The Gym is Everywhere: How did this brand interact with Colombians as they go about their daily routine? [Thursdays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing]
Miles Everson’s Business Builder Daily speaks to the heart of what great marketers, business leaders, and other professionals need to succeed in advertising, communications, managing their investments, career strategy, and more.
A Note from Miles Everson:
Are you looking for ways to boost your brand’s engagement rates and establish positive connections with your target market?
If so, we have a recommendation for you: Guerrilla Marketing!
This strategy looks beyond the conventional ways of advertising a product or service. As a business leader, I’ve seen how this marketing tactic does wonders for different brands.
Today, let’s focus on a fun and adrenaline-boosting guerrilla marketing campaign in May 2016.
Continue reading to know how a sporting goods company captured Colombian commuters’ attention through interactive bus stop shelters.
Miles Everson
CEO, MBO Partners
Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute
Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing
Have you heard about Bus Shelter Advertising?
From the name itself, this type of advertising refers to promotional or marketing strategies that take place on bus stops. The goal of this marketing effort is to interact with commuters as they go about their daily businesses.
In a past “Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing” article, we talked about the “Pretty Shady” campaign. There, we highlighted how the Cancer Institute New South Wales (CINSW) used guerrilla marketing to raise awareness about the dangers of too much exposure to sunlight.
… and how did the Australian organization do that?
Through interactive bus stops that allowed commuters to play an iconic arcade game—the claw machine—while waiting for their ride!
Today, we’ll talk about another brand that used bus stops as part of its guerrilla marketing campaign. That brand is none other than…
Reebok!
Reebok is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer subsidiary of brand management company Authentic Brands Group since March 2022.
Originally, the sporting goods company was established in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, an athletic shoe manufacturing company located in Bolton, England.
Today, Reebok markets, distributes, and sells its products in different locations across the US, Asia, Europe, Russia, and Oceania.
Getting A Sweat On At Bus Stop Stations
Obesity is a prevalent issue in Colombia. In fact, a 2016 study by Colombia’s Ministry of Health and Social Protection showed that half of Colombians are overweight and generally unhealthy.
So, to contribute to the fight against unhealthy habits, Reebok partnered with marketing agency JCDecaux Colombia to create the campaign, “The Gym is Everywhere.”
In this campaign that took place in May 2016, Reebok and JCDecaux Colombia transformed 6 bus shelters in Bogotá and Cali, Colombia—2 of the country’s 5 major municipal areas—into outdoor, pop-up gyms.
The bus stops were equipped with gym equipment such as steps, bars, etc. Every time commuters arrived at the station, a gym trainer was there to motivate them to do push ups, pull ups, and more.
Take a look at the photos below!
Based on these images, you’ll see that lots of commuters truly took the time to participate in the campaign—whether they were in a gym outfit or not!
After doing a few exercises, people took photos of themselves at the bus stops/pop-up gyms. They uploaded their photos on social media to share their early morning accomplishments and let their connections know that such a campaign existed in Colombia.
That’s not all!
Those who participated in the campaign and finished their exercises also received rewards from Reebok, although the brand didn’t disclose what those prizes were.
Congratulations to the campaign team and to all those who took part in the guerrilla marketing stunt! It wasn’t easy doing strenuous activities early in the morning and it truly required determination to accomplish the exercises.
The campaign lasted for the whole month of May 2016. The marketing team also created a one-minute video of Reebok’s marketing strategy and uploaded it on YouTube on May 25, 2016.
Was Reebok’s “The Gym is Everywhere” campaign effective?
Word of mouth, likes, comments, and shares of the campaign video on social media served as a wake-up call for many Colombians. The brand activation invited not only commuters but also residents to get out into the street to try new ways of working out.
Here are the results of Reebok’s “The Gym is Everywhere” campaign:
- The campaign video garnered a total of 25,000+ views and 3,700+ shares on YouTube.
- The interactive bus stops recorded a 21% engagement rate during the campaign.
- “The Gym is Everywhere” got over 100 million social media impressions in just 3 weeks.
- During the campaign, Reebok’s website traffic increased by 14,000 online visitors per day.
- Reebok’s mentions from key audience groups increased by 60% during the campaign.
- A total of 1.6 million commuters tried the exercises in the pop-up gyms.
Clearly, these numbers show that the campaign helped change Colombians’ mindsets for the better and encouraged them to develop healthy habits.
Well done, Reebok and JCDecaux Colombia!
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Executing the campaign at bus stops across 2 of Colombia’s major municipalities was a clever idea because commuters didn’t have much to do while waiting for their rides.
Think about this: In an ordinary bus shelter, the waiting time could’ve been boring or sleep-inducing… but when Reebok’s marketing team transformed these stations into pop-up gyms, people enjoyed their time while waiting. Some even let their rides pass so they could finish their exercise!
This campaign showed that bus stops are great places for people to interact with and notice a particular brand’s ads.
What’s more?
As a sporting brand, Reebok has a communication strategy focused on improving the quality of life of its target market through physical activity.
By incorporating this concept into its guerrilla marketing campaign, the brand obtained a positive response from Colombians and helped them change their attitude towards exercising.
We hope you find this marketing strategy exciting and interesting!
With a unique idea, creative execution, and overall engaging brand activation, you’ll succeed in captivating your target market and compel them to pause what they’re doing to interact with your brand.
Get ready to “break a sweat” in your marketing efforts!
(This article is from The Business Builder Daily, a newsletter by The I Institute in collaboration with MBO Partners.)
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Thursdays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing”
Jay Conrad Levinson (1984) said that Guerrilla Marketing “works because it’s simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and inexpensive.”
Guerrilla Marketing is unconventional.
Looking beyond the traditional ways of advertising, marketers, and advertisers need to spice things up in order for their brand to have campaigns that not only make an impact but also stick to their target market’s mind.
Guerrilla Marketing usually aims to have direct contact with consumers.
This type of direct contact should spark an emotional reaction that leads to consumers effectively remembering the brand.
It’s about making a big impression and making that impression last a long time (if not forever).
Guerrilla Marketing can be inexpensive.
The effect of this is being able to create a buzz around the brand, and the strategy used to market it. Almost everything is passed around through word-of-mouth.
Word-of-mouth is one of the greatest outcomes and it usually doesn’t cost anything.
This is every business’ or brand’s dream!
Every Thursday, we publish tips, examples, and other useful content on unconventional ways of marketing and promotion.
Learn more about how to grab your target market’s attention and make an amazing first and lasting impression without having to spend a lot of money.
Businesses don’t really need to spend much for a guerrilla campaign. You do not need a big budget to be successful. You just need creativity and a good imagination.
Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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