Obstacle course series Tough Mudder has partnered with social media content company Unilad as it continues to try to build out its brand.
UK-based Unilad produces short videos and articles surrounding current events. If you frequent Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or YouTube, you’ve more-than-likely come across Unilad content. Tough Mudder and Unilad haven’t worked out the exact nature of their deal, but at the very least this extends the social reach of Tough Mudder UK from 750,000 followers on Facebook to Unilad’s 38 million.
“We have not defined our partnership with them,” said Matt Riches, Tough Mudder commercial director for Europe, Middle East, and Africa, in an interview with marketing news site The Drum. “We are not worried about defining what we are doing. We just know that it is a really interesting space and we’ve got some awesome content and incredible events and they have got these ridiculously engaged audiences, as one of the world’s biggest social media publishers, it’s a great place to start a partnership.”
Riches sees potential for development from a broadcast perspective, but hopes Tough Mudder can be more like a competitive sport than a show like American Ninja Warrior. Tough Mudder X premiered last summer on CBS and was such a success that the network will expand coverage this year. For three consecutive weekends in July, CBS will follow competitors seeking to win the event’s $50,000 in prize money.
“There is a rich tapestry of stories every time there is a Tough Mudder event,” Riches said. “A lot of them are socially relevant, like people trying to get more active, overcoming stress or depression, there are a lot of real reasons why people do Tough Mudder.”
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SportTechie Takeaway
The obstacle course industry appears to be a booming business. From Tough Mudders to Ninja Warrior to Spartan Races to Warrior Dash to many more, there are thousands of events every year. The real challenge for the organizers is being different, or unique, or better.