Sky Cycling Explores Le Tour de France Via ‘Mini Team Sky’ Online Film Series

Sky, the owner and primary sponsor of pro cycling’s dominant Team Sky, is running an online video series called ‘Mini Team Sky’ around cycling’s flagship annual event – Le Tour De France – exploring the different facets of the race and the team’s approach to it.

The web films may feature the members of the Sky’s Tour team, but the real stars are their mini-me look-a-likes: Mini Chris Froome, Mini Geraint Thomas, Mini Ian Stannard and of course, Mini Sir Dave Brailsford (the team boss).

The initiative was led by an introductory 40-second online spot posted on 30 June as the Tour got under way called ‘Introducing Mini Team Sky’.

Then, as the race progresses, further spots in the series were posted online and these included videos on ‘Culture’,

‘Aerodynamics’,

‘Hydration’,

‘Teamwork’,

‘Nutrition’,

and, while the Tour de France riders take a day off, Mini Team Sky explored the topic of ‘Recovery’.

The campaign is also supported by plenty of cycling media social support too.

Meet #MiniTeamSky! VIDEO https://t.co/mUDYYNRByM. #lovecycling #teamsky #cycling #aerodynamics #minime #chrisfroome pic.twitter.com/SqNh4tSIwn

— BikeRoar (@BikeRoar) July 12, 2016

A parallel, real-world individual rider led’ online short film series is also running through the duration of The Tour on the brand’s digital and social platforms.

This include a central spot,

and individual team member cut downs like ‘Froome Big Kid‘,

‘Geraint On Winning’,

and ‘Luke Rowe Family Man’.

The twin web video series ‘Mini Team Sky’ and ‘Team Sky The Story’ are just two strands of the company’s ongoing, integrated and in-depth ‘Sky Loves Cycling’ initiative – which ranges from traditional TV advertising,

to Sky Rides,

and its Team GB partnership.

Comment

While Team Sky collaborated on other Tour de France related work with several of its sponsors – such as its films with auto partner Ford that promoted its new Ford Mustang team support car

and on pre-Tour preparation,

plus a promotional push around the team’s partnership extension with bike supplier Pinarello partnership extended on Twitter and YouTube –

it was certainly Team Sky’s own Mini Team Sky campaign that creatively stood out and helped rebalance the team’s position from its professional, high-tech and sleek image to one that is becoming slightly softer and more approachable and engaging.

The Mini Team Sky campaign – whose launch video racked up 105,789 YouTube views with subsequent episode viewer numbers in the 1000s – links the elite professionals to cycling fans and everyday consumers in a friendly, fun and accessible way.

Indeed, it helps humanise a team seen by some in the cycling world as mercilessly and efficiently robotic.

The approach reminds us of Medibank’s ‘We Play’ campaign at the 2015 Australian Open tennis tournament (see case study).

In fact, mini-me sports activation campaigns ahve become something of a trend in recent months – another stand out example is Gatordae’s Rio 2016 athlete ambassador led Olympic ambush ‘Love Of Sport’ campaign (see case study).

Sky’s cycling initiative has been a blockbuster success: covered widely by the media, copied by rivals and included into numerous other sports teams and partnership approaches.

At its simplified core, there are three central strands to Sky’s cycling strategy:

> Getting Ready To Race

> Racing

> Inspiring People To Fall In Love With Cycling

The approach is summed up in the wider ‘Team Sky The Story’ film.

Links

Sky Cycling YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaNCReyaAaTPNzst6i5snXw

Sky Cycling Facebook:

www.facebook.com/SkyLovesCycling

Sky Cycling Instagram:

www.instagram.com/SkyLovesCycling

Sky Cycling Twitter:

www.twitter.com/SkyLovesCycling

#LoveCycling

Team Sky Web:

http://www.teamsky.com/