“It was such a great honour to be a part of the Old Mutual stand at the Two Oceans Marathon Exhibition for the second year in a row,” said Deputy Director at Wildlands, Lauren van Nijkerk. “Old Mutual are one of our most loyal and passionate sponsors and to be associated with them yet again was a real pleasure.”
The Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon Exhibition, held from the 23rd to the 25th of March at the CTICC, saw tens of thousands of people make their way through its doors to view the latest in gadgets and running gear, as well as partake in unique activations like the Old Mutual Oculus Rift – a virtual reality experience.
Wildlands had a very popular stand activation (seeing more than 4 000 people over 3 days) which included an activity for children whereby children could colour a leaf, place it on a large tree on the stand and pledge towards going home and recycling or planting an indigenous tree. Wildlands staff were also on hand to chat to the children about sustainability, saving our environment and endangered species. Merchandise for both children and adults was on sale and saw sales of around R23 000, all allocated towards the Wildlands’ Trees for Life project.
“Trees for Life gives jobless and marginalised individuals the chance to grow themselves out of poverty,” said van Nijkerk. “By propagating indigenous trees and bartering them for livelihood support, Tree-preneurs, as we call them, can improve their homes, send their children to school and put food on the table.”
The Old Mutual Wild Series events were also very popular topics of conversation at our stand – with runners eager to experience the unique challenges that the series has on offer. The next exciting event on the calendar is the Kruger2Canyon Challenge, a 70km 2 day trail run in one of South Africa’s most spectacular landscapes, known as the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere – taking runners through bushveld, mountains and the Blyde River Canyon (www.wildseries.co.za).
Wildlands’ also had a stand setup at the finish on race day, the 26th of March – which saw further merchandise sales and fantastic brand exposure to all the runners, their families and supporters. Wildlands also benefitted from more than R100 000 in media exposure.
“The Two Oceans Marathon is a large scale activation which Old Mutual executes with professionalism and efficiency,” said van Nijkerk. “We feel extremely honoured to be a part of it and be given the title of official beneficiary for the world’s most beautiful race!”
WILDTRUST (registered as the Wildlands Conservation Trust - IT No: 4329/1991/PMB)