This week we're breaking down:

• The Highlights:
  • Digging into how the retailer Decathlon built new boundaries with an eCycling team in prison

• The Watercooler:
  • How to understand what media your target market is actually consuming

• #MarketingTwitter:
  
  • Diving into three Tweets about eight high-performance ad creatives, content ideas that drive ROI other than blog posts, and 9 copywriting techniques that leverage scarcity and psychology

DECATHLON (LITERALLY) BUILDING NEW BOUNDARIES

Athletic retailer Decathlon rolled out an innovative marketing campaign in Belgium in Fall 2021 that recently received positive press at Cannes Lions. 

Called "The Breakaway", the brand has set a hypothesis that eCycling can help create strong bonds, big enough to make an impact for reintegrating prisoners into the real world. 

A website was launched with a thoughtful creation of sections that give viewers a chance to connect with the project on a deeper level. As a very unique and unpredictable campaign, a 2-minute video was created to propose the problem of reintegration from the prison system back into real life and how Decathlon will be working with 6 anonymous prisoners to train for an eCycling race. 

Introducing the Riders

All riders are referred to and introduced as John Doe. Each of the 6 riders has a respective Strava profile that viewers can engage with. On the website, each rider has an audio clip where you can hear more about them, their lives and the project.

The Podcast

Only available in Dutch, The Breakaway podcast has four episodes that feature conversations amongst the prisoners as they discuss their training journey and the daunting road ahead of them.

The Race

While training and bonding as teams, the eCycling Breakaway team is ultimately working towards a race (that took place in September 2021) against "Team Justice" which is compiled of prison guards, judges, police officers and the Belgian Minister of Justice. 

This campaign may have been run in a smaller region with a limited audience, however, it is a great example of how storytelling can be elevated in the digital landscape. Find ways to take your brand into the metaverse or live streaming with people and moments that can captivate and invest viewers into your brand beyond the product. 

WHAT MEDIA IS YOUR TARGET MARKETING ACTUALLY CONSUMING?

Just because you think a certain media outlet is popular, doesn't mean that it is.🤦

You may have a fantastic partnership marketing idea in mind, but if it's published via a media outlet that your target audience doesn't follow, read or watch, you won't get the results you desire.

Here are 4 tips to help you determine what media your target audience *actually* consumes:

1. Make sure you have a clear objective before partnering with a media outlet

From top-line awareness to product consideration and purchase, make sure you know exactly what you're looking for before reaching out to partner with a media outlet. Otherwise, you'll be more likely to squander time and money on partnerships that don't reach your target audience

2. Define the target audience and identify the channels, publications and websites that they frequent

By doing this research, you can better assess which media outlets will be the best fit for your marketing objectives and reach your target audience more effectively. What are the most popular publications and websites that your target audience visits? Do they follow Buzzfeed or CNN? Take the time to understand their media consumption habits and use this information to tailor your marketing efforts specifically to them.

3. Research to ensure that the media outlet's audience is similar to your target audience

Take a look at whatever you can get your hands on – their website traffic, social media following, and any available behavioural data. This will give you a good idea of whether or not the outlet's audience is in line with your target audience. If they're not, it's probably not worth your time or money to partner with them. This is something that is commonly overlooked and can end up costing brands a lot of wasted time and money.

4. Tailor your marketing efforts to match the preferences of the media outlet's audience

Once you have a solid understanding of the media outlet's audience and preferences, it's important to tailor your marketing efforts to match their preferences because this will help ensure that you reach their target audience effectively. By taking the time to understand what the media outlet's audience likes and dislikes, you give yourself a better chance of creating a marketing activation that is more likely to be consumed by your target market.

THREE TWEETS

Here are three Tweets you should check out this week:

1. Take inspiration from 8 high performing ad creatives

2. Content other than blog posts that drive ROI

3. 9 copywriting techniques that leverage scarcity and psychology

In case you missed any previous versions, check them out via the links below.

1. Offline to Online with Snapchat AR - What's Working in Marketing

2. Fandom, Remix Culture & a Responsive YouTube - What's Working in Marketing
3. Audio 🤝 Gen Z - What's Working in Marketing