Businesses 'race' to organize grassroots running competitions

Organizing or sponsoring races helps businesses associate their brand image with values such as sports , active lifestyles, and community health.

Community running is a prominent trend in corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns of businesses last year - Photo: THHM

In order to support businesses in implementing effective corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns, social media data analysis platform YouNet Media has just launched the online CSR Campaign Library.

This library aggregates and analyzes over 150 campaigns from over 100 major brands, saving you time on research and inspiring new campaigns.

One highlight from the CSR library data is that the trend of organizing community runs is attracting special attention from businesses, in addition to traditional charity activities.

According to YouNet Media statistics, in the first 6 months of 2024, nearly 70% of CSR campaigns focused on social pillars, and of which 11.8% of the number of campaigns were carried out in the form of organizing community runs.

Banking and insurance companies are leading the trend. In the first 6 months of 2024, banks organized 6 running campaigns, while insurance participated in 2 campaigns.

These races not only focus on improving community health but also aim at humanitarian goals such as planting trees, raising funds to support poor children with heart disease, improving medical conditions in remote areas, and raising awareness about nutrition and running.

According to YouNet Media experts, the growing interest of the online community in running is a major reason why businesses are organizing running competitions.

Analysis of more than 30 million social media discussions in the first 8 months of 2024 showed that running was in the top 4 most popular sports, with more than 161,000 related discussions.

Ms. Mai Cam Linh, business director of YouNet Media, commented: "Sponsoring the race helps businesses connect brand values with the positive messages that the event brings, from sportsmanship, active lifestyle to responsibility for community health. This not only strengthens the image but also creates deep empathy with target customers".

A survey by market research company Outbox also showed that from August 2022 to August 2023, Vietnam organized more than 35 large-scale marathons, attracting about 200,000 participants.

In 2023, there will be 13 races with over 10,000 participants, an increase of 46% compared to the previous year. The scale and membership of each event are forecast by experts to continue to increase.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/doanh-nghiep-dua-to-chuc-giai-chay-phong-trao-20241214170128855.htm