3 ambassador programmes that built brand awareness and engagement

Brand ambassador programmes are playing an increasingly important role in PR and marketing strategies. In 2022, Aspire delivered 3 different ambassador programmes for OOFOS, motive8 and Outlaw Triathlon to increase awareness and brand engagement. The programmes are brilliant examples of how ambassadors can reach relevant communities and humanise brands.

Endorsing products in an authentic way

Our brief from each client was to develop and deliver ambassador programmes to support central PR and marketing functions.

We used our specialist experience to run every aspect of the programmes. We selected, recruited and managed ambassadors. And we executed key deliverables, from event hosting and social content to interviews, articles and testimonials to support press coverage.

Read our 3 case studies and see how ambassador programmes can deliver real impact for sports, fitness and active lifestyle brands.

OOFOS Recovery Experts

OOFOS are the creators of recovery footwear designed to help feet recover faster from a long day or gruelling run.

The brand’s revolutionary OOfoam™ technology absorbs 37% more impact than traditional foam footwear to recharge the body and reduce the stress on feet and joints.

Recovery is a central message for the brand, so the core objective for our ambassador programme was to create a panel of ‘recovery experts’.

We recruited four experts who know that recovery really matters: Ross Murray, former Olympian and running coach; Joy Ogude, founder of The London Physio; Brian O’Leary, Head of Performance at London Irish Rugby; and Annie Brooks, international triathlete.

The ambassadors worked with us to deliver recovery-focused content across the year, from hosting events for the press and their own communities, to Instagram Lives and written articles which were used for media pitching.

Highlights included:

Through such events, our ambassadors introduced the brand to new and wider audiences and created opportunities for press outreach.

The strong expert voices chosen for our ambassador programme have really helped OOFOS to own the conversation around recovery.

motive8 Empowering Performance

Founded in 1998, motive8 is the UK market leader in full-service health, fitness and leisure solutions and one of Aspire’s longest-serving clients of over 10 years. The company manages the design, installation, management and maintenance of leisure facilities for residential, corporate and commercial sites.

At the start of 2022, we launched ‘Empowering Performance,’ the company’s first brand ambassador programme. The objective was to build a CSR programme that supports young athletes to succeed in their chosen sport.

Using motive8’s expertise, knowledge and facilities, we created a programme that offers up-and-coming talent the support and funding to help overcome any barriers to success.

We recruited and supported two athletes including aspiring 100m hurdler, Anastasia Davies, and Olympic Skeleton racer, Laura Deas.

motive8 supported Anastasia financially with monthly training expenses, as well as physio sessions, her track membership and kit. The partnership was focused on ensuring Anastasia had everything she needed to support her for training and competitions, and to take her sporting career to the next level.

Laura, already an established athlete, required a selection of home gym kit for her garage space to support her training. Leading up to the Beijing Winter Olympics, Laura used her motive8 home kit to focus on strength and power training from the comfort of her own home.

Through the ‘Empowering Performance’ ambassador programme, we created meaningful content across the year which reinforced key business values and CSR objectives.

As well as website articles and social content introducing motive8’s athletes and their journeys, we also launched new CSR comms which gained traction across key B2B titles including UKAA and PBSA.

Both ambassadors created a ‘Train like an athlete’ fitness programme for residents across motive8’s residential managed sites. The programmes replicated their own training regimes and encouraged members to challenge themselves to a new style of training.

Outlaw First Timers

Outlaw is an award-winning long-distance triathlon event series with over 10 events happening across the UK each year. Aspire worked with Outlaw across their 2022 events season to raise awareness of each event and reach new and wider audiences beyond their regular competitors.

Aspire launched Outlaw’s first brand ambassador campaign centred around four first-timers documenting their personal journey to train for their first triathlon.

The four ambassadors included: Alice Barraclough, freelance fitness journalist; Michael Adeniran, self-confessed challenge junkie and creator; Ian Arnold, keen runner and fitness blogger; and Paris Wood, cycling and wellbeing creator.

The objective of the campaign was for each ambassador to champion the Outlaw events to their own communities, and also offer long-term value, providing consistent and quality social coverage at key points in the year.

The First Timers’ triathlon coverage started with a briefing call with the Outlaw event founders. We then worked on a series of activities to support each of the athletes during their training and to encourage documentation and social sharing.

Each First Timer received a high-value ‘survival kit’ containing products from Outlaw’s partners and sponsors to give them everything they could possibly need for their training journey.

The ambassadors were set up with a specialised triathlon coach to support them along the way and also entered into a pre-race swim event to get them ready for the big day.

Across the training period, we saw over 111 social posts and stories with 4.7k engagements, detailed blog articles about their journeys and press coverage in The Independent.

The ambassador programme proved to be a powerful way of giving personal insight and raising the awareness of Outlaw events.