Nathan Sports is partnering with select run specialty retailers across North America to support the launch of its new light-projecting products and the brand’s new 2014 visibility education initiative, Fire Up Your Run, with one week of in-store events aligning with the Fall Equinox. The program marks Nathan’s foray into active lighting products designed to help athletes see the roads and trails ahead of them.
“As the days get shorter, athletes are forced to run at times with low or no light. It’s crucial that we make sure motorists can see us and that we can see where we’re running. It starts with bright clothing and reflective hits on areas where movement occurs, like your feet, arms or chest, and an effective visibility plan means you have 360-degree visibility,” says Brent Hollowell, VP of Marketing for Nathan. “You should have multiple points of visibility that can be seen from the front, sides and back so drivers can recognize your human form. Having the right visibility gear means you can focus on the run instead of dodging traffic.”
Fire Up Your Run comes on the heels of NATHAN’s successful “What’s Your Hydration Plan?” hydration initiative that launched on the first day of Spring this year. The new campaign will blaze into more than 100 select run specialty retailers with a full week of in-store events Sept. 21 – 28 and will continue to roll out to as many as 300 stores throughout the Fall 2014 season.
During the launch week, retailers will host fun runs, in-store clinics, demo NATHAN products, and create an official start to the season with Fire Up Your Run-themed assets and merchandising. Retailers will utilize a NATHAN custom matchbox-shaped toolkit with over $300 worth of demo products, t-shirts, posters, brochures and stickers for in-store ambassadors, referred to as Firestarters, who will lead the Fire Up Your Run initiative.
“The Firestarter program was developed to train, empower, and reward in-store employees for engaging with customers on the importance to see and be seen and encouraging them to have a 360-degree visibility plan in place,” said Hollowell. “During our last campaign our H2O Pro in-store ambassadors had such a positive impact on conversion rates for hydration in the spring, it only made sense to help enable more on-the-floor experts for visibility during the fall.”
