A triathlon for all levels of athlete
By the spring of 2023 and with the expertise of Tri Sport Essex and local fundraising partners, the idea was already starting to take shape. Between the organisers at Tri Sport Essex, the team at SNAP and ourselves, we were very keen for this to be an event that a wide range of people could take part in.
As such, the idea of “Try-a-Tri” was created, with the aim of this being a ‘taster’ triathlon, allowing many people to take part, from those that regularly compete in triathlons through to many people that had never taken on such a challenge before. The distances would not be prohibitively long, and the swim would take part in the pool at The Brentwood Centre.
Having already successfully elevated the brand and marketing of local Ruby League club The Brentwood Eels, we knew that a valuable part of our sponsorship would be our marketing skills, especially as we knew that the event’s marketing would require getting the message across to a wide demographic of potential athletes.
Putting our expertise in sports marketing to good use
Working closely with the Tri Sports Essex team therefore, the first step in promoting the event was to create a marketing strategy of when, where and how to advertise Try-a-Tri. This led to us then creating the branding and identity for the event, as well as a suite of marketing assets, which included:
- Vinyl event and advertising banners.
- A variety of leaflets targeted to different levels of triathlete (and hopeful triathletes!).
- Social media assets.
By temporarily taking over the management of the Tri Sport Essex’s social media channels we were also able to use our in house expertise to promote the event on their behalf. And there may have also been a little bit of word of mouth marketing too, both at our regular networking events and by taking a shift in promoting the event at a stall in Brentwood High Street!
By creating a cohesive marketing strategy and the assets to fulfil it gave the Try Sports team, and their army of volunteers, the means to be able to confidently promote the event not only to those local to Brentwood, but also to people further afield and those within the existing triathlon community.
Try-a-Tri 2023: a tri-umphant success
By the summer of 2023, it was clear that our robust marketing strategy and concerted effort to promote the event had paid off. The morning of Sunday 2nd July dawned bright and sunny, with the perfect conditions for a Triathlon.
75 adult triathletes took part, and 42 juniors, with an age range of 9 – 71, and many of whom may not have undertaken a triathlon before. The event was supported by a whole host of entertainment for the 500 spectators that came along to cheer on their loved ones on the day, and, most importantly a substantial amount of money was raised for SNAP.
Nimo Saeed of Tri Sport Essex said of the event, “It gives me great pleasure to confirm that we have raised a fantastic £5,000 for SNAP through the Try-a-Tri 2023 event and I am sure I am speaking for everyone when I say we are all over the moon for raising such a large amount of money on our very first event.”
Try-a-Tri in 2024…and beyond!
Following on from the success of the inaugural Try-a-Tri in 2023, we went on to work closely with Tri Sport Essex to deliver another successful event in 2024.
This time, having taken our learnings from the debut event, we were able to create the marketing to support a bigger and better taster triathlon for 2024. With over 170 triathletes taking part this time as well as a wider range of entertainment for spectators, this was another great success, with more money raised for this wonderful charity.
And of course, this has now set a precedent for years to come…from that idea over a glass of wine all those years ago until now: who knows where 2025 and beyond will take Try-a-Tri?!
