Women’s Ride and Run Series
ROLES
Amanda: Responsible - Product Marketing and Project Lead
I lead this month-long sustained campaign end-to-end beginning with project inception of defining goals and business objectives, messaging, briefing, and execution and KPI monitoring, connecting with and empowering fellow teammates along the way.
Collaborators: Content Producer, Content Strategy, Social, CRM, PR, Customer Success, Broadcast/Prodcast, Sports Marketing, International, Localization, Copywriting, DIEBs, Brand, Growth Marketing, Paid Media, Program Manager, Project Manager, Web, Design
CHALLENGE
As a disruptive training brand with a heritage in cycling and a history of women’s-firsts initiatives (first women’s talent ID program, first gender-equal prize awards with vTdF and UCI Worlds), Zwift should celebrate Women’s History Month through the gains made in women’s sports equality and promote further wins to be had.
In June 2021, Zwift announced a 4-year partnership with the Tour de France Femmes with the inaugural edition of this event starting in July 2022. This four-year contract (with the option to extend one year) is a major step towards growing the women's pro cycling audience and inspiring a new generation of athletes, as the race seeks to establish itself as the pinnacle of the UCI Women’s World Tour cycling calendar.
It is thanks to heroic trailblazers who have broken through barriers that restricted women’s athletics that we will pave a path for TdFF to come to life. Let’s amplify their stories and use this as an opportunity to ignite a sense of unity and community among our female Zwifters and prospects while setting the stage for the #NewRules and TdFF campaigns in concert. We want to entice consumers with engaging content and ultimately invite and embrace their participation in WHM’s in-game programming.
BUSINESS CHALLENGE
Women athletes are underrepresented in Zwift (17% of Zwifters vs 25% global riders) leaving a huge opportunity for growth in this demographic. This initiative aims to inspire, embrace, and ignite our female community to elevate current Zwifters and invite newcomers.
Acquisition: Accelerates the growth of the women’s community on Zwift via social/word of mouth and lay the foundation for a larger TdFF acquisition campaign
Retention: Engages and energizes Zwift’s existing women’s community of cyclists, runners, and triathletes
STRATEGY
Women’s History Month will build off Zwift’s commitment to women’s equality by highlighting female trailblazers who have paved the way for evolution in women’s sport while simultaneously generating excitement and enthusiasm leading into April’s #NewRules and TdFF campaigns through in-game content programming. This initiative will:
Celebrate the month by showcasing stories of heroic women who have reinvented the rules & helped shape and progress women’s sports world today
Connect to the greater mission of investing in the growth and development of women and women’s cycling
Including through our social impact work with the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Cycle Effect
Deepen our diverse hiring partnerships (i.e.Latinas In Tech)
Engage Zwift women to their best Zwift experience
Celebrate the women of Zwift and create a greater sense of community
Educate around gender equity and the issues that still exist for women in sport and in the tech sector
Key Product and Brand Proofs:
Celebrating the fun and power of rule-breakers who have progressed and pioneered women’s sport
Our commitment to and heritage in advancing women’s sport with the exclamation of our recent commitment to the 4-year TdFF partnership (not a priority communication for this month)
Encouraging community growth through a variety of events, including mass participation events, group social rides, weekly workouts, and podcasts rides... inspired by, or led by some of sports’ best-known female heroes.
ACTION
As the Product Marketing Lead, I ensured a strong connective 360° campaign that drove program excitement, completion and legitimacy, as well as creative consistency. I rallied direct cross-functional team of product managers, creatives, and channel marketers to successful business outcomes.
My full Run of Show for WRRS. This was coupled with a daily ROS update and tracker.
RESULTS
Drove the development, socialization, and institutionalization of strong, compelling, and consumer-centric content for the Women’s Ride and Run Series that supported the brand’s overarching dedication to women’s sports by aligning with women-first DEIB initiatives and the Women’s Tour de France Femms activations
Compared to year-over-year previous campaign results, this year’s Women’s Ride and Run Series resulted in 40% increased CTR and 30% increase in engagement
Connected virtual Zwifters in-game to Zwift’s real-world sponsorship and commitment to Tour de France Femmes
This quickly became Zwift’s most successful year of the Women’s Ride and Run Series and I am proud that this page is still active on their site today.
