A new website based campaign for Decathlon Outdoor by agency Sid Lee (Paris) was based around a sustainably designed new website and app which offered users thousands of ideas for getting outside.
As France begins to ease out of lockdowns and outdoor and travel restrictions are lifted and summer approaches, Decathlon sought to find a fresh way to connect with consumers by bringing them new ideas to get active – outside.
Targeting users, viewers and customers – primarily focusing on young urbanites and families – and promoted via its social channels (on social media – Facebook and Instagram – and in the Apple store and Google Play in France) and a PR push, the strategy was based around offering new ideas and new ways to get outside because after the last 12 months every minute outside counts.
The revised Decathlon Outdoor site and app launched on 26 May and was promoted across the retailer’s social channels.
The initiative emerged from brand research which found that nearly 70% of French people said they were looking forward to getting outside again after lockdown. Studies showed that many only spend around 10% of their time outdoors, despite the fact that all it takes for most people to destress is to spend 20-30 minutes each day outside.
‘Decathlon Outdoor’, which was originally born from a platform the retailer created in 2018 with travel app developer Mhikes (which decathlon later acquired) includes ‘Quechua Hike Finder’ (a regional test to gauge consumer interest in local activities and recommendations) and now relaunches with a digital pocket guide with over 5,000 outdoor experiences (including real stories and pictures sent in from outdoor enthusiasts).
These range from mountain biking in the land of Cezanne around Aix-en-Provence, to a brisk stroll through Paris’s Luxembourg gardens and even playing pétanque in a park.
The idea is that ‘every 60 seconds is another minute and that’s another minute to clear your mind’.
“We wanted to give people genuine ideas for ways to get outside, even if it’s just a few minutes. Decathlon Outdoor is based on experiences from actual users – from big ideas to micro-adventures that give you a chance to destress,” said Sid Lee Paris Creative Directors Celine & Clement Mornet-Landa. “Decathlon Outdoor considers Netflix its competitor. Our platform makes nature more attractive than on screen and our technology is positive, because it’s the time that users spend outdoors that drives it, not the time on the application itself.”
The site and app initiative was created by a team at Sid Lee Paris that included President Johan Delpuech, Executive Creative Director Sylvain Thirache, Creative Directors Céline and Clément Mornet Landa, Art Director Hugo Demazière, Copywriter Max Harrington, Head Of Strategy Bruno Lee, Strategic Planner HeloïSe Dung, Account Manager Nicolas Boivin and Account Executive Eva Lo-Ré.
Comment:
The re-branded website and mobile app reinforce the brand’s positioning as ‘the reference for all things outdoor’ and marks a shift in the brand’s communication towards a more conversational tone and begins an umbrella transition to a new visual identity which will roll out over the next year with softer colours and a more intimate approach in order to bring consumers closer to the brand.
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