« Marriage is imminent... | Main | Too much of a good thing? »
July 25, 2005
Seventy point what???
That's what most athletes say when you ask them about the WTC's new half iron series. If you are a non triathlete, or are mathematically challenged, 70.3 is the traditional distance in miles of a half ironman distance race. WTC is using the term "70.3" to brand its half ironman events and their new half series.
Well I don't get it, 70.3 is about as exciting as watching new homes pop up in Clermont. The name does absolutely nothing for me, and I think I have a fairly good marketing sense. I was wondering if it was just me, so I performed a random survey at one of our recent events to see if athletes knew what 70.3 was as it pertains to triathlons.
Here are just a few of the responses I received:
"The average water temperature at an Ironman race"
"WTC's net worth in millions"
"The IQ of the marketing genius that came up with the 70.3 name"
"The number of people out of 1,000 surveyed that may embrace the name"
"The distance from Clermont to the WTC offices in Tarpon Springs"
Seeing how we are a family oriented website, I cannot print the best ones.
If you live outside the USA, you are really going to be confused. With the USA being the only major country that still uses miles for measurement, the name is going to have to be converted to meters. If my math is correct, the international events will be called 113.14. That's the length of a half Ironman in kilometers.
Hey if I'm wrong and this number game really works, I'll have to rename our TriAmerica International Distance Series races to "32.0". That's the distance in miles of a traditional international distance race.
My gut feeling is that this will go down as the biggest marketing blunder in triathlon history. Now if only had a "New" Coke right now....
Posted by Fred at July 25, 2005 04:09 AM | More in: Triathlon
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://blog.sommersports.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/94
Comments
I agree 100%. We had a coach at our local high school that wanted all the fans to hold up 4 fingers at the start of the 4th quarter and cheer "4th Quarter ... 4th Quarter". To say the least it was laughed at, ignored, and he was gone at the end of the 2nd season????
Mike
Posted by: Mike at August 2, 2005 05:03 PM
Interestingly as far as I'm aware you can't trademark numbers. So anyone can put on a race and call it a 70.3... unlike Ironman
So while you couldn't have the St Pete Ironman without WTC permission, there is nothing to stop you having a St Pete 70.3 triathlon.
Posted by: ++Mark at August 3, 2005 06:10 AM
I reckon 'hundred thirteen fourteen' sounds better anyway. By the way, the average Brit still talks in miles, outside of their racing at least, or don't we rate as a major country any more?
Posted by: steve at August 3, 2005 12:12 PM
I raced yesterday in the Great Floridian Triathalon, and after the grueling 14:37 minutes it took me to finish, I was too out of it to ask for a Finisher's t-shirt, and nobody gave me one. I did get a finisher medal from someone....but I was wondering if there is a way to have the T-shirt mailed to me in Cleveland?
Thanks!
Liz
Posted by: Liz Ferro at October 23, 2005 03:32 PM