Sunbrella: Uncharted Waters

Services:

Integrated, Digital, Video
Client:

Sunbrella

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Sunbrella: Uncharted Waters

Integrated, Digital, Video

Full Version

To energize marine audiences and tap into their passion for performance at the highest levels, Uncharted Waters takes users on an interactive journey that follows elite athletes as they pursue their Olympic dreams.

Project Overview

What We Did

Completely rethinking how to capture the exceptional performance of Sunbrella for enthusiastic marine audiences, our team negotiated with US Sailing Team Sperry to make Sunbrella the presenting sponsor of the World Sailing Cup Miami for 2015 and in the run-up to the 2016 Olympics. To capitalize on this rare opportunity, our team created an immersive digital and video experience that offered a content-rich, behind-the-scenes look at 11 sailors competing at the highest level of their sport.

Results

Uncharted Waters gave Sunbrella a new way to engage and connect with its loyal marine audience while reaching new audiences primed to embrace the brand. In the eight-month run-up to the Rio Olympics, the website — promoted by one paid Facebook campaign and organic and promoted social media posts along with organic traffic — had more than 75,000 visits and more than 85,579 video views. The six-week social media campaign generated 1,523,187 impressions. During that period, the site also ranked among the top 10 websites for referral traffic to sunbrella.com.

75,000+
Website visits in eight months
85,579+
Video views in eight months
1,523,187
Impressions in six weeks

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Digital Experience

We developed the platform’s structure and UX with two primary user personas in mind: those who wanted to view high-level content and engage with the sailing team as a whole, and those who wanted to dive deeper into individual athlete stories and explore their personal journey to the Olympic stage. Stripping out all unnecessary elements created an immersive experience where video and photography would draw in viewers to explore more.

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Online Video

As a result of our Media team’s sponsorship negotiations with US Sailing Team Sperry, Sunbrella became the presenting sponsor of the World Sailing Cup Miami for 2015 and 2016, and Sunbrella’s branding was placed on the team’s boats, sails and apparel. This connection provided the opportunity to tell the elite athletes’ stories. Viewers were invited into the lives of 11 sailors, learning what it takes to compete at the highest level and what drives these athletes to sacrifice everything for a chance at a spot on the 2016 US Olympic and Paralympic Sailing Teams.

Content Marketing

An integrated mix of search optimization, public relations, social media, a content discovery network program and paid media tactics drove traffic to the website. In addition to viewing the athletes’ stories and learning about US Sailing Team Sperry, the site also allowed them to learn more about Sunbrella fabric and its unmatched performance attributes.

Online Advertising

Using Facebook advertising to launch the program, we extended our reach to include affluent sports enthusiast audiences with a paid content discovery network program, additional Facebook ads, Google Display ads and a digital campaign on publication websites including Power & Motoryacht, Yachting, Sail, Boat International and more.