The Challenge

The COVID-19 pandemic crushed the international format of the Santos Tour Down Under (TDU). In January 2022, during the peak of the OMICRON variant, a downgraded event format named the Santos Festival of Cycling (SFoC), was required to deliver a COVID-safe event to a domestic audience, while maintaining the legacy of the biggest cycling event in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Solution

To negate communication about what was lacking in the SFOC format, SOCIETY highlighted what was unique – including track challenges, regions, pedigree of riders – driving a fully integrated PR and media relations campaign, targeting international, national TV, radio, online and print. We propped event interest by leveraging famous sporting and lifestyle voices about the event, and built a suite of engaging content, as well as a compelling ambassador relationship with Kai Sakakibara.

The Response