Coinciding with the start of rival Grand Tour Giro d’Italia, the Official Sports Nutrition Supplier of the Tour de France PowerBar activates its global race rights with a new campaign called ‘Don’t Let You Stop You’.
Built around unique social media content and a series of online films focusing on PowerBar’s own Team Elite athletes, the initiative encourages cycling enthusiasts to enter the ‘Don’t Let You Stop You’ Tour de France competition
The web film series features PowerBar’s Team Elite athlete ambassadors sharing their own personal ‘Don’t Let You Stop You’ moments, including
The initiative is fronted by a humorous online video revolving around a fictitious, funny lawyer suggested viewers who are being harassed by your own body should file their compensation claim via the campaign website.
The website hub of the campaign – at https://www.powerbar.com/dont-let-you-stop-you/ – features online advice videos from star cyclists such as partner BMC Racing’s Cadel Evans and Tejay van Garderen and it also offers tips and features about how specific PowerBar products help athletes overcome their own worst enemy during training and competition – their own bodies.
The campaign’s objective is to celebrate the brand’s passion for cycling in general and Le Tour in particular and aims to incentives fan engagement by offering an opportunity to win a racing road bike and other cycling prizes such as GPS watches and training systems (plus, of course, a selection of PowerBar products).
The Nestle Nutrition brand’s campaign, which is running from May through to the end of the Tour in July, was created with agency Imre and the aim, according to emerging media creative director Ryan Jordan, was to ‘resonate with the cycling community in a compelling and fun way’.
‘It’s a unique community and maybe a little different than other endurance athletes because [cyclists] really embrace pain and suffering like it’s a badge of honor, and that was something we really wanted to hone in on with this campaign,’ adds self confessed keen cyclist Jordan.
The brand, through its agency, will follow ‘digitally engaged cyclists’ across social channels in the build up to and during the race via relevant hashtags, posts, live news and real-time updates, and then engage them through various digital campaign strands.
While members of PowerBar Team Elite, including BMC Racing rdiers, will also use their own social platforms to promote the campaign.
While the campaign is primarily digital, it will also include some traditional media work – such as print ads in cycling magazine Velo.
‘As the Official Sports Nutrition Supplier for riders in the legendary Tour de France, PowerBar fuels cyclists throughout the course to help power through mental and physical barriers,’ comments PowerBar Global Business Head Frank Jimenez.
‘We’re excited to launch this campaign in conjunction with our Tour de France sponsorship and extend sports nutrition tips to racing fans across the world with our ‘Don’t Let You Stop You’ campaign.’
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Imre, which was awarded the PowerBar business in November 2013 after an RFP involving three agencies. Partly won the business with its ‘Don’t Let You Stop You’ idea.
The sports nutrition leader has deep roots with the world’s premier cycling event and its elite riders, with 2014 marking more than a decade of PowerBar sponsoring the Tour de France.
PowerBar has sponsored the Tour De France for more than a decade and the brand has a strong heritage in supporting several of the world’s top cycling events and partnering with top riders.
The Original PowerBar Performance Energy Bar was first launched in 1986 and targeted the cycling community when the 7-Eleven Team (the first American team to compete in the sport’s blue ribbon event) put the bars to the test during the race.
Since then it has been a stable tool for Tour De France racers and the brand says that the 2014 Tour (which runs from 5 to 27 July) will see riders consume 26,000 PowerBar Performance Bars and 20,000 PowerGel Energy Gels over its 21 stages.
Links
PowerBar ‘Don’t Let You Stop You’ Website
https://www.powerbar.com/dont-let-you-stop-you/
PowerBar Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/PowerBar
PowerBar Twitter
@PowerBar
#DontLetYouStopYou
PowerBar Instagram
Imre Website
http://imre.com/
Tour de France
http://www.letour.com/
