At major sporting events, brands shouldn't only look at the podium

When we talk about brand visibility in sport, we often picture the same images: the champion who wins, the shoe that crosses the line first, the watch on the winner's wrist, the jersey covered in logos.

And that makes sense: elites make people dream.

But in terms of communication and marketing, I think we often underestimate another player: the everyday amateur.

What gets shown first: the elite

At every major outdoor event, the same pattern repeats. Brands put their athletes front and center: the one who wins, the one who breaks a record, the one wearing the product on the podium. It's a spectacular narrative, and it works: the feat sells the dream.

But this narrative only tells one story: "our product helps you win". And if you look closer, that's not the story most practitioners actually live.

What gets less attention: the everyday athlete

At the UTMB, for example, you just have to look around you at the start line. A runner wearing HOKA. Another with a Kiprun vest. A Garmin on a wrist. A Salomon jacket. A Decathlon pack. They're not competing for the win. But they represent the vast majority of participants, the ones rarely mentioned when people talk about the marketing battle playing out around an event like the UTMB.

And the numbers confirm it at the country level: France recorded 1.44 million trail finishers in 2025, a 150% increase in ten years (u-Trail, official running and trail running figures for 2026). A mass of participants on a completely different scale from the number of sponsored athletes at the top of the sport.

Two narratives, two functions

For a brand, showing the elite and showing the amateur don't tell the same story.

The elite brings performance and the dream. It says: look what our product can achieve.

The amateur brings projection and identification. It says: look how our product supports you in your own practice, whatever that looks like.

The podium makes you dream. The everyday athlete makes you picture yourself there.

An opportunity few brands really tap into

Showing a professional athlete at a race is impressive. Showing several everyday practitioners using the same product for their first trail race, their Sunday outing or their goal for the year, is much closer to the reality of their community.

Major events like the UTMB are actually incredible settings for telling these two stories side by side: the one that makes you dream, and the one that makes you want to get started.

Personal takeaway

A good sponsoring strategy probably shouldn't only try to show who wins with a product. It should also show who lives with it. That's where, I think, communication, marketing and community really meet, and it's one of the angles that interests me most in how outdoor brands tell their story.