HGB was recently asked to deliver a refreshed brand, website and winning social media and content strategy for New Zealand’s largest Triathlon festival – the last qualifying event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Attracting world-class athletes from over 32 countries, and being live streamed to over 12,000 people worldwide, we swam, biked and ran over mountains to exceed expectations.

Every year, the world’s top triathletes, weekend warriors and Taranaki community come together on the shores of New Plymouth’s Ngāmotu Beach to kick off a two-day festival that celebrates the magic of triathlons and the spirit of community. Armed with perseverance, ambition and months of training, every participant, whether they’re an elite athlete, a first-timer, or raising money for a local charity, is ready to conquer ‘the ‘Naki’.

After initial discussions with Shanelle and representatives from the ITU (thank goodness for Zoom!), we developed a strategy to increase participation and market the 2020 Festival to be the biggest – and best – one yet! From here, we formed a kick-ass relay team with the aim to hit the TRI-fecta and deliver a new brand, new website and new content that captured the uniqueness of the event!

Any athlete will tell you, performance is all about preparation, which is why HGB dove in and created a detailed Marcomms plan.  With everything that needed to be done in the lead up to the event accounted for, we wrote fresh, SEO-friendly copy to maximise brand awareness and encourage sign-ups. Jacqui took home gold when she changed the name to the Tri Taranaki Festival, leading the way for a winning hashtag #TriTaranaki, that invited everyone to give it a tri!