Cycling Canada was a small organization with a big challenge. They wanted to help get more people involved in cycling and to raise awareness for the sport’s many disciplines. To achieve this, we realized that they needed to inspire Canadians to participate. And the rallying cry “Hop on” was born.

We brought this simple message to life through a unique visual: bikes that seemed to ride themselves. The riderless bikes served as an invitation and as a tool for our target to visualize participating in the six disciplines. Each discipline was showcased in film, press, and online.

Reaction to the campaign was overwhelmingly positive — it generated 20,500,000 free media impressions in the first eight days, and 51% of visitors to the campaign website signed up to get involved. That’s a lot of hopping on.

The first step of our integrated campaign was to launch HopOnCanada.ca. This site featured discipline information, athlete interviews, merchandise, and information for how people could get involved. It acted as the central hub that all campaign pieces would lead to.

From there, big box, leaderboard, and skyscraper banners were used to drive to the website. Google AdWords units were also used to increase traffic.

Next, a 60-second commercial was shared with Cycling Canada’s social communities. Shortly thereafter, the 30-second spot made its television debut to coincide with this year’s Paris-Roubaix.

Finally, the six print ads hit the presses and appeared in magazines and newspapers nationwide. Each one also tied back to HopOnCanada.ca.

The main results that Cycling Canada wanted to attain were awareness and participation. This campaign achieved both. Within the first eight days, the campaign received 20,500,000 free media impressions. Additionally, 51% of website visitors signed up to get involved — either to volunteer for future events or to participate as an athlete.