CLIF Bar Celebrates Last Place Runners In The London Marathon

Endurance brand CLIF Bar has today launched the full rollout of Final Finishers. The integrated and first-of-its-kind campaign honours TCS London Marathon athletes who ran the longest time, but in the brand’s view deserve to be celebrated as much as the fastest.

A social and OOH activation, which begins today through Ogilvy UK and Ogilvy SocialLab celebrates the last ones standing by putting the athletes as the face of the campaign; positioning them as endurance ambassadors for CLIF Bar. Photographer Flynn Duggan captured glossy, high editorial shots of the runners – many who had been running for over eight hours – in a style that mirrored premium advertorial campaigns of elite sportspeople. As an established energy brand in the US, CLIF Bar is using the campaign to position itself as a brand of choice for UK athletes of all abilities, honouring the extraordinary efforts required to get to the TCS London Marathon finish line, regardless of time. The message is amplified through tactical OOH and social taglines such as “First place took 1:59. Last place took everything” and “Congrats to the 56,714th winner”.

In a first for the TCS London Marathon, the Mondelēz-owned brand took over the secondary finish line in St James’s Park on Sunday, creating an experiential cheer zone motivating final runners on the home stretch. The on-the-ground activation was led by sports marketing agency SPORTFIVE, and saw voluntary supporters celebrate the athletes as deserving winner. To further demonstrate why every finisher is a worthy winner regardless of time and pace, Ogilvy UK lined up press interviews at the finish line to drive earned coverage with the UK’s leading consumer media.

Bianca Harvey, EU Marketing Director, CLIF Bar: “Marathons don’t belong to the fastest few. They belong to anyone who digs deep enough to find the energy to keep going. CLIF Bar is offering a counterpoint to ‘win-only’ elitism that is still endemic to sports marketing to celebrate the final finishers and salute the longest runs of the day.”

Dani O’Donnell, Managing Partner, Ogilvy UK: “It’s been an amazing experience partnering with the brilliant CLIF Bar team to tap into something important while helping to drive brand awareness in the UK. With so much attention going into who runs the fastest and their finish times, we forget about the determination required to keep going in a marathon as dusk approaches and spectators start to go home. This campaign aims to give the triumphant final finishers the celebration and spotlight they deserve."