Building Partnerships That Actually Drive Growth - Tom Gilding - HYROX

In this episode, Matt Wood sits down with Tom Gilding (HYROX, ex-Runna) to break down what separates great partnerships from the ones that fall flat.

From identifying untapped opportunities in the athlete journey, to why leading with value beats hard selling every time, Tom shares real-world insights from working with global brands, major race events and community-driven activations.

They dive into:

• How to build partnerships that genuinely enhance the athlete experience
• Why most partnerships fail by focusing on inventory over outcomes
• The power of community, ambassadors, and authentic brand alignment
• What brands like Tinder, Lululemon and Runna got right
• The growing importance of in-person experiences in a digital-first world
• How to approach partnerships from both the sponsor and rights-holder side

Whether you're in sport, marketing, or building a brand, this episode is packed with practical lessons on creating partnerships that actually work.

🎧 Listen now and rethink how you approach partnerships.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

What does building partnerships actually mean at the start? I think for me it's it's all around community and the value that it drives to the athlete, the participant, the the people involved. Um for me, I think if I look at my experience in previous roles, whenever I've looked at a partnership that's done really well, um, I think it's where it intertwines not only a logo on a on a on a wall or a or an email, but actually where it intertwines with the actual athlete journey. And how can you be, I guess, like intrinsically intertwined with not just event day, but the pre-the post um and everything in between. Um I think that's where you can add value to that experience, then you're in a good starting spot for your partnership.

SPEAKER_00 0:49

So you worked at brands like Runner and HIROX, and that's where you're at currently, and you're obviously involved in a variety of different types of partnerships. But what's the first thing you focus on when taking on a new partnership when you're working with that core brand?

SPEAKER_01 1:04

I think the first, and look, from from like runner's perspective, I guess. So I joined and we were a team of 20, 25 people. Um so super small, but had already started making some really great waves in in partnerships, in in the running space. So when I came in to support with partnerships, a lot of the work around that went into what running events can we partner with where we can really increase the um experience or improve the experience that runners experience. Um and I think what I mean by that is how can we get involved with, let's say, the Great North Run, um, one of the biggest events in well, the the biggest half marathon. Um, but how can we make that experience even better? So we we started to look at traditionally, if you sign up to an event, you get an email saying you've registered, and then you might not hear from that company or the company putting on the race again for a little while. Where actually with Runner, we wanted to be in talks with the participant, the athlete, from like three, four months out, because that's realistically when you need to start training for these events. So that was our niche, and that's normally a time of period in that athlete journey where other brands aren't that interested. They want to be at the ends, they want to be in the athlete village, they want to be in the the post-race comms or the goodie bikes. So we identified kind of a bit of a niche there in these, maybe what you could argue were like lower value assets because they're not traditionally wanted by a lot of the other the partnership people. So that really like helped our thinking in when we pitch to these big um these big companies, these uh these big running events um who seem to be all owned by the same sort of companies now. Um how do we identify that gap and also like sell that value? Because coming in from a startup, we don't have the um the upfront fees that a lot of the the major companies that sponsor these events have. So actually, we're offsetting a lot of that upfront cost by delivering value. So actually, we're saying we're gonna give you three really great training-based emails that are free, like free to the user because you don't need to be a member of Runner to get value from them. Um obviously they're great for Runner because it gets brand visibility out there. There's also a call to action if people wanted to go on and subscribe, but at their core, they're free training coaching content that anyone, no matter how you train, should get value from. And therefore, um was a really kind of effective way for us to break into that market, deliver value, and and that was kind of the feedback we got from races, but also participants that irrespective of how they trained, these these emails were really valuable. And I was always a believer that if we led with value, um, I mean I don't know about you, but if I get a sales email through I'm not interested, I can see it. I don't I don't really unless it's giving me something. I think we had much higher success from emails that led with value with like a very, very soft CTA um than we would with like a traditional like really heavy sales email.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

At that point in time, is your priority getting sales or sign-ups or subscriptions for in runner's case? Or is it more of a case of aligning your the brand runner at the time with that event so you can leverage off their brand equity, I suppose?

SPEAKER_01 4:23

Yeah, it's a it's a really fine line because ultimately it's both. Because conversions and subscriptions feed the business. That means you can hire more staff, that means you can grow faster, that means you can do more marketing, etc. But equally, you only get to those bigger places, um, the bigger partnerships, the bigger team, if you have a brand that people want to work for or that people trust and that people wanna that wanna be associated with. So I think it's a real fine line. Um I think we were in a really fortunate place where the engineering team, the team that built the app, we could go into those partnership conversations and be extremely confident that we were the best product in the market. Um and lead with data on that, lead with features, lead with um so much information that our nearest competitor just didn't have the same scale of team and the same features in in their product. That I think when we had those conversations and our head of partnerships and COOs went into those conversations, it was really clear that actually if you wanted the best training product, then then we were that we were that solution. Um, but also I think the other side of the coin is we really cared about making sure the comms and any deliverables made sense. So there would be a lot of the time, and and I think to when we kind of first looked at kind of breaking into the US and started speaking to to the big races out there, they'd be great because the US are really commercial. So they'd be like, here's like the bronze, silver, gold package. And I'd be like, I'm not actually interested in 85% of the deliverables in any of those packages because they're all for the traditional, oh, you get a three by three at the finish and all of these things. Well, for runner, at the finish, we've done our job. So actually, I I don't want to be there because I'd I'd if I finish the marathon and someone starts talking to me about training for my next one, I've already not I'm not enjoying your your company when you're telling me about the next marathon I've got to run. I just want like a nice big bottle of water and maybe a Lucasate um or other energy drink. So um yeah, I think it's it's just understanding the athlete in that in that perspective and and framing your product in in the right times.

SPEAKER_00 6:34

What's the balance between that and uh you mentioned before that Riz Runner, you did uh deals with brands where you were like the Winnerselli event brands. So you mentioned Lul Lemon and Yeah. In those conversations, how did it differ and what was your objective with those type of brands?

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Yeah, so um the first kind of example um of this was probably we did a run club series with Tinder. Um and it was the first time where we started to Tinder approached us and we were kind of also umming and a ring about whether like it was this whole run club is the new dating app kind of vibe. Um and Tinder reached out to us and like, we'd love to do something with you guys. Um and historically, um, a lot of our work had been done to get people onto the app. Um and this was probably the first time where we recognized that the brand was now at a point that other brands wanted to be associated with us as almost a bit of a window or a or a gateway into the running community and the running space. So it was if we could be associated with runner, they've got huge credibility in the running scene that will then bring some of their audience to us and hopefully get us credibility in in that running scene as well. So we sat down with Tinder and had a lot of conversations around what they wanted to achieve. Um, and Tinder's a really interesting one, right? Because I think some of the older people at the business were maybe hesitant around associating with a brand like Tinder or any kind of dating, um, dating app. So we were really keen to really understand what Tinder wanted to get out of it and like what was the messaging that they wanted to share. And a lot of that was around in person, in real life experience. Um we ran with the the title of like you know, your soulmates run club, um, which worked really well, and actually was probably one of the best, I would say, because I'm biased, um, but one of the best activations that that would that we did, especially in in that kind of early stage of runner, um, that then went on to us doing it in year two. And we decided like the metric of of whether we knew that would be successful or not shifted from trial starts and conversions to the app to more of like media coverage or like UGC content that that got captured at the events and actually being able to invite our ambassadors down and then just be like, this is a really cool event, um, as opposed to the having it have any kind of specific CTA?

SPEAKER_00 8:58

Yeah, that's really interesting the way you've looked at that. And one of the things that Runner, I think, did well was those relationships with those ambassadors or those like influencers, I suppose. And in in a way that they are partnerships or they have themselves partnerships and connections from uh from who they're associated to. Did you work on that part of it and how important was that piece into the growth of that particular brand?

SPEAKER_01 9:22

I think I I spent a very little time uh when I started in the ambassador team, and then that grew, and I spent more time in partnerships. But one thing that I do know from the ambassador team that you're absolutely right have smashed it and the team there is is amazing. Is that and I think it links back to what we said at the start around a good partnership has kind of the athlete at its focus and follows you on that journey. The reason that I believe that the ambassadors work so well for runner is because you are ultimately training for a running event. So you have three months, maybe longer, of affinity with that brand. So the in the um the ambassador, the the um that's in that position is almost partnered with runner for the period of three months, four months, five months, whatever it might be, training for their race, and then a race is is an emotional thing. So you're then gonna have a really strong emotional connection. The product is also really good, so they're gonna talk about it really naturally, they're gonna enjoy using the product, and um, I think that's ultimately why it's been super successful. And obviously, then when you finish a race and you've done really well because you trained really well, um, that all helps.

SPEAKER_00 10:35

Yeah, definitely. And uh you mentioned before about the the shift in mentality in terms of thinking about uh the outcomes in terms of PR and all that sort of stuff from a partnership conversation. How are you measuring that as someone who's working in partnerships? What are the things that you were focusing on from that and some of the metrics that you as someone as an expert in this area focuses on?

SPEAKER_01 10:59

I think for us, if if we take the Tinder one, for example, it was like PR was kind of a new thing for us. I think they dabbled in it a little bit before I joined and then decided that actually it was maybe more of a distraction to what we just wanted to crack on with making a really great product. Um so for us, it was probably quite rudimentary in regards to to tracking PR and more so like how many outlets have picks up on it. And it was an area that that Tinder obviously have a lot more expertise in. So they were really able to help us in getting into um various different publications. Um and a lot of their reporting was was really helpful in in kind of website views, and then from there, like of the of the links that were embedded in in the um in the publications, how did that then link out to Instagram? And and that's kind of our main um our main platform, if you like, from a from a social perspective at Runner. So um how many people then came through? One of the biggest targets we looked at was impressions on social content that we did together. Um that was kind of a a large one for us and Tinder. We were both really invested in that from a collaborative perspective, but also uh an ambassador perspective from from the ambassadors that attended. How did those how did their content perform? Um, what was the engagement like? Um were kind of the the key ones. And I think we benchmarked it largely against what we knew, which was standalone ambassador content and then standalone event partnership content, because this kind of sat somewhere in the middle. So we would look at the content that we did in collaboration with Tinder, how did that perform versus what we typically see against ambassadors and plus or minus, then we we knew if it was performing well or not?

SPEAKER_00 12:40

Yeah, no, that's that's a really good insight. In terms of a good partnership and what makes a really good partnership, some of the things that that sometimes happen with brands, what do they miss? Like you've obviously worked with lots of different types of brands. What are some of the things that you think when a partnership comes to its end, you think, oh, we didn't do that? Like some of those things that people can listen to this and be like, well, yeah, we should probably focus on doing that a bit more.

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Yeah, I think I think a lot of partnerships maybe don't fail, but but definitely maybe underperform potential because they lead with inventory and maybe not outcome. Um, and I think a lot, especially everyone's busy, everyone has you know pitch decks, and that's super simple and categories and bronze, silver, gold levels, etc. But actually that means that you're skipping a really important part of the conversation, which is like what are the outcomes that you want to get from this partnership? From both uh um, I'm thinking from with my high rocks hat on as like a rights holder, but also then as a sponsor, as like the runner side, you know, what are the outcomes that both sides want to achieve? Ultimately, the rights holder should want to surpass those expectations from the sponsor because that will help with renewal next year and all of those good things, um, and revenue and and additional sale opportunity, etc. So I think that's like number one. If we lead with inventory, then we're likely to miss that kind of outcome focus. But then I think and probably really well interconnected is is what I mentioned earlier around that kind of athlete moment part where if you're not plugging into let's take running the the training, the race day, the post-race, each of those kind of core moments of of an athlete's journey for a for a half marathon, marathon 10k, whatever it might be, then you're missing a real opportunity to connect on like an emotional level with that participant. Um because a running event, they often say that the actual race is like the celebration. And like if you put all of the pressure on that one day to get your KPIs or whatever you're looking to achieve, you've like lost like a four-month window, like three months prior, one month post that could actually be way more impactful.

SPEAKER_00 15:00

One of the things you mentioned then, you're obviously moving to higher arcs, and it's a slightly different uh approach or a different kind of company. You've kind of moved from being the people paying to sponsor an event to being the other way around. So you've seen it from both sides. What's the difference like between between those two sides? And what how how do you how how have you managed that change in perspective when you're approaching these two things?

SPEAKER_01 15:24

It's it's super interesting, right? So um my role at HIRAX now is a lot on the the execution of of partnerships, which which I would call like the fun stuff. Um but from a sales perspective, it's really interesting because HIRACs are a huge sport, have Olympic ambition, um and a and a massively hot property at the moment. So I would say that they're in a really fortunate position where they can say no to partnerships, they want partnerships that really bring a huge amount of of value to the to the to the athlete, and if they don't then ultimately then it's not a good fit. And I think what's interesting is runner was at a a really interesting perspective as well, where on the other side we were saying from a runner perspective, we were saying no to a lot of event partnerships because they were really keen to work with us, but actually it wasn't the right fit. Or, for example, when we looked to launch into America, we were very strategic with the states that we wanted to tackle because America's a bit of a beast, and if you just go everywhere, then you're gonna get nowhere. Um, so we were very considerate in that actually we're gonna start on the East Coast and we're gonna focus around New York and started sponsoring New York and subsequent races around there. Um, and that was really important. So I think it's they're actually very similar in that they both became really great brands that they could then almost choose what they wanted to do um and find the right fit. And I think ultimately that's obviously a position of luxury to be in where you can kind of choose the partnerships that you want to go into. Um and when you do, then you just gotta make sure you get the decisions right and you you pick the right brands that you know align with the company's values.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

In terms of working at those type of companies as well, in terms of start-up nature of a runner and coming through the ranks and growing with that company, and then coming in at hierarchs where you've got a larger kind of sport in itself and you're kind of protecting a really important asset. How how do how do you find the difference in culture between those kind of companies in terms of the partnership side of things and how you're having to approach different things in terms of the extra legwork you might have to do in terms of that sort of stuff?

SPEAKER_01 17:37

Yeah, it's definitely been super interesting because so runner was we we started in the UK, we wanted to get loads of great UK partnerships, then we we dabbled into the US and and really grew there, and and then it was more into Europe. Whereas Hyrox is instantly global. Um, I think there's like a hundred and over 150 events um in the season across so many different countries. I think one of the core learnings for me is and and still am learning, how to get the most out of the international team. So each country has its own marketing team, they are obviously the local experts. Um, and something that we talk about a lot is this kind of local lens. How can we not just be this global brand that stamp on uh a type of marketing or or or a campaign? How can we make sure that the campaign really lands with locals in that area? You know, you don't want some random um translated copy that doesn't make any sense um to the local market. So I think that's why it's really important that you have people on the ground. The one understands the language but also the cultural norms and and things that that you can pick up on. So um that's been super important. And I think as we look to develop partner content even further, um, I think that will get even more bespoke and and and kind of streamlined to make sure that in every country that we're operating in, the comms that go out around partnerships in those countries are like super specific to to that region.

SPEAKER_00 19:02

Yeah, that makes sense. Um and in terms of HIRARCs itself, and you mentioned before Runner did some in-person events and had presence at other events themselves. But how important is that physical environment for a partnership and and the activation of that on the day? And what are some of the things that you guys focus on at HIRARCs to make sure that you have the best possible environment for those sponsors to flourish?

SPEAKER_01 19:26

Yeah, I I think the the first is asking the partner, you know, what what are they looking to get out of out of the activation? And I think that's it it almost seems like a really simple question, but ultimately um that's the most important because they're the ones that have kind of paid for that space, paid for the the pre-stuff, the out-of-home uh campaigns as well. So I think it all links back to having a really good understanding of what that brand is looking to achieve through that partnership, and then from there we can almost work backwards to ensure that their experience on the day is amazing, they've got all the information in regards to like the ops stuff and the the logistics, that's really important. Um, they've got a point of contact, you know, simple stuff that someone on the ground will be there if they need something. Um but I think when you then look at how that then translates to the spectators and the athletes experiencing that, there's nothing better than than that in-person. You know, we're I think we're so digital in regards to a lot of marketing. We see hundreds of adverts a day that our brain just now filters out. That on the ground, in-person moment is where like the magic can really happen. Um, and that's why I think some of our best activations from from what I've seen in this very short period of time have been the ones that that really focus in on that experience, um, that experience point of view, whether it's the nutrition, the hydration, or or whether it's kind of hygiene products at the end or or whatever it might be. Um I think that's really where you can get creative and and they can kind of have their brand ambassadors down, right? They are the experts of their products, of their brands, um, and having that energy speaking to spectators and athletes walking past is is really what will win people over.

SPEAKER_00 21:08

Do you think over the years it will become those in-person experiences will become more valuable than ever before because that digital is kind of being commoditized a little bit, like you said, the email opens and seeing adverts non-stop. Like, yeah, what's gonna happen with that?

SPEAKER_01 21:21

I do think so. Um, and ultimately, like a lot of these partnerships are product-led. So I do think um, and especially in in younger demographics, we're kind of seeing a bit of a shift to more in-person shopping again. Um, I think a lot of people don't shop online as much. Um, a lot of people want to try stuff on before they use it, especially kind of bigger, more expensive purchases. Um, so especially as we look towards that, I also think like health product is a big, a big one for that. I think um Health recently did a like a convention and they took over the Excel and and did kind of this whole wellness festival, if you like, expedition. And I think that's really interesting because you're right, if I'm gonna spend £500 on a pair of compression boots, I probably want to try them first. But I'm not gonna go buy them and then and then send them back. So I definitely think that that in-person piece, especially in the health world, will become more important.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

And partnerships themselves, where do you see that going over the next like four or five years? And how will that work? Like you see in different sports the potential, like Premier League, for example, take taking on their own uh TV rights, for example, and stuff like that, and then controlling their own partnerships. And you see these things cropping up. UFC did it to us for a period of time. And those partnerships will fund a lot of their growth. So for me, looking at that, I'm thinking partnerships are going to become more and more valuable if the assets become more and more protected. And Hyrux is a great example of that. Like it's it's something where it's it is a sport in itself, it could be an Olympic sport, and you're the only people doing it. And there's other people who will have HIROX similar kind of events, but that name is is is yours. How how do you see it going over the next five years?

SPEAKER_01 23:11

It's a really interesting one. Um, and I'm sure if you spoke to Mo and Christian, they would have a really a really good answer. Um I think for for us it's it's super exciting. For me, joining the business, it's super exciting to see what the potential could be. Um I think you're absolutely right, we own we own the sport um at the moment. You know, we we we own the the um the event, the whole race day. And I think that that gives us also a lot of flexibility in understanding, you know, if we want to change things that that will make it a better sport, then we we can because we ultimately are the governing body and and can can can can do that, which is also really exciting from a a participation point of view, because there will be so many conversations that that go on as oh if we change this, would that make it better? Or we we can be like almost kind of start-upy in our kind of reactivity where you look at it and go, actually, can we make that better? Whereas you look at maybe football where you want to change a rule. You've you've got a few people to convince if you want to change a rule in football, and then a few million that um that maybe disagree online. Whereas I think where we're at at the moment with Hyrux, we're we're still pretty young. Like I think next year will be the tenth season. Um or tenth year. So that's still like very young when you look at a sport. Um so there's still a lot to figure out as well, but I think it's been a really great start, and I and I um do fundamentally believe that it it's gonna be um a pretty mega um next five to ten years for for high rocks, particularly, but also for sports partnerships, because you're absolutely right. Um, I don't think they're going anywhere, and I think also brands have have finally caught up with maybe actually how valuable they are um and and the opportunities that they can that they can achieve through working through them as well.

SPEAKER_00 25:05

Definitely, yeah. And just one final question: what would you do if you had potentially this asset you're looking after now, but another one, if you had zero partnerships, where would you start and how would you do it?

SPEAKER_01 25:20

At zero partnerships, where would I start? I'd start with my uh my contacts book and uh and uh have a chat with a few old friends. Um no, I think I would um if I'm thinking really logically, I would list out the dream brands um that ultimately in five to ten years' time I'd want to be working with um that really align with the va with the brand, with the values, etc. And then I probably work backwards from there and say who are who are the other people in that in that industry, in that category that are maybe earlier in their journey that can help us to a degree, um, but also help us kind of give us a proof of concept that we work in that vertical or that vertical works with with the asset. Um and then from there you you you go up a few levels and ultimately you'll end up with one of those top tier brands because you'll have three or four examples of other partnerships that have worked in that same vertical, and that'll help hopefully persuade the decision makers um that it will work. Um so I think that would be maybe the first step um to map out what what I what what goods would look like in in a year, five, ten years time.

SPEAKER_00 26:31

That's interesting. Like you're reverse engineering the brand that you're working for it first to look at what the values are, looking at the best possible relation to that value, and then looking at companies that are similar to that. Yeah, it's it's logical and it's it keeps the core of the company at heart. That makes sense.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

Exactly. And I think it's funny, it's exactly the same way that I looked at how do I get into sport when I was in tech sales. I was like, what's my dream, dream job? And I was like, head of marketing partnerships at Liverpool Football Club. I was like, cool. So like if we want to get there, how do we how do we get uh how do we get there? So I was like, cool, let's get into sport, and then from there we'll figure the rest out.

SPEAKER_00 27:06

Wow, brilliant. Yeah, thank you for that today, Tom. I really appreciate the chat and uh cut together in the future. Awesome, thanks so much.