BEAT YOUR BEST CHALLENGE

TitleBEAT YOUR BEST CHALLENGE
BrandVITACO
Product / ServiceMUSASHI
CategoryC04. Competitions & Promotional Games
EntrantENERGI Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Idea Creation ENERGI Auckland, NEW ZEALAND
Production ENERGI Auckland, NEW ZEALAND

Credits

Name Company Position
Louise Bentley Energi Managing Director
Lew Bentley Energi Head of Strategy
Paul Bayley Energi Digital Creative Director
Penelope Venuto Energi Account Director
Vishal Ponnappa Energi Strategic Planner
Belinda Bantjes Energi Graphic Designer/ Mac Op
India Ludbrook Energi Account Executive

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

Designed to drive market presence and trial of a range of sports nutrition products, the Beat Your Best Challenge proved the value of directly engaging with one’s customers! Based on an insight of triggering young male’s competitive spirit, the extremely physical activation left challengers with a memorable experience and helped Musashi stand out within a category of sameness. The Challenge was designed to give young male athletes an exciting branded experience at the right time and place, and in the right mindset that is most important to them – training at the gym/ engaging in a sporting activity.

Background

Situation: The sports supplement market is a very competitive category with a high degree of product parity, which makes it difficult to stand out. Musashi has aimed at a high value/high credibility position. This is designed to help maintain a premium and to defend against the low value discounting that undermines many FMCG categories. Historically Musashi had not received any significant marketing support or activity. This had resulted in low market awareness within New Zealand and limited sales. Brief: How can we drive market presence and stimulate trial for Musashi's range of sports nutrition products? Objectives: 1.To raise Musashi’s market presence in a highly credible way beyond simple brand awareness 2.To stimulate Musashi trial which is the first step to breaking competitor brand loyalty 3.To create a scalable marketing property for the brand that could be scalable in size, usable across time, adaptable to various environments

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The creative idea: The ‘Beat Your Best’ challenges young guys to prove they’ve got what it takes. This idea taps directly into the competitive psyche of the young male target market. A key consideration was to build respect for Musashi by promoting it in an authentic way. A lot of brands in the category talk their game up in advertising, on pack, and on-shelf, with a similar language of tough masculinity, hardness, special ingredient references, and big man-sized packaging. In contrast, the creative path we chose for Musashi was to walk the talk. We embodied ‘The Musashi Way’ by inviting guys to step up and take the challenge on physically. This physical engagement immediately differentiated Musashi within a category of sameness and encouraged participants to trial the product.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The Musashi target is younger males (20-49 years) who are heavily into sport and fitness. Research showed: 1.Training is a mind game – they give it their all at the gym, and push themselves to crack their personal bests. 2.Highly competitive especially when it comes to physical activities. 4.Hard to reach through traditional media. The Insight: Young males are commonly body-conscious and their sense of identity, personal power and status is strongly linked to their physical appearance and performance. The insight ‘competitiveness’ sits at the heart of our target market. They love opportunities to outdo their personal best, or to show their mates up and prove who’s the best. The approach: Design a challenge to trigger the competitiveness of our target market. Use the environment and product sampling as a way to make Musashi stand out as a brand that both understands competitiveness and provides the solution for recovery.

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

The campaign was built with the branded activations at its core. Execution included: •20+ activations •Sampling activity •Campaign microsite •Social Media advertising •Influencer program •Radio advertising •Direct marketing to venue databases (emailers and posters) Stage 1 (Jul-Aug) A short, tough training circuit targeted Gyms and CrossFit centres across Auckland with 18 activations over an 8-week period. Challengers took on the circuit and their best time was put onto a leader board. Stage 2 (Feb-March) Targeted two high traffic national sporting events. Metcon Madness (national CrossFit championship) featured a CrossFit-themed circuit. The National Touch Rugby Championship featured a rugby-themed circuit. Challengers took on the circuit, posted their best times and tried to out-do their mates. Stage 3 (April-May) Due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the challenge was taken onto social media. Over 6-weeks, 8 home work-out challenge videos were shared, inspiring challengers to share how they were keeping fit while at home.

List the results (30% of vote)

Note: Detailed results are confidential but has been shared with the jury. Objective 1: Raise Musashi’s market presence. Annual brand tracking reflected a huge positive impact of the campaign with improvements across brand awareness, consideration and purchase intent. The campaign catapulted Musashi’s presence in the market. Objective 2: Stimulate Musashi trial. The campaign was a huge success in delivering contextually appropriate product sampling. There has also been a massive lift in grocery sales for the brand throughout the campaign period. Follow up surveys with participants revealed: 73% purchased Musashi products for the first-time post participation. 81% expressed an increase in preference for Musashi as a sports nutrition supplier since the activation. Objective 3: Create a scalable marketing property for the brand. Stage 1: 18 gyms Stage 2: 2 high-traffic sporting events Stage 3: Digital pivot due to the Covid-19 onto social media Stage 4: Planning for 2021 execution is underway