Results and Effectiveness

The idea was spread by the very people we were targeting, resulting in a huge buzz of online chatter. The popularity of the promotion resulted in a massive number of applications and 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 still converse with. Giant now have an Australia-wide network of brand ambassadors who continue to promote the brand and inspire other riders. And most gratifyingly, sales of Giant bikes peaked at their highest ever in the months following the campaign.

Creative Execution

We decided to do the polar opposite of what had come before – we would ditch the pros and officially sponsor normal, everyday riders instead. During the Tour De France telecast, we aired a TVC that posed a simple question “Why do sports companies only ever sponsor famous athletes?” Everyday riders took to the internet to express their excitement about the idea. They became a media channel in their own right, personally spreading the spot across countless social networks, blogs and websites. 30 riders were chosen to become Giant’s official sponsored riders. 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 made them perfect for online activity – chatting to other cyclists via Giant’s new community.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

Giant’s biggest audience is ‘everyday riders’. People who ride to work or school, for fitness and fun, who don’t wear lycra and who will probably never win a race. They admire the winners of the Tour De France, but they don’t aspire to be them. They also didn’t feel any particular affinity to a brand, so there was a real opportunity to target them directly. We had 3 main objectives - 1. Inspire this broader brand audience rather than the top end, lycra-clad pro athlete that most cycling brands target. 2. Win the hearts and minds of these cyclists so that they become life-long Giant customers. 3. Create a community for riders where they could talk and swap tips more readily, that would act as a CRM platform for Giant to market the brand directly to them in the future.