The Challenge

A key element of Bupa’s strategy is to encourage its customers to lead active and healthy lives. Inspiring people to get out and run is a major part of that. Double Olympic Gold Medallist James Cracknell is a true inspiration and therefore a perfect Bupa ambassador.

To celebrate James becoming a Bupa Running ambassador, Synergy was tasked to create an event which not only generated both digital and traditional PR exposure, but also provided an unforgettable experience for Bupa customers and employees. And, of course, we needed to show how Bupa is supporting its customers every step of the way by promoting Bupa’s brilliant sports medicine services.

The Idea

The Bupa Flash Run was an open invitation to go for a 5km jog with James Cracknell. Anyone could take part – you just needed to know when and where to meet.

We built the social media buzz over time, with the @BupaRunning and @JamesCracknell Twitter feeds promoting the run. In addition, an outreach programme made sure that key running publications, websites and bloggers supported and promoted the event. Finally, a couple of days before the run, the exact date, time and location was announced on Twitter and re-tweeted extensively.

Activation and Results

The event created a huge buzz on Twitter, generating a healthy increase in followers for @BupaRunning while our friends at Mensrunning and Womensrunning helped to drive interest for the event online. Alongside this, various media outlets were at the event on the day generating significant coverage in (amongst others) Metro, Eurosport, Runners World, mensrunning.co.uk, womensrunning.co.uk.

With the weather staying clear, over 50 runners met and went for a jog with James. We made sure all the runners who turned up went home happy, with a complimentary t-shirt, bottle of Powerade and the opportunity to book a slot for a sports massage or with a Bupa sports physiotherapist. I bet you wish you were there. Just follow @BupaRunning to make sure you don’t miss the  next Bupa Flash Run.

By Jonathan Gale on July 26th, 2011

Tags: Default

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I for one was pleased to see the recent news that FIBA has given the British Basketball Team the chance to represent Team GB at the Games in 2012 – a result that sees Team GB represented in all sports at  London 2012. This also means that  Britain will field a basketball team at London 2012 for the first time since last hosting the Games in 1948.

By allowing Team GB to compete, FIBA has given British Basketball another platform from which to shout about their brilliant sport. A sport that has the potential to be huge in this country.

GB's NBA star - Luol Deng

Basketball in Britain has struggled to grab the attention of young men and women on a mass scale like Football does, but in recent years, the tables seem to be turning and there is an ever increasing interest in the sport as a whole. Andy Hunt, chief executive of the British Olympic Association rightly pointed out that ‘FIBA’s decision is recognition for years of hard work British Basketball have put in on and off the court’.

Interest in the sport has undoubtedly been fuelled by images of David Beckham and his boys courtside at the LA Lakers. For others, it might be down to hit US TV shows like One Tree Hill. But one of the biggest factors has to be the introduction of the NBA Europe Live at the O2.

David Beckham attends Lakers game with sons

For those unfamiliar with the NBA’s foray to British shores, they made basketball history when the first-ever regular-season games were held in Europe, between the New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors at The O2 in London this year.

It was quite a spectacle and a great advert for the game in the UK and now, with the news that FIBA have allowed Team GB a place in 2012, British Basketball has another reason to shout about its beloved game.

NBA at the O2

I will certainly be looking to get some tickets in the Olympic ticket ballot and why don’t you?

(If you’re not into Basketball, maybe this will change your mind! Check out the Toronto Raptors mascot in action, below…)

By Jonathan Gale on March 15th, 2011

Tags: Athletics, BBC, Blogging, BOA, David Beckham, Default, London 2012 sponsorship, Sport, Team GB, YouTube

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GUINNESS, the Official Beer of the RBS 6 Nations, hosted an internal rugby bonanza at the Sainsbury’s head offices in Holborn last month, as part of their RBS 6 Nations activation in Sainsbury’s stores up and down the country.

As with all businesses, relationships and communication are key to success and the GUINNESS team at Diageo wanted to find a creative way to strengthen one such relationship: with retailer Sainsbury’s.

GUINNESS’ sponsorship of the RBS 6 Nations was the perfect opportunity to boost credibility within Sainsbury’s, strengthen relationships, engage with all 1000+ Sainsbury’s employees and of course shout about GUINNESS being the ‘Official Beer of the RBS 6 Nations Championship’.

We were tasked with creating an event that would highlight the in-store activation and also demonstrate GUINNESS’ rugby pedigree whist engaging the Sainsbury’s staff.

So how did we rise to the challenge?

Well, we started off by pulling a couple of GUINNESS rugby favourites out of retirement, added an ambassador player appearance and pulled in a few RBS 6 Nations friends, for the party. The entertainment included GUINNESS branded Rugby Reflex and Powerpass games and the offer of a personal message to everyone at Sainsbury’s from GUINNESS ambassador, England’s Lewis Moody. The RBS Six Nations Trophy was also in attendance and we even brought in former England Captain Martin Corry to get involved.

A few highlights:

- Sainsbury’s Chairman David Tyler enjoyed the event, having his picture taken with the Martin and the trophy whilst also having a rather extensive go on the Powerpass game!

- Martin came third (!) in the Powerpass game. By the end he was taking off his suit jacket & his cufflinks, rolling up his sleeves, running up… and yet still did not manage to top the leader board…

- Over 160 people took part in the activities

- 200+ photographs were taken of Sainsbury’s staff with either the Trophy and/or Martin Corry

- Passersby on the street even tried to come in to see what was going on!

The event proved to be a successful way to increase awareness of the GUINNESS sponsorship and an alternative way to delight one of Diageo’s key customers – a simple and easy way to engage a brand with a key audience quickly, efficiently and cost effectively.

So in the style of Gordon Ramsey – GUINNESS happy, Sainsbury’s happy, Synergy happy…Done!

By Jonathan Gale on March 2nd, 2011

Tags: Alcohol, Guinness, RBS 6 Nations, Rugby, Sponsorship, Sport, Synergy

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Following a recent brainstorm here at Synergy, I asked myself a quick, but thought-provoking question:

Are the football fans of England suffering from ‘burnout’?

Burnout, for those who don’t know is: ‘a psychological term for the experience of long-term exhaustion and diminished interest.’ More common in younger sportsmen and women, burnout will occur if excessively high expectations are placed on an athlete by teammates or coaches and if the athlete in question is pushed too hard too quickly.

It was obvious, in my humble opinion, that this could well have been the case with the England Football team in South Africa. People can say what they like about their ridiculous salaries and the fact these young men are paid to train and play, but, ‘at the end of the day’ (sorry) these guys are only human and they need a break from work, just like the rest of us.

But is it now the football fans themselves who are starting to suffer from this physical, mental and emotional exhaustion?

The 2009/2010 season gave us a number of warning signs: half empty grounds in the Premiership, extortionate ticket prices, teams such as Palace and Pompey falling close to the precipice where Chester City now lurk, and if all this wasn’t bad enough, we then had to put up with what can only be described as a comedy show, as our National team flopped out of the World Cup with ease.

And 2010/2011 doesn’t seem to be getting better, with a number of top clubs still trying to flog season tickets to their once loyal fan base.

So my question is; ‘Is the football-loving UK now suffering from ‘burnout’ following the sheer amount of football we’ve had to endure every day of the summer – and ultimately the depression that followed our hyped up World Cup campaign?’

Well, I guess we’ll find out soon, when the new season starts on August 14th…

By Jonathan Gale on August 10th, 2010

Tags: Barclays Premier League, Default, Football, Football Sponsorship, World Cup

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