When it comes to telling the story of a mass participation event, specialist media company Pic2Go notes that images can say more than words. A release from the company adds that ‘Event organisers know that great photos can capture the excitement of the day, and in an ever-demanding world of social media it’s now all about making these photos instantly accessible… This is where Pic2Go technology is changing the landscape of event photography.’
Pic2Go allows instant social media sharing of event photos and automated photo identification for competitors, delivering benefits for both brands and participants during an event.
Used internationally at major marathons, half marathons, cycling, endurance and other race events, the patent pending Pic2Go technology uses unique 2D barcodes on race numbers to enable competitors to be identified quickly and efficiently. It then sends the right photos to the right competitor’s personal social media photo album, so they are immediately sharing their experiences with friends and family.
Pic2Go adds that for brands the potential is huge. Branded event photos being shared quickly with event participants and their wider social circles help to drive engagement – creating ‘extensive marketing reach for event organisers, sponsors and charities.’
Since introducing the technology to the UK in 2014, Pic2Go barcodes have been used to catalogue images of over 100,000 participants in UK races.
The organiser of the Nuffield Health Shrewsbury Half Marathon, UKRunChat, reported 1.21 million image impressions on Facebook within 48 hours of the race on 19 June 2016, thanks to a team from Sussex Sport Photography operating the Pic2Go system. By the time the race winner had crossed the line over 3,000 photos had gone out; and as the last runners were finishing this had increased to over 22,000.
All images from the day were fully uploaded, tagged and shared to registered runners within a few hours of the last person crossing the line.
Moreover, with a 09:00 BST start, by lunchtime runners were enthusiastically re-posting and sharing their images from Facebook on other social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram.
In order to receive photos ‘live’ on the day, runners were invited to pre-register two weeks prior to the race. Pic2Go’s automated photo tagging then helped with rapid identification of multiple runners on race day. The Pic2Go system immediately shares photos with the registered participants using a sponsor’s branding, ‘creating albums in Facebook for them so they can see and share their achievement while emotions are still high.’
Event Director Joe Williams at UKRunChat said “The Nuffield Health Shrewsbury Half Marathon was UKRunChat’s first event and we wanted to give our online community the opportunity to take their virtual friendships further by meeting up and racing together. With our social presence I knew from the beginning that we would use Pic2Go. It’s such a perfect fit with UKRunChat from a social sharing perspective and gives fantastic value to runners.”
He continued, “The results have been phenomenal. In addition to our 1.2 million impressions on Facebook we had a 9.9 million reach on Twitter on the day of the event – statistics more akin to much larger races.
“For us it was really important to tell a story of the event for the runners – not just providing one or two standard running portrait shots, but capturing the context of the day, the race location and their achievement. Pic2Go enabled us to do this perfectly and our competitors are delighted with the results, as are we. We would use Pic2Go for future events without hesitation.”
Sally Bliss from Pic2Go added “It was fantastic for Pic2Go to be sponsored by UKRunChat for the Nuffield Health Shrewsbury Half Marathon, as it meant that runners could receive their photos free of charge and sent directly to them on the day of the event. This represented a significant added value to the runners.
“We would like to thank Sussex Sport Photography for providing comprehensive photographic coverage of 9 locations at the event. They also provided a fully searchable online sales gallery for print or high resolution file purchase after the event.”
Other key competitive benefits of Pic2Go include: distribution of images as soon as they are captured, rather than being held in batches; easy sign-up through the event or sponsor website; a measurement dashboard for reporting and campaign analysis; and the ability to tell a story through engaging contextual images of the event location, to include the buildings and landscape rather than solely running portraits.
Pic2Go is also positioned as a tool for sponsor recruitment, with the technology ‘driving interactive sponsor engagement, wide social reach, brand awareness and increased fan acquisition.’
International races using Pic2Go technology include the Malta Marathon, Chicago Spring Half Marathon, Tel Aviv Marathon, Bucharest International Half Marathon, Wings For Life World Run Slovakia, Japanese Saroma 100K Ultra Marathon, The Color Run Romania and Battlefrog Obstacle Race Series.
The Pic2Go technology is available in the UK exclusively through Pic2Go UK Ltd
