The traditional model of a racing event – registering in time, waking up early on race day, finding and paying for parking, waiting at the sign-in and starting lines with hundreds of others, and the feeling of intimidation that comes with spectators and competition – has been turned on its head by Fitfam.
With virtual events hosted by Fitfam, participants can sign up for a race online, have their race materials sent to them, complete the race wherever and whenever they want over a 2-day span, and submit their results tracked by wearables to that event’s unique Fitfam page. Even more, Fitfam co-founders Jon Tam and Don Le have parlayed the reputation they built with their previous endeavor, Gametiime, to have unique brands host each event.
The virtual event space is ripe for the taking, and Fitfam is poised to take hold of the market with its full launch, on November 10th. A social search directory for running races that housed 130K+ events with 100K+ unique visitors monthly, Gametiime was a resource for runners looking to run races and connect with others who were doing the same. After building a loyal and enthusiastic following of people looking for ways to improve their health and connect with other runners at Gametiime, Jon and Don decided to pivot Gametiime into Fitfam.
This past year, Fitfam held several beta virtual events to prepare for this week’s launch after raising over $150 thousand in funding. In conjunction with a host brand, each event has its own theme. A Puppy Run (because “who doesn’t love puppies?” Jon hypothetically asked), Pi Day 5K, and Run Ride Hydrate were some of the themed beta events Fitfam hosted this year. The latter was partnered with Nuun Hydration, a company that provides athletes with electrolyte drink tablets, and is a perfect example of the kinds of events participants and brands can look forward to partnering with Fitfam.
Jon said that Run Ride Hydrate “allowed Nuun-Hydration to put their brand out to their audience of ambassadors, employees, and sponsored athletes to be the brand. The event enabled those folks to run with their CEO and nutritionist, and also gave our participants access to engage with Nuun Hydration via shirts, bibs, a medal and stickers exclusive to the event.” Additionally, a charity near and dear to the brand’s heart is typically involved; for instance, Run Ride Hydrate “donated fifteen hundred dollars to ‘Girls on the Run,’” according to Jon.
With this launch, Fitfam will announce its first four virtual events that users can sign up for and participate in, beginning in January of 2016. Based on the partnering brand, each race has a name and theme authentic to what that brand delivers to its audience.
Fitfam starts amplifying their audience from the moment they register for an event, to the moment in time they complete it. This is done by creating a unique location for the event on both Fitfam’s site and Facebook page. Jon adds, “We create a hashtag for the event” that users can use to connect socially with fellow racers on Instagram and Twitter, while also delivering the message for the partner brand.
On the weekend when the event is run, Jon says “Fitfam hosts competitions for photos submitted with the most creative use of the race bib, best group photo, among others. We want to shy away from being just about the innate physical competitiveness of times and rankings. For every event, there are hundreds of people who will not compete for fastest times but are giving it their all. We want to give these participants chances to win something for their efforts too.”
Their entry fees are comparable to similar traditional running events, but their platform of being virtual attracts faster runners as well as an audience who otherwise may not have access to fitness events in remote areas, or may be reticent to participate among elite competition. Jon says “people register from rural areas across the country, and weight-loss athletes who are just getting into running sign up.” The latter crowd has told Jon horror stories of “running with 5,000 people in traditional events and coming in last, or worse, the race shutting down before they finish.” With Fitfam, no such barrier exists.
Then there is the self-gathering aspect Jon talks about as one of Fitfam’s “biggest opportunities”. On the participant website for each event, users can see demographics of what cities and states people are participating from, average ages, and gender splits. In their beta events, Fitfam had an average of 750 participants from 40 different states in the US. “Also with group gathering, we are working on making it easier to let participants know that there are 10 registrants in the same place so they can complete in the event together at an agreeable time and place.”
From a brand perspective, Fitfam views themselves as a “brand marketing tool” according to Jon. “Across the marketing spectrum, brands are putting out digital ads, marketing at or sponsoring events, investing in social media, and sending out emails. Consumers face a dizzying array of marketing signals. But we believe that our virtual event experience provides a uniquely effective blend of deep engagement and scalability. Pound-for-pound, it’s as a good as any other marketing spend to reach and engage customers.”
The participants also act as organic brand ambassadors by committing to an event hosted by a brand they feel a connection towards. Brands and customers can sometimes have a gap in engagement, outside of sales transactions.
FitFam encourages participants to represent the brand by sharing their personal stories and posting photos within the context of their events. In the process, the event ties brands and participants together closely, and participants authentically share the brand’s ethos to onlookers in their social circles. Speaking of ambassadorship, with its full launch Fitfam selected 100 people from their own followership who “best embody our mission to make the world more healthy and active” according to Jon.
Authenticity is what Fitfam strives to create through its events and partnerships, and these brand ambassadors are authentic to Fitfam and the partnering brand audience. Within each ambassador exists a different story that Jon thinks the Fitfam base can connect with in one way or another. “We have ambassadors who have stories about coming back from injuries, weight loss, taking charge of their life, and becoming a runner at age 66,” Jon mentions as examples of Fitfam’s ambassadors.
Having been involved in this space for several years with Gametiime and now Fitfam, Jon and Don are able to look ahead even as they launch the product. Jon sees Fitfam as a “turnkey platform for any organization to put on their own virtual event to engage their audience, incorporate a brand and engage an audience using charitable efforts.”
While currently focused on running events, Fitfam is positioned well to host cycling events, and is thinking about connecting gyms as well. There are other activities that are further off in the future that Jon has a vision towards, such as recreational team sports like flag football. “Previously it’s been near impossible to measure my personal performance in a flag football game against somebody else playing in another, but with wearable tracking and measuring we can make that happen. Imagine the potential of a world of recreational fantasy sports athletes competing against one another. We believe we can be the platform that offers that.” Along the same lines of measuring, Jon talked about level-setting factors in the different virtual environments to account for “altitude, weather, humidity, and other conditions” between athletes in various locales.” Technology is moving that direction and we look forward to being at the forefront of it when it gets there.”
As of today, FitFam is live and those interested can signup there for the FitFam Challenge, a nationwide virtual run and bike to kickoff 2016, and the first of many events. And for brands interested in partnering with future Fitfam events, find more information at http://fitfam.com/host or contact FitFam at info@fitfam.com.