Student participation at previous Wellington Round the Bays events has been lower than the majority of age ranges shown in the statistics below. A few factors contribute to this; after discussing with my student peers who sit between the 15-21 year old range it was not so much a lack of enthusiasm which dissuaded them from participation, but rather a lack of targeted marketing. From 50 students I spoke to, 36 had never heard of round the bays, 42 did not know when it is held and only 4 had competed/plan on competing. Although this is a small sample size it gives perspective on the lack of targeted marketing for students which can communicate the values and merits of Round the Bays Wellington.
There is also a correlation between the number of participants signing up from social media marketing and the lack of student participation. All 50 students surveyed reported being most likely to hear of an event through social media marketing; however social media marketing was significantly smaller than other revenues. This supports the idea that RTB social media marketing campaigns need focus on student participation. As most students are returning to school and university during February, targeted marketing on school/university teams as well as clear communication surrounding the benefits of participating.
197.388 Horizontal Runners 