The Global Triathlon Conference 2013 kicked-off on Wednesday 11 September – with two packed days of industry speakers, networking and social functions. Taking place at the Hilton London Metropole hotel, the conference brought together event directors, retailers, manufacturers, athletes, coaches and industry executives.
Mike Reilly, Vice President at The ACTIVE Network and the ‘Voice of Ironman’ acted as Master of Ceremonies for the event. (Mike was inducted into the Ironman Hall of Fame in 2011 and for more than two decades, he has been an integral part of the Ironman World Championship held in Kona each year. He has announced more than 100 Ironman events and welcomed more than 200,000 athletes across the finish lines to the world famous phrase ‘You are an Ironman’.)
Day one… Wednesday 11 September
With a presentation entitled ‘TBI. What do we do, and how can YOU help us influence and grow the triathlon global market?’ – Jack Caress, President of Triathlon Business International (TBI) gave a welcome address. He heralded the biggest and best program for the two-day event, with “Amazing content to keep all delegates captivated.”
Sejal Pietrzak – Conference Chairperson and Senior Vice President, ACTIVE Network – gave a conference overview on the ‘Growth and Globalization of Triathlon’. She noted that all 100+ delegates over the event’s two days had a similar goal, “to increase participation in the sport of triathlon globally and, in turn, to grow our businesses.”
Humphrey Cobbold, the outgoing CEO at Wiggle then gave an inspirational keynote presentation ‘Changing the Face of Multisport Retail’. He cited 100 million shopper visits in 2013 for Wiggle and the raft of products that are shipped to UK consumers and multisport athletes globally. Humphrey stated that “the Internet is not about push; it’s a pull channel – unlike bricks & mortar retail, where a store is opened and products are pushed to the consumer. The Internet is all about consumer demand, and consumer pull, and multisport retailing is having to wake up to this fact.”
He continued, “It’s no longer a cosy environment, rather it’s one of radical change. The retailers who win will have the best range of choice, the best prices and the best service advantage. The others who don’t deliver on all three will fundamentally struggle.”
Citing an extra 5% sales tax for online retailers being discussed in government circles, due to the lack of premises for online retail (and thus the lack of business rates tax), Humphrey said, “But we do have premises; they’re just configured differently. We have one major distribution hub in Portsmouth that ships across the world.”
He added, “We also have a monopolistic landlord in the form of Mr Google! He needs funding and extensive investment in order that our shop-front gets visibility on Google.”
Humphrey concluded with an observation that triathlon, in particular, should focus its attention on:
- increasing accessibility on product availability and price;
- increasing participation; and
- fundamentally avoiding an elitist and exclusive route.
He underlined that triathlon must democratise access rather than limit itself to being exclusive. This would make it a truly mass participation sport.
A panel discussion then followed on Technology in Triathlon: Social Media, Mobile, and other Technology Trends for Endurance Sports. Chaired by Sam Renouf, Vice President of Emerging Markets at ACTIVE Network, panellists included David Newton from Nova International (the organiser of the Great North Run and Great Swim Series), Jayme Anne Goldberg, co-founder of Silverline Athletics (video hosting and management technology for endurance event managers and sponsors) and Kevin Stewart, Managing Director of Ironman in Britain & Ireland.
The panellists noted the importance of dialogue with athletes and that events were becoming as much about communications – before, during and after – as about the event itself on race day.
Kevin Stewart noted the scale of reach that can be made to athletes, their friends and families via social media and how information, such as athlete tracking, enhances the experience for all. Jayme Anne Goldberg pointed to the trend for increased consumption of video and how this was more about narrow-casting than broadcasting. She also noted that via YouTube, event organisers lose control of the brand experience (and the adverts that are served up to consumers of media). David Newton stressed how TV helps to drive value for the rights holder and that this can be coupled with more tailored video content.
Triathlon delivers a key benefit in terms of sponsorship activation, particularly for non-endemic sponsor companies. This ties nicely with all companies’ CSR requirements, through initiatives such as staff fitness programs and staff participation on race day.
After lunch, Sejal Petrzak of ACTIVE and (me!) Gary Roethenbaugh of MultiSport Research presented ‘Triathlon Global Data, Growth, and Trends’. Here the objective was to discuss a top-line view on the scale, growth & opportunities for triathlon globally.
This informal session talked athletes through an initial estimate of the global triathlon market in terms of total participating athletes. Discussion followed on the importance of driving female participation in Europe and beyond, which lag behind the world’s largest tri market – the US.
Within the US it was shown – based on MultiSport Research’s analysis of SGMA (now SFIA data) – that triathlon is indeed the fastest growing sport. A segmentation of athlete types was presented by ACTIVE on the US and by MultiSport Research on the UK market – with an analysis of variances and similarities between these two markets ‘across the pond.’
Untapped markets were cited, such as the opportunities presented in Latin America on the ‘Road to Rio’, in Africa/Middle East; and Asia as the build-up to Tokyo 2020 already gets under way. It was also noted that, currently, there is healthy growth for the sport of triathlon globally, but that a need to build scale and accessibility is now essential if the sport is to break into the mainstream.
Dr Sarah Springman, CBE, 1st Vice President of the International Triathlon Union (ITU) then spoke about ‘ITU and the triathlon business community: a mutually beneficial partnership’. She applauded her colleagues at ITU and the many national federations across the globe for the achievements thus far, such as the fantastic events put on during the Olympics and the success of the ITU World Triathlon Series (ITU WTS). She particularly welcomed the expansion of paratriathlon and its inclusion in Rio 2016.
Sarah discussed how the ITU WTS had flourished through ITU’s relationship with Upsolut Sports, a division of Lagardère Unlimited. Through a contract running between 2008-2016, the series had enabled regular age group athletes to take on the same course as the elites – something that is rarely achieved by other spectator sports.
The role of TV and the athlete as spectator was also explored. It was hoped that a continuous increase in the fan base would further drive participation, building the global audience of triathlon to foster a virtuous circle of growth.
Wrapping up day one, a panel talked through ‘Coaching – Getting Triathletes to the Next Level’. Hosted by Jeremy Duerksen Chief Marketing Officer at Peaksware LLC (TrainingPeaks), the panel included esteemed coaches Ben Greenfield and Darren Smith.
Jeremy estimated that there were 5,000 to 7,000 triathlon coaches around the world. The coaches then talked through their respective business models. Ben Greenfield noted that he worked with a number of independent coaches, as contractors – helping to keep fixed costs down and preserving quality in the athlete’s coaching experience.
For Darren Smith his job and company are really a manifestation of a passionate hobby. He also said that he’d never worked with a company in the triathlon industry, on new product development, etc., as he’d never been asked. The panel felt that liaising with coaches on NPD would be a good way to bridge the athlete-brand relationship.
