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Nikwax’s head of campaign content Tom Willox wanted clicks for the company’s recent social media push, but did the cycle-based #DoMoreWithNikwax campaign put money in tills?
“If people remember to buy Nikwax next time they are buying their outdoor gear that’s great, but getting people outside whilst raising awareness of the importance of taking care of the outdoors was the focus of this campaign," he told BikeBiz.
Nevertheless, eyeballs is all, and the campaign worked on the visibility front.
"We had more than 40 press articles and mentions on outdoor websites and through social media," said Willox. There have been mentions of the #DoMoreWithNikwax campaign on the websites of Adventure Travel Mag, Mpora, retailer Tiso, Cool of the Wild and influential bloggers.
“The athletes’ followers were engaged and were inspired throughout the campaign. They looked forward to the daily updates we posted on social media," said Willox.
The campaign was a relay between three athletes who were tasked with cycling around 300km each day and then hiking the highest peak in the country they chose to ride through.
Markus Stitz – the first person to bikepack around the world on a singlespeed bike – started the relay on 12th July when he left from Dover to reach Fort William in Scotland three days later – he trekked up and down Ben Nevis.
The crew then travelled to the Netherlands where European Adventurer of the Year Fredrika Ek took up the baton. She has spent the last two and a half years bike-packing around the world.
Her Nikwax journey involved cycling to Bremen in Germany, then Vejle in Denmark, Larvik, Begn and Fossbergom in Norway before ascending the 2,469-metre Galdhøpiggen. She then cycled to Gothenburg in Sweden where she handed over to Jenny Tough, who is mid-way through circumnavigating the globe by running across a mountain range on every continent. She continued the Nikwax challenge through Germany – cycling to and then climbing up Zugspitze, Germany’s highest peak.
Each adventurer posted images of themselves doing the Nikwax Floating Sleeping bag challenge – this is when a volunteer floats on water while lying inside a sleeping bag filled with Nikwax-treated down. With a Therm-a-rest mat inside the bag to aid floatation the submerged part of the sleeping bag always remains dry. The three athletes duly performed the exercise, and stayed dry, sharing the experience on a variety of social media channels.
The campaign got a lot of airtime on social media, but Nikwax was interested in reaching an industry audience not just a consumer one. They did that by joining forces with the European Outdoor Conservation Association.
EOCA raises funds for conservation projects worldwide. In the last 12 years the organisation has supported 100 projects to the tune of over 2.4 million Euros.
“Only 139 brands within the outdoor industry are members of EOCA yet more than 700 companies exhibit at the major trade shows,” said Willox. And by raising awareness of EOCA he hopes that number will rise, including companies in the cycle industry.
Nikwax have been making cleaning and waterproofing products for more than 40 years. All Nikwax products are water-based, non-flammable, don’t contain any PFCs, solvents or propellant gasses. The company has also carbon balanced all of its operational emissions during its existence by regenerating and protecting tropical rainforest in partnership with World Land Trust.
