This paper presents a marketing plan for the Gold Coast Airport Marathon, Australia's largest marathon event. It analyzes the target market — competitive and recreational runners across Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific region — and outlines a marketing strategy built around the event's product, place, price, and promotion. Key recommendations include expanding promotional outreach into Greater China and Southeast Asia, adding Chinese-language materials and a Baidu search presence, and leveraging in-kind sponsorships to manage a constrained budget. The paper concludes with a seven-step action plan and a monitoring framework based on return on investment by geographic region.
The market for the Gold Coast Airport Marathon consists of marathon runners from both the Australia/New Zealand region and the broader Asia-Pacific region. These runners may be competitive or non-competitive.
The target market has no particular ethnic demographic, but does have a fairly consistent psychographic profile. Those who would travel to the Gold Coast to compete in a marathon or half-marathon are generally of upper-middle-class or wealthy backgrounds. They may be expatriates living in Asia who are seeking a good reason to return to Australia. They are also likely to be competitive individuals with high levels of education and professional achievement.
The market is broadly comprised of all marathon and half-marathon runners in Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific region. The pool of active participants is estimated to be several hundred thousand, based on participation rates at comparable area marathons. The 2009 Hong Kong Marathon attracted 55,000 participants across all race distances. The Gold Coast Airport Marathon is the largest marathon in Australia, with 23,398 participants in 2009 (Gold Coast Airport Marathon website, 2010).
The largest marathons in the region — excluding shorter-distance events — are the Tokyo Marathon, with 27,386 starters, and the Singapore Marathon, which recorded 13,028 finishers in 2008 (AIMS, 2010). Based on these figures, the Asia-Pacific region and Australia demonstrate strong participation numbers, and the Gold Coast Airport Marathon has meaningful room to grow. There is no single authoritative figure for the total size of the target market for marathons or shorter-distance runs in Australia or the Asia-Pacific region; numbers can only be inferred from existing participation rates, as the sport is not centrally organized.
The product is the Gold Coast Airport Marathon, an annual event held in Gold Coast, Queensland. The event features not only full marathons but also half-marathons and shorter races. The place is the Gold Coast area of Queensland, on the northeast (Pacific) coast of Australia, not far from the major city of Brisbane. The location is served by an international airport and is a major tourist destination. The subtropical climate provides an excellent venue for long-distance running.
The cost of the marathon depends on a number of factors. Vacation packages range from $1,335 per person to $2,015 per person and include a hotel, flights, marathon entry, and tourism activities. For visitors making their own arrangements, the basic fee to enter the marathon ranges from $110 to $150, and entry fees for other events range from $25 to $120.
Promotion has been undertaken in a variety of ways. The advertising campaign has used internet, newspaper, and radio channels. Beyond this, organizers have partnered with travel providers to market packages for out-of-state visitors intending to participate. It is recommended that promotion be extended into other Asia-Pacific regions. The marathon already has promotional materials in Japanese, and it is recommended that Chinese be added to attract visitors from China. Chinese runners have taken to marathon running, and China hosts several of its own marathons. In addition, the Gold Coast is already on the radar of Chinese travelers, positioning the event well for a higher profile in that market. Promotion in both Chinese and English also reaches other countries in the region, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau, Taiwan, and Malaysia.
To support this recommendation, the Gold Coast Airport Marathon should add a Chinese language and culture expert to its team. As the current team is comprised mainly of volunteers, it may be possible to recruit a Chinese-speaking volunteer for this role, since it is not expected to be a full-time position.
The physical evidence of this marketing campaign should include materials in the Chinese language and a prominent presence on Baidu, the dominant search engine in the Chinese market. The implementation process should include identifying the right personnel, increasing the promotional budget, and setting a timetable to initiate the campaign.
"Seven-step plan for executing marketing strategy"
"Cost estimates, in-kind sponsorship, and media rates"
"ROI-based framework for measuring geographic campaign success"
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.