Braintree is a global payments platform that powers businesses at the forefront of mobile disruption. Our target audience, leaders of mobile and e-commerce companies, are a sought-after crowd, tribal and averse to traditional advertising.

To reach them, we knew we had to find a way to play a part in their everyday lives. We needed to show Braintree’s benefits—not just tell them. So we created an engaging brand experience that improved the lives of these hardworking, mobile-savvy, on-the-go entrepreneurs.

The measure of success was awareness in the London tech community, engagement with the Braintree brand, and something fiendishly difficult: getting mobile payments on the roadmap of high growth startups in order to build our sales pipeline.

What began as a simple branded bicycle turned into a six-month long competition. Buzzbike provided the bikes and the framework for the app. We built the 360-experience and race structure around it all.

200 riders raced from October 2016 to April 2017, using the Tour de Tech app to track their progress. Riders could watch the leaderboard move in real time, motivating the competition. For teams that trailed, we incentivized them to keep riding with individual performance badges and prizes to go along with them.

App data tracked the routes our riders took in the city, allowing us to position outdoor posters where they would be seen, cheering them on. And the bikes themselves served as outdoor billboards, showcasing the Braintree logo around London.

Parties were hosted at the race launch, midpoint, and final stage to raise the excitement and create relationships between team’s and Braintree.