You’ve probably heard of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, right? Well it doesn’t exist anymore. It changed its name to the Susan G. Komen GLOBAL Race for the Cure. This is the second year I participated and I think the rebranding is bogus and confusing. From a marketing perspective I understand why they would do it. After all, now they are able to call it the “first ever” global Race. But that is BS. It is not the first Race and anyone who has ever participated knows that.
What this rebranding accomplish? Not much that I can tell. In fact, this year the Race here in the Washington DC area had fewer participants (45,000 vs. 50,000 last year) and raised less money. Last year, Cynthia Nixon and Condoleeza Rice addressed the participants, and participated in the Race. Also, Mayor Adrian Fenty raced. This year, the only “celebrities” were Jill Biden and her husband.
In any case, I think that any established cause or organization needs to carefully evaluate what it aims to get from a rebranding. Is it worth the cost? Is it worth the confusion?
Ultimately, I felt that the “Global” Race for the Cure was very disorganized compared to last year. I did not feel appreciated for raising money or participating and I don’t think I will participate next year. And I did not get that it was global in nature (other than the very long and ridiculous speech by some “royal” from Bosnia). In fact the whole point of Komen is to raise funds for the LOCAL community.
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About Deborah Brody
Deborah Brody writes and edits anything related to marketing communications. Most blog posts are written under the influence of caffeine.
I completely agree with this post – We all know that the Race reaches across the globe, why feel the need to change the name? I am glad you emphasized the fact that the whole point for the Race is to keep the money raised local – I think global completely goes against that.
I am not sure I agree with your post. Actually, I think it was a great move to re-brand the “National Race for the Cure” into the “Global Race for the Cure.” So techinically it was the “first-ever” Global Race for the Cure.
It really speaks to Komen’s global outreach to help people with breast cancer within the Washington, DC area(Local), as well as around the world (global). Besides, they even said it at the Race that $4.3 Million was raised for both local and international breast health programs.
And another point – there were lots of celebrities there besides VP Biden and his wife Jil – and I met most of them: Sarah Chalke (from SCRUBS), Candy Coburn (Country singer), Lalah Hathaway (Jazz singer), just to name a few…
So although I do understand your point of view, I do believe events have to evolve and take on a greater meaning. This event was a perfect example of a brand evolving into something meaningful – on a global scale.
I’ll definitely be attending in 2010!
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