The Campaign

When it comes to cycling, or indeed any sport, the typical formula is to sponsor a pro athlete. However, we wondered how relevant this was to the vast majority of bike riders – the everyday riders. Wouldn’t we be better off celebrating them? After all, they support the sport with their own money, they’ve given up their cars, they help the environment, invest in their health and simply pedal for the love of it. So we did the opposite of before – we ditched the pros and sponsored normal, every day riders instead. For the price of one pro athlete, we were able to sponsor 30 riders spanning every age and ability. They were treated just like the pros they replaced, awarded with a contract, top-of-the-line bike and full VIP treatment. These powerful brand advocates now appear across Giant’s advertising, events and PR, helping them spread their democratic riding message.

Success of the Campaign

The idea was spread for free by the very people we were targeting, resulting in a huge buzz of online chatter about the brand and the sponsorship program. The popularity of the promotion resulted in a massive number of applications and a leap in traffic to Giant’s website of over 2300%. Every application automatically became a member of Giant’s community, creating a database of riders that Giant can continue to converse with. Via their 30 sponsored riders, Giant now have an Australia-wide network of brand ambassadors who will continue to promote the brand and inspire other riders. Most gratifyingly, sales of Giant bikes peaked at their highest ever in the months following the campaign.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

We ran spots during the Tour De France telecast that posed a simple question; “Why do sports companies only ever sponsor famous athletes?” The campaign was continued online via Giant’s website, soon spreading across thousands of websites, social media networks and blogs as the idea gathered momentum and excited cyclists shared it in their thousands. 30 riders were eventually chosen to become the official face of Giant. They appeared in an advertising campaign that ran across Australia and in Giant’s network of stores and dealerships. They were leveraged in PR activity, speaking to the media and taking part in events like demo days and product launches. Their accessibility also made them perfect for online activity – chatting to other cyclists via Giant’s new community, blogging and writing reviews.