{"id":4251005,"date":"2021-05-25T07:36:02","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T05:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/insight\/how-the-london-marathon-is-accelerating-its-digital-transformation\/"},"modified":"2021-05-25T07:36:02","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T05:36:02","slug":"how-the-london-marathon-is-accelerating-its-digital-transformation","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.deptagency.com\/en-uki\/insight\/how-the-london-marathon-is-accelerating-its-digital-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"How the London Marathon is accelerating its digital transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\n\t<\/svg>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tBack to all articles\t\t<\/span>\n\t\n<\/a>\n\t\tHow the London Marathon is accelerating its digital transformation\t<\/h1>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/picture>\n\t\n\t<\/div>
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\n\t\tAlexandra Moorhouse\t\t
\n\t\tMarketing Director, UK&I\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t25 May 2021\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\tFew industries have been as heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as live events. More than a year since the crisis began, many other industries have returned to some degree of normality, while mass in-person events remain on the backburner. During this time, organisations have had to reimagine and reinvent their propositions to relieve their reliance on large, physical gatherings. As such, the industry\u2019s adoption of digital technologies has been drastically accelerated, enabling organisations to retain engagement and communication with audiences within virtual environments.\t<\/h2>\n\n\n\t\tImplementing new ways of operating to keep activities running digitally has been of particular imperative for mass event organisers that also act as charity fundraising arms, such as London Marathon Events. The organisation\u2019s Director of Transformation, Steven Foster, recently discussed its race to expedite digital transformation at Econsultancy\u2019s \u2018What\u2019s next for CX<\/a>?\u2019 virtual conference.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tAccelerating digital plans\t<\/h2>\n\n\n\t\tLondon Marathon Events (LME) has embarked on an ambitious digital transformation journey over the past couple of years. In 2018, a CRM was implemented in response to GDPR and in 2019, DEPT\u00ae was appointed to do a\u00a0brand refresh for the London Marathon<\/a>\u00a0and centralise the organisation\u2019s digital estate with\u00a0the implementation of a new digital experience platform<\/a>.\u00a0Before COVID-19, plans focused on optimising these platforms through data unification and personalisation, and although these strategies remain an integral part of their digital plans, new priorities jumped to the front of the line when the pandemic hit.\u00a0\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t\u201cWhen we postponed the London Marathon, we had to create contingency plans and solutions for the 50,000+ people that signed up to defer or refund their entry and donations. Creating and digitising these forms wasn\u2019t something we\u2019d done before and adding this optionality wasn\u2019t even on our digital roadmap. We weren\u2019t intending to offer that service on the scale that we did but in that immediate term, it quickly became the most important building block for us to conceptualise and rapidly release,\u201d commented Foster.\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tExpanding the scope of engagement\t<\/h2>\n\n\n\t\tThe London Marathon is so much more than a 26.2 mile run. It\u2019s an exceptional experience that attracts a diverse group of people, who train incredibly hard and raise money for charity in the lead up to it. From the competition and camaraderie among athletes, to the incredible personal stories; the different motivations for participating is what makes the event so meaningful. That\u2019s why engaging with the runners on a deeper level remains a key element within LME\u2019s digital roadmap.\u00a0\t<\/p>\n\n\n\t\tFoster said: \u201cIf you look at our customer journey, you apply for the marathon and you get in or you don\u2019t, and then you\u2019re kind of left to your own devices for six months. You can access PDF training plans but, in reality, the experience we offer could be better in that time. Then the event week is phenomenal, and the experience is brilliant; we want to make people who enter our events feel more inspired, not just in the week they\u2019ve done it or the two days after when they\u2019re so proud of it, but also the run-up. We want to help with their training and support their community.\u201d\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n\t