays central forward at his local soccer team. Also he takes swimming lessons with his school. Henry his grades are average but he scores the highest of his class with gymnastics.

Henry is a very common pre-school student. Henry can’t wait until recess everyday so he can meet up with his friend Jack who is in another class. Henry and Jack always play soccer with a lot of other friends during. Henry playing central forward and Jack as goalkeeper. Henry and Jack are best friends.

Also the parents of Henry and Jack are best friends.

When Jack and Henry have a play date the parents often join and hang out with each other. Henrys dad works a lot at a pharmaceutical institute.

Henrys mom is a typical housewife. She takes care of Henry and is mostly involved in raising him.

When Henry is grown up he wants to be a fire fighting astronaut. When Henry is at a playdate with Jack or on a play date with any other friend he loves to play outside and use their imagination.

Henry always play the fire fighter or astronaut.

Henry enjoys his life and likes to be active.

PERSONA - EDWIN HOOGSTRA (12) education: pre-school

Edwin likes to play video games. After school he gets picked up by his mom and goes home to play League of Legends. Edwin is not attending any sports related activities. He does not like to eat vegetables and his favourite meal are French fries with not one but two frikandellen. His mom divorced his dad when he was 3 years old. His mom raised him all alone. Edwin does not have any contact with his dad. Since Edwin is raised by a single mom, they do not have a lot of money. This sometimes brings tension into their home. Edwin escapes the tension by playing video games. Edwin also is a little overweighed. Because of his lack of exercise and bad food choices he gained a lot of weight. At school Edwin has some friends. One of his friends is Rick. Rick also likes to play League of Legends. Together like to play games. But Rick also likes to play outside. Rick plays Hockey and he is very good at it. Most times Rick takes Edwin with him to play Hockey. Because of that Edwin is considering to maybe join the Hockey team. He really likes the sport and also likes to spend time with his friend Rick.

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4. concepts 4.1 Fun groups

CHALLENGING FUN

VISION: “WE ARE TOUGH TOGETHER” INTRO

From the target group analysis of fun groups we figured out that besides the sport aspect they also think that fun is an important factor with sports. They are motivated to participate in a mud & obstacle run when there is a fun element in it. TTM already uses a ‘themed’ run based on the location, like Farmers Fun & Tough Safari. But after survey research is discovered there are some important elements missing. For the fun groups, it is important to have fun elements in it: they like sports for sure, but they need some entertaining and relaxation (with beverages) during the run & afterwards. This is the point where TTM needs to pay attention to.

For example, out of the survey we also can conclude that TTM needs to put more effort in the event after the run, the Barbecue and the event (ToughTenMiles, 2015). They need to create a total experience for the fun groups that will fit their expectations. Challenging and funny obstacles to begin with. It needs to be a day with solidarity. And at the end, after arriving at the finish, it is time to party.

ELEMENTS + REASONS (CORE VALUES) SOLIDARITY - “I DARE YOU TO RUN”

At the end of the day, for fun groups there is a common interest: it is all about fun and recreation. Challenging obstacles combined with funny and themed elements give them motivation to finish the run (Parker, 2012).

To make the whole experience complete, it is nice to finish the event with a nice party with food, beverages and a lot of cosiness.

INTERACTIVE

At this point, the runs of TTM have obstacles were volunteers stand next to, to keep an eye on the participants. But why not make the obstacles interactive? If these volunteers play an active role as an actual obstacle, there will be more interaction between the participants and volunteers. For example, the volunteers stand on the way the participants need to get through. They beat them with big “cotton swaps” to make it a challenge.

PROGRAM FARMERS FUN

The first Fun groups start around 14:00, depending on the poule they’re are in.

Already by arriving at the event location, it is clear that it is farmer themed: a big farm with obstacles based on the place they are, a lot of mud, hay stacks, big tires, taut ropes, and the list goes on.

GROUP ACTION PHOTOS

A sporting challenge is more interesting to do together with friends. In this case, there is also a social need to be fulfilled for the participants: it is more fun to participate in a group, even more when your friends are enthusiastic about participating. This run is a way to get a group to the end and celebrate victory.

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To create a great team spirit, before/after action photos of the groups are made by volunteers of TTM. Photo #1 is right before getting dirty. Groups can see the group photo immediately. After the run, another picture is taking where they are really tough and dirty.

Groups can buy the before/after action photo and it is a great reminder of the Farmer Fun run.

INTERACTIVE OBSTACLES

TOUGH SAFARI

During the run, volunteers of TTM play an active role as real life obstacles the fun groups need to pass. They are dressed like farmers and have big ‘cotton swaps’ and try to push the participants in the mud, because they enter a ‘prohibited area’.

Mad chickens (costumes worn by volunteers) show up out of the fields to chase the participants.

These are examples TTM can apply to make it more like a fun race. During the race after every mile it is possible to get hydrating sport drinks, water and energy bars to get a power boost, also at the end when things get tough. With signs the groups can see where they need to go, and how many miles they still have to go.

It’s time to rumble at the Tough Safari Jungle! The first poule is ready to go at 14:00, then they start with an adventurous safari themed run through Beekse Bergen. Also as with the Farmers Fun, at arrival the groups can get an expression of the obstacles, but by adding interactive obstacles with help the of volunteers, TTM creates a new and funny dimension to their run.

INTERACTIVE OBSTACLES

During the run, volunteers of TTM play an active role as real life obstacles the fun groups need to pass. They are dressed like monkeys and have big ‘cotton swaps’ and try to beat the participants in the mud, because they enter a ‘prohibited area’.

From a distance, you think they are real animals, but when you come closer they suddenly start chasing your group. Also the opportunity to get hydrating sport drinks, water and energy bars are available every mile of the participants run. In this race it is also important to get indicated how many miles they still have to go.

RELAXING AND PARTYING AFTERWARDS

After the run, the fun groups are exhausted, dirty and hungry. But they are still in a good mood and enjoyed the race. But for now, they want to shower, relax, eat and have a beer. Right after the finish, groups can get in the hot-tube with a nice cold beer. After that, they can take a warm shower and prepare for a tough barbecue starting at 17:00 also themed like the Farmers Fun: delicious marinated meet, chicken, (grilled) vegetables, etc. Everyone can suggest if they will participate at the tough barbecue and can buy vouchers for it. After the barbecue, there will be a tough party with nice party music for the groups who want to stay.

At both themed events, the day will be divided for the different kind of groups that participate. The event after the run is mostly focused on the fun groups since the families have already been there since the early morning at that point.

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4.2 Families

in TTM’ product, families can join together and at the after party they can meet new people, talk about the obstacles, the run and many more.

VISION: “A FAMILY DAY TOGETHER IN ADVENTUROUS NATURE”

ADVENTURES IN THE NATURE

This is something very important for the families. They are also quite picky concerning this, because they spent a lot of time outside and so they have seen already numerous sceneries.

INTRO

The second target group is the healthy, recreating, social family that appreciates adventures in the nature. Furthermore they use media as an average Brabant family.

Concluding from the analysis phase TTM already has a part of this target group as customer and TTM has even been elected as the second best family fun run in 2014. The families want to stay healthy and like to do sports, but also want to have a nice scenery when they are working out outside. They are a perfect fit for Tough Ten Miles, the families can have their family day in combination with doing exercises outside.

PROGRAM FARMERS FUN

The day starts with all the excited participants gathering at the location in Oisterwijk. The registration will be from 9:30 till 11:00. The families are ready to do some exercises together on this recreational family day. By arriving at the event’s location, it is clear that it is farmer themed: a big farm with obstacles based on the place where it is organized, a lot of mud, hay stacks, big tires, taut ropes and the list goes on.

ELEMENTS + REASONS (CORE VALUES) FAMILY DAY This is an important element for the family, they want to have a nice day out together and be outside.

SPORTS MEETS GAMES

The key of the children’s run is to combine the run with playful games. The volunteers play an important part in this as well, they will be dressed up as farm animals. The first round is for the youngest children at 11:00, the parents are helping preparing their cool kid. It is optional to run together with the child(ren) for the parents in this category.

Half an hour later the 7 to 9 years old category can start the run at 11:30. Of course the run is adapted to their age, so this run will be more challenging. This is done for every category of course. Finally it is the turn to the last children’s category at 12:00, namely the 10 to 13 years old children.

HEALTHY LIFE

The target group is very engaged with living healthy, not only concerning food, also exercising. Something that TTM offers in combination with an experience in nature.

SPORTS

All family members like to do a particular sports or sports in general. This is the basic element of TTM’ product.

SOCIAL

The family target group likes to socialise with their family and friends. That is the reason why they organise BBQs regularly.

The social element is represented very well

TATTOO + PHOTO

At 13:00 the children are done running.

Then there is an hour break, parents can

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fresh up their children, prepare themselves and eat something together. Tough Ten Mils will show some pictures that have been taken on a screen. Keep the experience floating. There will also be a temporary tattoo stand for the cool kids.

After the break, at 14:00, it is time for the adults to start their adventurous run.

Since most parents will be running during these three hours, that’s why during those hours a side program or the children will take place.

as well, they will be dressed up as safari adventurers and safari animals. At 13:00 it’s time for a break. The families gather together, the children talk about that amazing cheetah they have seen, how cool the rhino obstacle was and how tough it was.

Of course the parents are so proud of their kid.

INTERACTIVE OBSTACLES

14:00, it is time for the strong dads and moms to show their power. During the run, volunteers of TTM will play an interactive obstacle the runners need to pass. They are dressed like monkeys and have big ‘cotton swaps’ and try to push the participants in the mud, because they enter a ‘prohibited area’. From a distance, you think they are real animals, but coming closer, they chase your group. Also the opportunity to get hydrating sport drinks, water and energy bars are available every mile the participants run. In this race it is also important to get indicated how many miles they still have to go.

BBQ TIME

At 17:00 everyone is done with their obstacle run, it is time to bring in the steaks, sausages, vegetables and the drinks. Some families will prefer to fresh up before the party, others are getting hungry and rather eat and drinks something first. This is the reason why it is very important to leave the choice to the participants. It is time for everyone to relax, have nice fun talks about the run and socialize. The participation of the volunteers concerning the entertaining part is something they will definitely talk about during the after party. The families will go home earlier than the other participants, because they are quite tired of the whole energetic day and the children have to go bed at a certain time.

TOUGH SAFARI

The day kicks off at 10:30, the registration desk opens then. It will be open till 12:00.

The families, and especially the children are very excited. They have been to the Beekse Bergen before, but now they will come so close to the animals!

RELEASE THE WILD ANIMAL INSIDE OF YOU There will be a face paint stand during the whole event to release the wild animal inside. The key to the children’s run is to combine the run with playful games. The volunteers play an important part in this

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4.3 kids CORE VALUES Children Experience Teamwork Development Bonding

Giving children a chance to develop themselves by working together and creating a bond with themselves and each other.

THE CONCEPT

The KIDS obstacle run of the TTM has 250 participants. With this concept we want to raise the number of participants for the KIDS obstacle run. By getting more children to join the run, you get easy access to the parents. Why not join the adult run when they are there anyway and make it a family day. The children can do it all by themselves or together with their mom and/ or dad. The TTM has a 5 mile and 10 mile run for adults and a 0.5 km and 2 km for the children.

Since the TTM has 3 age groups for children, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-13 years. We propose a third distance of 4 km for the older children who like to have more of a challenge.

WATCH OUT! CROSSING WILDLIFE

Every kid has a favourite animal. It can be a cat or a dog or maybe something exotic like a tiger or

a dolphin. When kids use their imagination they sometimes even pretend they are animals when playing together. Why not create a place where the children can really be the animals? Make their fantasy become reality!

To make their fantasy become a reality, an immersive experience needs to be created. From the moment of signing up until the end when they are in their car driving home it all needs to be the an experience. For a child an obstacle run can be very challenging. To overcome their fears or by achieving a big goal, by reaching that finish

they will develop as a person. They’ll learn not to be afraid anymore and that sometimes it is hard to reach your goals, but when trying everything is possible. When a child is running with a friend they can work together and overcome the obstacles as a team. Even when a child signs up by himself, the children will help each other, they won’t be alone. An obstacle course is a very good opportunity to practise teamwork. A child will learn what he is capable of and most of the time, this will be even more than he or she ever thought.

TOUGH SAFARI

The Tough Safari obstacle run is the course through the Beekse Bergen Safari park. When creating a wildlife experience, the Beekse Bergen is a perfect location. But the experience starts at home. The child decides he or she wants to participate in the Tough Ten Miles. Together with their parent they go to the website to sign up for the Though Safari. The receiving of the ticket will be the first point where the experience starts. For the Tough Safari the ticket will look like an old fashioned map of a route through a jungle. On the

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ticket the message to bring your parents must be very clear. The target is not only to let children participate but the parents as well.

to that of an animal. So when they are done with the course they can see that they were as fast as a bear or even a cheetah! The child will compare him or herself to that animal. The fastest child gets a price and the title of King or queen of the Jungle. The King of the jungle gets free entrance tickets for the next Tough Safari and can wear a crown the whole day like a real king or queen of the Jungle!

TOUGH TED

When the families arrive at the Beekse Bergen they will be welcomed by the mascot Tough Ted. Tough Ted will be a strong and friendly guy that likes to do some obstacle runs and entertain children. Tough Ted will be the face for every TTM. Tough Ted challenges the children to do the obstacle course. Also some merchandise can be made with Tough Ted. Tough Ted needs to be an example for the children. A child wants to be Tough Ted when he grows up.

The concept for the Tough Safari is to let children be animals. To achieve that a competition will be held. The competition is about being the best disguised animal. We try to get as much children as possible to dress up like their favourite animal.

For the best dressed animal there will be a price.

Before they start the run they can get some makeup to change their face in an animal. Transformed into an animal the children will enter the obstacle course. During the course their time will be tracked. When they reach the finish a calculation will be made to see their average speed through the course. Their average speed will be compared

During the course there are some course supervisors. They will get dressed as wildlife rangers. Some of them drive around the course in a ranger vehicle. The rangers help the children with the obstacles and maintain structure during the course. Also they will facilitate a photo moment where all the children, dressed like an animal, can dive into the mud and make a picture to take home as a reminder about their adventure as an animal through the jungle.

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If a child can’t or doesn’t want to run by himself he can bring a parent to do it with. When the run is finished the run for adults starts. During that time the children need to be entertained while the adults are running the course. The facilities have to be all in order. Like a warm shower and changing rooms so the children can get clean and dry. A part of the side program could be a loudest roar contest. Also some monkey bars

and climbing frames in a themed area named the Monkey Cage. A play park for children who don’t want to do the obstacle but who are there to support their friend, brother or sister.

FARMERS FUN

The Farmers Fun is an obstacle course through Het genieten Oisterwijk. During this course the participator will get in touch with themed obstacles based on a famers theme. Also for this edition an immersive experience needs to be created. Also this one starts at home when they buy their ticket. This ticket will be a driver license for tractors. On this ticket the information will be the information about the event and the message to take their parents with them. When they arrive at Oisterwijk, Tough Ted dressed as a farmer will welcome them.

Also for the Farmers Fun we ask the children to dress up. This time to dress like a farmer. During the Farmers Fun the children are the farmers that go through an obstacle course at their farm.

During the obstacle run they need to collect farm elements like potatoes, carrots, hay, milk etc.

With these products they can do games after the obstacle course. During the course some farm animals will come by. Some of them are running the course with them and also the obstacle supervisor is a farm animal. As a farmer you can run the course together with the farm animals.

But they are obstacles too, all the children have to stop for the crossing cows.

After the course the children can do games in the barn. They can try to pull a tractor and show how strong they are. Or they can feel how heavy a tractor is. Also games like cow milking, painting a wooden shoe and making cheese are available. One of the biggest games will be ‘pleeverstoppertje’. During this event a toilet is placed on a high structure of 3 meters from the ground. Every child gets a toilet roll. After the start signal they’ll all try to throw there toilet roll into the toilet. What you get is a huge web of toilet rolls. And think about it yourself. Who does not like it to throw a toilet roll? Also a rodeo bull can be placed where children and parents can try to maintain their balance long enough. With the farming elements they collected during the course the children can make their own snacks.

For example with the potato they can make their own chips. To finish the day a competition of babe catching. Try to catch a babe as fast as you can.

This is a game for children and the adults. The day is full of farming experience and the children will also learn something about the farmers life.

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5. communication Looking at the past two years, we can see that the TTM has never had enough participants in their runs to break even. Because of this it is very important to invest their your communication strategy to reach the people and convince them to sign up for one of the TTM runs. But what we have heard from the organization is that they don’t have enough time for this, cause of a lack of manpower. However as a start-up organization it is absolutely necessary to put the hours in promotion to generate publicity. Sending emails to local sport associations and sending flyers is not the best way to spend your valuable time. A good communication strategy with the goal to attract participants and sponsors to the TTM, is important.

is all about the fun, instead of the performance.

This is a valuable point to both the families and the fun groups. These core values will be implemented in the communication means the organization uses to position themselves more clearly.

Now a days it is almost necessary to implement an CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) story in your organization. CSR can help inspire other companies and participants which makes them want to be connected to your company. In the analysis it has been found that there is an increasing amount of people with obese and overweight in the Netherlands. This could be a good, reasonable and meaningful message as an organization to tell to your target audience.

You want to inspire people to do more physical exercise and this event makes it even fun to do so. Also organizations would be quicker interested in sponsoring the event since it shows them supporting your good cause. Bringing a meaningful story, will lead to more participants and more sponsors since they all want to identify themselves with TTM.

IDENTITY

It is important to look at the position the TTM has in the market and if this matches the chosen identity and target group. TTM does not have a clear identity with core values which makes it hard to brand and position themselves. When people feel connected to your message and can identify themselves with your company the chance of generating a fan group is much bigger.

Creating a fan base and a clear minimum amount of participants will also make it easier to attract sponsors.

The first step is to get clear what your organization stands for and to have a clear goal, what do you want to achieve with your event. We think that TTM should communicate to the previous mentioned target groups that their events is all about solidarity, friendship, amusement, sociability and having a good time with each other. These core values project that it

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At last, TTM has already a logo, but no slogan.

We think that the slogan Are You Tough Enough? gives an extra dimension to the identity. This slogan is an identity tool which can be translated to all the communication

quicker interested to sponsor your event if you visit them and tell your story in person.

SPONSORING

means of the organization, from promotion till merchandise. Funny enough: it is a degeneration of the slogan of the most popular obstacle run in the world, the Strong Viking Run, called Are You Strong Enough?.

In the idea of the CSR story, you could add a catchy slogan, like Beat Obese, to give an extra dimension to the corporate social responsibility message to inspire potential sponsors and participants. The underlying message is: “Tough Ten Miles is the most fun obstacle run for family and friends, who wants to inspire people and organizations to do physical exercise and prevent overweight and obese.”

PHYSICAL COMMUNICATION

In the beginning of your promotion campaign it is necessary that you visit your target group physically. Tell them your story and ambition yourself, tell them why that they should participate in this event. When people have seen a friendly passionate person who they connect with the organisation, they will sign up quicker. This will also result in more mouth to mouth advertisement which is the best promotion that you can have as an organization. Organizations will also be

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Looking at the results of the survey, we can see that one of the most pointed improvements for people would be to lower the price of the events. 40 euros is too much money they stated. This could also be an obstacle when trying to reach a new audience to sign up.

In order to reduce the costs and lower the administration price we suggest getting companies to sponsor the obstacles in the run. Especially the local companies could be interested in sponsoring a big obstacle in the run for their own promotion. Our advice is to use the CSR storytelling to inspire the local companies to sponsor the events. It’s important for TTM to visit these companies and tell their story by using a corporate movie about the event and a visual of an obstacle that they could sponsor in exchange for positive publicity in the run.

For example: In the run the local butcher could sponsor an obstacle. It could be different ‘sausages’ where people have to jump over or a huge air pillow of a sausage where people have to climb over. On these obstacles you could project the names of the local butcher with a catchy slogan, like Beat My Meat or It Could Be Worst?. These funny obstacles will be remembered by the participants. They will talk about the ‘funny Keurslager sausage’, which is automatically great promotion for the local butchers.

A great scenario would be if every local company wants to sponsor his own obstacle in the run and would try to be the most original and popular obstacle of the run. Making this like a competition between the obstacles with a price for the best obstacle in the run.

This could lead to more co-creation of the event and a better connection between the sponsors and your organization. Eventually if you can attract more sponsors to finance your obstacles in the runs, you could reduce the costs for the organization and could reduce

the price to a more acceptable level. At the end this could help generate more people for the event.

to sign up. Use an inspiring movie to trigger the senses and bring use some posters as a reminder to the people at the locations you have visited.

PARTICIPANTS

Children are also an essential target group to approach. Visit primary schools and tell them that you want to inspire children to do this children run. It is good for their health and the fight against overweight and obese. Also the run is fun and good for teambuilding.

We developed an inspiring mascot Tough Ted, who is the figurehead of this campaign for the kids and will join in the school visits to create an experience. Using an inspiring video for the children, it is a great tool to enthuse them. After school the children will run to their parents to tell them that they want to do the TTM kids run with Tough Ted. Like this you will immediately reach the parents

Physical communication makes your message more personal and people are more interested to participate in the runs. Looking at the survey we can see that 48,7% of the respondents said that they came in contact with TTM by friends. This means that people who have been exposed to TTM are likely to speak about it to friends. By getting more mouth to mouth promotion you can easily make your runs grow.

We strictly recommend the organization to visit local sport associations (athletics, football, etc.), scouting, boot camp groups and even other associations who are not sport related. These organisations are the ultimate key to the fun groups. Present your event and tell your story in the dressing rooms or sport canteens and inspire people

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ONLINE COMMUNICATION

Also in the survey results we saw that almost half of the responders came in touch with TTM through friends (48,7%) and 36,5% said through social media. This is why TTM also has to use online communication means. We featured some different means which can be improved in your campaign. It is highly recommend that you have someone in your organization who is active on your platforms to directly respond to reactions or questions.

SOCIAL MEDIA

According to an article on Frankwatching.com (2015) about the social media trends of 2015 it is necessary for TTM to use social media in a more effective way. Add content to your site and to this the right way at the right time. Use somebody in the organization to monitor activities and give reactions to people who are responding. Use the data of your participants for the development of your events.

Also investigate if it is interesting to use other social media platforms (like Instagram or Pinterest). See if your target group uses these platforms. Facebook is no longer the only market leader.

Use video content to get your message across to your target group and promote the event. An

inspiring visual will create reactions and will be shared with friends.

Use social media as a promotional tool and as an experience tool for your participants at the event.

Make sure the event is being covered online. Make group photos, post video’s make sure the event will be totally online.

WEBSITE

The website will be the spinning wheel of the online campaign. This is the platform where people will read all the information about the event and get inspired by movie clips, photo’s, etcetera. Very important, it is necessary to keep your website ‘alive’. Post new comments and content regularly. Delete messages and special actions when they are finished. And make sure everything looks professional. No typos, no old content.

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6. budget

The following brief budget is based on the current percentages of adult and children participants but then with an amount of the projected 1500 participants. The price of the ticket for adults in this budget has been changed to â‚Ź30,- since we advise a lowering of the price.

The not insightful numbers have been let out of the budget. This is a rough idea of how the budget may look when choosing to implement the given concept.

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7. conclusion 3 weeks ago, Tough Ten Miles came to us with a clear question. Help us get more participants for our runs.

Since the first edition there has been an exponential growth in the amount of runners until last February, the amount of participants had suddenly increased with almost 50%.

After using 6 different marketing and communication models to analyse TTM, analysing the briefing and reading the survey TTM did we came with the following points that need some improvement.

- No clear target group.

When you focus on everyone you focus on no one.

- Concept isn’t a complete concept yet.

Tough Safari and Farmers fun a clear theme’s but no true concepts yet.

- Communication not clear and incomplete.

With current communication there is no full coverage and often things are not clear.

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TICKET PRICE IS TOO HIGH.

Also found in the analysis are the following points that will be focused on when improving the previous points.

- Experience trend. We live in an experience economy. It has even come so far that consumers expect to have an experience and will be less impressed if this is not the case.

- Locale themes. The theme’s and the fact that they are very local is a popular aspect of the runs, but this can be extended to a much bigger concept.

We advise two different target groups that suit the current image of TTM. The families and the fun groups. Though the concept will be most active when using both target groups. Also the current themes of the Farmers Fun and Tough Safari are a great base for an experience concept. By making a total coverage concept TTM will be able to brand themselves properly and position themselves in the market more clearly. The concept will be focused on the families and the fun groups. For the actual days of the events, the concept will be used to create an experience for every visitor, runner and no runner. To market the new and improved TTM a new communication strategy and new communication means have been made. The new communication is directed to the new target group and is being used to position TTM in the market as a Fun and obstacle run. Great for families and fun groups.

- High percentage of children participating.

Compared to the amount of runners in the adult run, the children’s percentage is extremely high.

- Currant image of TTM. The TTM is seen as a fun but not really tough run with a great location.

Relatively low amount of Fun and obstacle runs, relatively low amount of children’s runs.

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When looking at the current offering of runs, the mud, urban and adult runs are very well represented but Fun and obstacle and children’s runs have a lot less representation.

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Bighelaar, S. v., & Akkermans, M. (2013, October). Bevolkingstrends 2013: Gebruik en gebruikers van sociale media. Opgehaald van www.cbs.nl: http://www.cbs.nl/NR/rdonlyres/06A12225-495E-4620-80F6F2A53E819957/0/20131001b15art.pdf Bommel, M. v. (2013). Culturele Smaak van Brabanders: Een onderzoek naar de verschillende cultuurconsumenten.

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http://obstakels.com/2014/12/23/uitslag-obstacle-run-van-het-jaar-2014/ Obstakels.com. (2015, ). Kalender 2015. Retrieved 19-5, 2015, from: http://obstakels.com/kalender/ Obstakels.com (4-12-2014,) Kalender 2015. Retrieved 19-5, 2015, from: http://obstakels.com/2014/12/04/obstacle-run-jaaroverzicht-2014/ Oozo.nl. (2015). Wetenswaardigheden, cijfers en statistieken over de gemeente Hilvarenbeek. Hilversum: Bing Media B.V. Opgehaald van http://www.oozo.nl/cijfers/hilvarenbeek Oozo.nl. (2015). Wetenswaardigheden, cijfers en statistieken over de gemeente Oisterwijk. Hilversum: Bing Media B.V. Opgehaald van http://www.oozo.nl/cijfers/oisterwijk Packagingdigest.com (16-10-2013) The undeniable influence of kids Retrieved 19-5-2015 from: http://www.packagingdigest.com/packaging-design/undeniable-influence-kids Parker, R. (2012, July 14). Zombies give runners additional motivation for obstacle course race. Opgehaald van The Denver Post: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_21076700/zombies-give-runners-additional-motivation-obstacle-course-race PartyDog feestwinkel. (2015). Feestartikelen Gouden kroon voor kinderen. Retrieved 5 21, 2015, from PartyDog feestwinkel: http://www.partydog.nl/product/10026915/feestartikelen-gouden-kroon-voor-kinderen-party.html?utm_source=beslist&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=beslist&utm_content=discardeddefault Rijksoverheid.nl (2015), Programma’s gezond gewicht en gezonde leefstijl. Retrieved on 19-5-2015 from : http:// www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/overgewicht/programma-s-gezond-gewicht-gezonde-leefstijl Schmink webshop colours. (2015). SUPERSTAR PALETTEN EN SCHMINKPAKKETTEN. Retrieved 5 21, 2015, from Schmink webshop colours: http://www.schminkwebshop.nl/superstar-paletten-en-schminkpakketten_4/ Schokker. D.F, Visscher.T.L.S, Nooyens. A.C.J, van Baak. M.A & Seidell. J.C, (2007) Prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Netherlands. Retrieved on: 20-5-2015 from: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467789X.2006.00273.x/abstract?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false Schrama, D. (2015, May 20). Obstakels.com: How many Kids Runs. (C. Gruter, Interviewer) ToughTenMiles. (2015). Resultatenoverzicht Enquête.

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SPECIAL PROGRAM WEEK 2 MAY | GROUP 5 VIVID