DeRue, a former president of Equinox and dean of a significant enterprise faculty, has helped construct The Ironman Group's digital presence and advertising arm.
You'd be hard-pressed to search out an govt higher suited to his job than Scott DeRue, the brand new CEO of The Ironman Group.
DuRue, an ultramarathon runner and mountain climber earlier than becoming a member of Ironman, has a long-standing connection to endurance sports activities. He additionally served as president of luxurious health model Equinox and was as soon as dean of the College of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross College of Enterprise, giving him a robust mixture of private and professional .
DeRue was named CEO of The Ironman Group in January, taking cost of the model's famend triathlon occasions together with its path working, street working and biking competitions world wide.
In his first nine-plus months on the job, DeRue has immersed himself head-first into all issues Ironman, even competing in his first triathlon to get a deeper private really feel for the model. On the enterprise facet, DeRue has helped develop Ironman's digital presence and revamped its advertising division.
The aim, in line with DeRue, is to show Ironman right into a “way of life model” that athletes and shoppers can work together with year-round reasonably than simply on race day.
DeRue sat down with Athletech Information to speak about his early days as CEO of Ironman, his private connection to endurance sports activities, and why he believes Ironman is well-positioned to turn out to be an excellent greater a part of the worldwide sports activities and racing panorama. health.
The next dialog has been frivolously edited for readability and size.
Athletech Information: Are you able to inform us a bit of about your educational and health background, and why you determined to affix Ironman?
Scott DeRue: There’s a frequent goal woven all through my profession: I wish to create experiences that assist individuals unlock their potential in life. Schooling modified my life and I wished to create that very same transformative expertise for different individuals, so I spent 14 years as a professor after which dean of a enterprise faculty (Stephen M. Ross College of Enterprise, College of Michigan). My time at Equinox was motivated by that very same sense of goal: leveraging well being and health to assist individuals maximize their potential in life.
Endurance sports activities have additionally been a giant a part of my life, they’re filled with goal and convey pleasure to communities world wide. The Ironman Group is the most effective on this planet at curating unimaginable endurance sports activities experiences that assist individuals unlock their potential.
ATN: You took over as CEO of Ironman in January. What have been your first priorities?
SOUTH DAKOTA: My firstly precedence has been to place the athlete first in every part we do. An enormous a part of that was beginning to expertise what we do as an athlete, so I participated in virtually each occasion we’ve got, each model we’ve got, and I participated as an athlete as a result of I wished to expertise it. from that perspective.
I did Ironman 70.three in Wilmington, North Carolina, which was my first triathlon of any distance. It was an unimaginable expertise that crammed me with pleasure. I actually have a private concept of why the triathlon neighborhood is so dedicated and passionate.
ATN: What does placing the athlete first appear like on a sensible degree for Ironman?
SOUTH DAKOTA: There have been some areas of focus. This 12 months we made a very large funding in what I'll name “swag”: t-shirts, luggage, medals. Our athletes care deeply concerning the reminiscences of the experiences they’ve and sometimes that manifests itself by way of the model that goes into an occasion. The suggestions from our athletes has been off the charts. What could seem small means loads, and the one method to know that’s to place your self within the athletes' sneakers to grasp what they worth.
We additionally invested closely this 12 months in digital experiences for our athletes. We launched our Athlete Profile, which is basically the digital centerpiece of every part Ironman, and turns into the hub to attach not solely together with your races but additionally with the manufacturers we choose, the companions we’ve got in our ecosystem and totally different services . .
For instance, like me, lots of our athletes are new to triathlon, so we've developed a partnership with TriDot, a digital coaching platform that personalizes the expertise for our athletes.
ATN: It sounds such as you're engaged on making Ironman a life-style model that folks can work together with year-round and never simply on race day or race weekend?
SOUTH DAKOTA: That's precisely proper. We’re the most important organizer of participation sports activities occasions on this planet, and I’d say we’re the most effective on this planet at organizing world-class occasions in participation sports activities, notably endurance sports activities.
The subsequent evolution for us as a model is to be part of our athletes' lives in ways in which add worth all through their journey. In case you are an Ironman athlete, it’s possible you’ll do a few occasions a 12 months on common, though some do extra. However everybody takes this journey year-round with coaching and vitamin. Throughout all of our totally different manufacturers, we wish to be part of that end-to-end journey for the athlete in a means that elevates their expertise, race day, race weekend, and on daily basis in between.
ATN: The Ironman World Championship simply concluded in Good, France (ladies) and Kona, Hawaii (males). Did you study something from these occasions that can inform your plans for subsequent 12 months's championship?
SOUTH DAKOTA: We are going to take a giant step again and report on what we discovered from Good and Kona to consider steady enchancment alternatives for subsequent 12 months. However we’re at all times searching for alternatives to enhance our athletes' expertise. For instance, this 12 months in Kona, we introduced a lot of the native tradition to race week by way of totally different immersive and experiential moments the place our neighborhood from world wide (85 totally different international locations) was capable of actually open their hearts and minds to embrace . Hawaiian tradition, from hula to lei making and artwork.
It's not nearly swimming, biking and working. It's about being a part of one thing greater than your self. We've obtained a variety of nice suggestions, so I think about we'll do much more sooner or later.
ATN: How would you assess the worldwide demand for mass participation sporting occasions like Ironman in 2024?
SOUTH DAKOTA: For participation sports activities on the whole, I feel there are some vital macro tendencies. One is the demand for experiences about issues: individuals of all segments, younger and previous, totally different revenue ranges, and many others., are investing in experiences which have private that means greater than merchandise or issues.
There’s additionally a macro pattern in the direction of sports-related journey that’s rising exponentially proper now. That is true for spectator sports activities, however it is usually true for participation. The third pattern is from a well being and health perspective: the diploma to which individuals spend money on their very own well being, health and well-being, broadly talking, is rising exponentially.
When you put these three issues collectively (the will to have experiences, the will to journey to have these experiences, and a deep dedication to well being, health, and well-being), participation in sports activities advantages, so it's no shock that we're seeing develop the demand for participation sports activities. globally. We (additionally) profit from lots of them, which is why we’re seeing a rise in demand throughout all our manufacturers, at totally different charges.
ATN: What’s your imaginative and prescient for the way forward for Ironman?
SOUTH DAKOTA: Ironman is already a life-style for many individuals. We’re probably the most tattooed model on this planet. You don't tattoo marks in your physique until it's a part of your id. I used to be in Chamonix (France) a few months in the past for our UTMB World Collection finals, which is our trail-running collection, and the quantity of Ironman luggage I noticed across the metropolis was actually inspiring.
If I look 5 or ten years from now, I feel we’ve got an actual alternative to not solely be the most effective on this planet at organizing participatory sporting occasions and delivering them at a world-class degree, but additionally to have a group of digital experiences . that actually tie that have collectively. I consider we’ve got an actual alternative to raise the Ironman model and the sense of connection throughout the neighborhood to additional strengthen Ironman as a life-style model.