When it comes to cycling, or indeed any sport, the typical formula is to sponsor a pro athlete. Shower them with cash and free product and ensure they get plenty of media coverage so everyone else looks up to them.We wondered how relevant this was to the vast majority of riders who don’t aspire to be professionals, the everyday bike riders. Wouldn’t we be better off celebrating them? After all, they support the sport with their own money, they’ve given up their cars, they help out the environment, invest in their health and are out there every day, just pedalling for the love of it.

So we decided to do the polar opposite of what had come before, we would ditch the pros and sponsor normal, every day riders instead. A recruitment TVC was aired during the Tour De France with back-up digital activity, driving people to sign up via Giant’s website.From a PR point of view both the public response to the campaign and the PR tools it equipped Giant with were incredibly successful. The audience became the media, spreading the idea across the net on social media networks, bike websites and blogs. Via their sponsored ‘everyday riders’ Giant also now have an Australia-wide network of brand ambassadors that work to inspire cyclists of all abilities by appearing at events and PR drivers like demo days, skills workshops, product launches, women’s cycling programs and events like ‘Ride like King Day' and the upcoming ‘Everyday Riders Tour’.

We decided to do the polar opposite of what had come before – we would ditch the pros and officially sponsor normal, everyday riders instead. Hijacking the Tour De France telecast, we aired a TVC that posed a simple question “Why do sports companies only ever sponsor famous athletes?”Everyday riders took to the internet to express their excitement. They became a media channel in their own right, personally spreading the spot across countless social networks, blogs and websites.30 riders were chosen to become Giant’s official sponsored riders. They appeared in an advertising campaign that ran across Australia and in Giant’s network of stores and dealerships. They were leveraged in PR activity, speaking to the media and taking part in events like demo days and product launches. Their accessibility made them perfect for online activity – chatting to other cyclists via Giant’s new community, blogging and writing reviews.

The idea was spread for free by the very people we were targeting, resulting in a huge buzz of online chatter about the brand and the sponsorship program.The popularity of the promotion resulted in a massive number of applications and a leap in traffic to Giant’s website of over 2,300%.Every application automatically became a member of Giant’s community, creating a database of riders that Giant can continue to converse with.Via their 30 sponsored riders, Giant now have an Australia-wide network of brand ambassadors who will continue to promote the brand and inspire other riders.And most gratifyingly, sales of Giant bikes peaked at their highest ever in the months following the campaign.