to view the 2010 Annual Report - Triathlon New Zealand

contact
tri series
Desired Outcome: Increase participation and profile of Triathlon NZ
Strategic Initiative: To promote participation in triathlon and drive the profile
of the sport through the delivery of a high quality national series.
Marketing
The CTS projected its marketing towards potential
participants using three distribution channels: direct
communication; through partners; and through retailers.
The 2009-2010 Contact Tri Series (CTS) was the fourth
season of the national triathlon series. Seven events took
place throughout the country in the following locations;
Rotorua; Whangamata; Wanaka; Timaru; Kinloch;
Takapuna; and Wellington.
Highlights of the season were; the establishment of a
1:2:1 (100m swim/2km cycle/1km run) event for kids (aged
7-11) which took place at four of the venues; and an all
day racing format at Takapuna allowing more people to
participate in this unique criterion style event.
Participation
The opportunity to participate in a triathlon saw 3,020
participants take to the start line of a CTS event. This was
short of the projected target of 3,300 but still 15% up on
2008/2009, with Kinloch and Takapuna both seeing an
increase of over 20%. Wanaka, Timaru and Rotorua all saw
percentage decreases of between 10-20%.
The fastest growing event for the second year running was
the participation based Contact 3:9:3 (300m swim/9km
cycle/3km run) with a 151% increase on last year. The
distance has proved popular for all ages and continues to
provide an entry into the sport.
The gender split of participants in the CTS is relatively
even with 58% men and 42% women with average ages 33
and 31 respectively.
Tri NZ was delighted to be able to attract world class
athletes to the series; these included Bevan Docherty;
Laurent Vidal (FRA); Kris Gemmell; Kate Roberts (RSA);
Andrea Hewitt; Samantha Warriner; Debbie Tanner;
Vendula Frintova (CZH) to name a few.
Generic and event specific flyers were distributed
nationwide to retailers such as aquatic centres as well as
being included in the race packs for the following events;
Auckland Marathon, Around Lake Taupo Challenge, and
the Ocean Swim Series.
Free ‘Introductory/Training’ nights were a new initiative
and were held at each CTS location, 6-8 weeks prior to the
event. The evenings were well delivered by local clubs/
coaches but were not well attended.
Contact Energy ran a highly successful leverage campaign
centred on the strap lines “Triathlon is a Contact Sport”
and “New Zealand’s 2nd favourite contact sport”. This
campaign appeared on motorway billboards, magazine
spreads and various websites.
Media
The CTS engages with Jet Photography; Gracie
Productions and Sport Media to deliver its’ media
requirements. All three companies are extremely
professional and deliver a high quality product in their
given area.
Six of the seven events featured on TV1 or TV3 news
with Rotorua being the only event to miss out. All races
continued to get good local and national print media with
an obvious lack of pick up in the NZ Herald.
The CTS received good coverage on the Multisport
Show on Radio Sport with frequent interviews with Event
Manager Haidee Stratford as well as various athletes who
had competed.
Contact Tri TV continues to be a successful medium to
showcase the series.
Year in Review