#TourFever

Tour de France fever hit the UK this week, with almost 2.5 million people lining the streets of Yorkshire and hundreds of thousands doing the same along the rest of the competition route to London, all trying to catch a glimpse of the leading yellow jersey.

As a nation we have become more and more interested in the world of cycling in the last few years. I think part of cycling’s lure can be attributed to two key moments; our multiple cycling wins at the 2012 British Olympics and the launch of Team Sky in 2010. Plus, as a nation we have been successful in the gruelling Tour de France two years running (which unfortunately, is more than we can say for English football!) which I believe has fully cemented our love for cycling as a nation.

Team Sky is a team of elite cyclists that take part in The UCI World Tour, part of which is The Tour De France. The team’s principal sponsor is of course, Sky, with other sponsors including Jaguar, 21st Century Fox and Rapha. The team set a few goals for themselves, and since the team’s launch in 2010, they have met and surpassed those original goals. The team’s aims were to:

• Create the first British winner of the Tour de France, within five years.
• Inspire people of all ages and abilities to get on their bikes, through the team’s positive profile, attitude and success.
• Add further support to competitive cycling in Great Britain.

The first aim has been successful twice over with the victories of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome in 2012 and 2013 respectively. And this year is no different; Froome the team leader was one of the bookies favourites to win until his unfortunate withdrawal from the competition after two falls from his bike.

Though, the team’s goals have not only been met by elite athletes. It has been reported that 1.15 million people have been inspired to get on their bikes in the last four years. The number of the capital’s commuters choosing the mode of transport to get to and from work is also up by 155%.

But what has allowed Team Sky to meet their goals and what has kept the brand at the forefront of cycling? Is it down to Sky’s huge global recognition? The amount of sponsorship the team receives from huge brands such as the aforementioned Sky, 21st Century Fox and Jaguar? The brand’s presence on all social media channels, or the immense talent of the riders? I think all of these aspects have contributed to Team Sky’s impressive brand awareness, though their social media strategy is very good. With over 300,000 followers on Twitter and over 500,000 likes on Facebook – they have a wide audience to provide relevant content to. I think Team Sky’s greatest appeal is their accessibility through their social channels.

With the Team Sky app you can follow the riders’ journeys throughout the competition. Constant status updates, photos and videos across all social media channels from the whole team – keep us up to speed, excuse the pun, with our favourite riders. Team Sky also invites the novice riders of the nation to get involved by uploading their cycling pictures and videos using ‘#TourFever’. The hashtag has been used approximately 8,000 times in the last month, which is good going as the tour only started a few days ago! Already there have been tweets of support from the likes of Sir Elton John, Davina McCall and Ross Kemp.

It’s clear to see that a successful social media campaign can really increase brand awareness. For more information on how social media marketing, and content marketing can achieve positive results for your brand, talk to us today.