October 21st. What did I get myself into?
The night before, I signed the required death waiver and laid in bed and thought: “What possessed me to pay nearly $150 bucks to experience ’10-12 miles of hills, mud, water, ropes, walls, 10,000 volt electric shocks, and fire’?”
Initially, one of my friends asked me to join him and his team, a group of guys that were looking for more people to suffer with. I kid. But really, I had never heard of Tough Mudder. And of course, just as you might click that link to find out what it’s all about, I went to their website to see what I would be getting myself into. Step 1 was doing my homework, and after browsing through their website, hefty with information on their mission, training tips, community involvement and overall experience, it still wasn’t quite enough for me to pay up, considering I might die.
Can I say their social media marketing helped convince me to sign up? 80%. 20% was probably the pestering from friends. I decided to let social media do the work, since I did care about my own well-being more than simply agreeing to something of which I did not gather enough information about. Day in and day out using Facebook and Twitter where I was following along to their updates… I found the content they pushed out was not only inspiring, but really, really made me want to experience it for myself.
Just like Red Bull, they really get it. (There are obvious similar trends here from my project)
1. Images, images, images. Given the nature of the event, only videos prove worthy of remotely portraying in the right light:
And.. videos upon videos
2. Community Involvement. THEY HAVE A BLOG. (featuring short stories and images of the experience tagged “TMHQ News, Super Mudders and Cool Shit.” They’ve (through participants!) raised over $3.5M for the Wounded Warriors’ Project.
3. Brand and Brand Personality. Of course, the idea/business model in it of itself is brilliant (also in cyclical form where one supports the other)–People have an unforgettable experience of a lifetime, they make big bucks and they raise big bucks for a great cause: WIN-WIN-WIN.
And, as competitive creatures, we love the challenge and the camaraderie this adventure brings out–all of which conquer fear of losing a limb, at least for me. Even during the event, paths leading to obstacles definitely brought out the “tough” mentality.
A few days before registering, I asked my friend: How did you find out about this? Facebook. I should’ve known. Their Facebook page (>2.7M likes) found a way to him and word of mouth did the rest. After a few months, he had convinced 11 others to sign up with him, including me.
Then, this week I spotted (among many interesting and funny truths on this list…) #36:
“We will no[n] longer search for products and services, they will find us via social media”
I could not agree more.
…and side-note, #8 “2009 US Department of Education study revealed that on average, online students out performed those receiving face-to-face instruction” was clearly evident from this TED Talk we watched a few weeks back.
As for my experience, I am proud to say that I survived (not without countless bruises, scrapes, cuts and inflamed/swollen ankles from running on mud, etc.) and if you do decide to sign up, here are words of advice…and things I wish I did/knew:
1. Do it early. The earlier, the cheaper–get a motivated, high-spirits group of lovely people that would never leave you for anything (or almost anything) and sign up together.
2. Wear gloves and something to protect from scrapes on your legs (guys too–man-leggings, meggings?) I had neither, and thus resulted in at least a week’s worth of groaning in the shower. Also, wear sunscreen. I got a nice tan but only after some nasty peeling.
3. Wear sneakers that have LOTS of ankle support or can sustain you on rocky, hilly terrain (not your typical treadmill/track sneakers).
4. Be mentally prepared to deal with almost freezing to death. You’ll be numb. Several obstacles require you to jump/swim in water of temperature (aided by 70K-80K lbs of ice) you will not believe is actually legal to be a part of an obstacle—all of which you will then have to run a few more miles drenched and repeat. I can honestly say dealing with being cold for most of the obstacle was the hardest part.
*Inspiration for this post was of course, drawn from my strong urge to share this experience of a lifetime with you all, combined with the request of a friend.
Would you ever sign up for something like this? Do you think social media could “persuade” you or influence your decision? What role do you think social media now plays (effectiveness?) in marketing events like these?
pchen 
Very cool article. I remember a year ago I saw pictures of my friend doing the Tough Mudder and immediately began researching it and was extremely impressed with their website and social media. I began by taking the “Are you tough enough” quiz on their website and it left me wanting more and wanting to get involved. I have yet to participate in a Tough Mudder, however, it is definitely something I want to do in the near future. I think they do an excellent job on their facebook page getting fans excited for the upcoming competitions, but also having training playlists and training tips available as a resource for people to use. I think one of the best things that Tough Mudder does is make the event seem like an extreme and almost impossible challenge and makes you want to be included and that elite club of Tough Mudder finishers. This reminds me of the Grey Poupon Elite Society of Good Taste strategy. By placing finishers at such a high level and awarding them with their orange headbands, makes people more excited to try to accomplish it.
hmmm still not tempted to do this hahahaha you look like you’re dying in that pic 😛
WHAT A CHAMPPPPPPPPP!!!
Amazing that you did this, looks tough. Something similar happened to me when I went shark diving in South Africa a couple of years ago. There where a few tour operators, but some of them looked kind of shady. So we chose based on their web pages, but most importantly, on the reviews they had from previous divers. If you think about it, it is kind of crazy to make a decision on who is taking you underwater with white sharks based on a bunch of reviews, but there aren’t a lot of alternative ways!
100% agree, I’ve done a few things that require a death waiver and they were all amazing.
I usually like to live dangerously myself. If you have to sign a death wavier it is probably worth doing as well. I was watching some of the youtube videos for this competition and I was utterly amazed at how the video was created. It even made me want to join the race. I understand that hours and hours of training must be spent training for this, but I simply couldn’t help my impulse. Still the idea of completing such a task is beyond my thinking. I would love to do something like this as well….one day.
Congrats on finishing the run!
Social media is often times a great marketing tool, while it is intended for that purpose or not. There are so many instances I can think of where youtube videos make me want to go somewhere or do something. I’m a casual gamer so often times watching youtube gameplay videos cause me to go out and buy the game to play for myself. On the other hand, youtube videos may also unintentionally make the “performer” famous. A good example of this is Antoine Dodson (bed intruder). I’m sure he had no idea that a video of his was going to become such a huge hit and market him to everyone. i think your example of how watching the youtube video of tough mudder basically convinced you to do it is a good example of the unintentional marketing aspect of social media. Cool article though and props to you for doing it!
Patrice, first and foremost, what an impressive feat! I have heard so much about the Tough Mudder, and have had a few cousins who have done it, and I am so impressed by this. Equally so, my cousins who have participated posted so much about it on social media, which always prompted me to find out more and visit the SM sites. I would agree, like Redbull, they do an exceptional job with their social.
I am thoroughly impressed with anyone capable of finishing one of these events. I know a few people who have done it, and their social media updates leading up to it lead you to believe they face almost certain death. I think Tough Mudder has done really well advertising around the Internet. I see ads for signing up on many different sites and I do consider signing up, but then my common sense hits me and I know better. The ability to share on Social Media is important for events like these, because runners want to show their friends this amazing thing they just did, and it plays right into the sharing of achievements we see across social media.
Nuts. Just crazy. I’ve heard of these, and the cause is awesome. Wow, great job by you doing this and participating. And any social media campaign where the organizer gets you to sign a death waiver – and pay money – really must be doing something right! 🙂
But, I wonder – perhaps it is the challenge aspect that makes it so effective? As in, we are intrigued enough by events that are challenging and difficult that it creates a natural curiosity and buzz? Just how people say in a horrific crash scene how we can’t look away… So whether it’s Red Bull’s events where we’re curious what’s going to happen or if it’s Tough Mudder, we like to see people overcome dramatic challenges and circumstrances. And social media is really just us reacting naturally in those times and finding ways to further spread this event with friends so they can see or partake in the incredible circumstances.
Thanks or your comment Russ! I definitely agree that the business model and the event itself is just attractive since it’s a challenge and people naturally want to learn about it so they can go and feel accomplished haha. Curiosity fuels viral activity for sure and I’ve never seen it that way but social media can be a reaction to all this
There seems to be a sort of ‘after-movie’ model that works while getting attention for a certain event on social media. I say this because I think of all the different concerts and festivals that have received massive social media attention based on their after-movie videos. This causes people to experience the event through their computers, and inspires them to attend the next event in the future. Tough Mudder seems to have the same sort of idea. While watching the unique obstacles on Tough Mudder, it is hard not to think “I should try that too”. I think that without social media, an event like this would never exist and would never be sustainable as a business. Because they are able to leverage social media, they are able to grow each and every time they offer a new race. Congrats on finishing!
Awesome job — congrats! I had heard of Tough Mudder for the first time this past summer, and since then the only references I’ve seen on Facebook or other social media sites are when people post status updates or photos about completing. So I’ve only been exposed to it when people I know share their experiences. I’ve learned about it mostly through word of mouth and I haven’t seen any of their campaigns. Am I just not looking hard enough for their advertisements?