It is the inaugural edition of a brand new event, organised by event experts Human Race. The partnership will see Dennis’ new flagship health and fitness magazine, Coach, work with Fitbit to run this one-of-a-kind campaign, through until October.
The Fitbit Fifty is an endurance challenge that will take place between Friday 30th September and Sunday 2nd October 2016. Two teams of six people will attempt to run and cycle from Buckingham Palace to Edinburgh Castle, and back, in just 50 hours with the help of Fitbit as well as support during training from Professor Greg Whyte OBE, former Olympian, physical activity expert and Fitbit ambassador.
Coach magazine and Fitbit are offering amateur athletes across Britain an all-expenses paid place, to run 50km and up to 16 hours of cycling per person as part of the challenge. It’s ideally suited to men and women with Ironman, ultra-running or long-distance sportive experience and with the drive to test themselves in a challenge unlike any other, says Dennis. Participants will be recruited from across the Dennis network of brands, through print, display, content marketing, newsletter, video and social.
Fitbit will be powering the partnership by providing all challengers with a Fitbit Surge, a sleek fitness super watch, designed for peak performance.
Throughout training leading up to the main event, each challenger’s data, generated by their Fitbit Surge, will be tracked and analysed on a dedicated dashboard so Coach readers can follow the progress of each participant’s story, and training within a central content hub. Professor Greg Whyte OBE will be analysing the training data from challengers and offering guidance with their schedules as participants lead up the event.
The final phase of the campaign will be the event itself, with participant interviews, social support, live blogging and insights from the Fitbit Fifty hub, to be syndicated across Coach and the full network of Dennis brands. The content will focus on three main pillars:
1) Fitness and training
2) Fitbit Technology and how this can track, enhance and improve training
3) The emotional side of the challenge – interviews with participants in the weeks leading up to the event looking at the more human stories behind those training for the challenge.
Lucy Sheehan, Marketing Director UK at Fitbit, said: “We’re really excited about launching the Fitbit Fifty alongside Coach and the wider Dennis team. A challenging event such as this is a great example of how Fitbit technology can truly aid performance. The Fitbit Surge can help users perform at a high level with features such as GPS, PurePulse continuous heart rate tracking, and dedicated run and bike modes, demonstrating the effects of the challenge on participants’ health and fitness. We look forward to seeing how all the challengers fare over the course of their training and wish everyone luck for the challenge itself.”
Paul Lazarra, Advertising Director at Dennis, said: “This is the first time we have launched a campaign across the Dennis’ Active Leisure and Dennis Tech Media portfolio of brands. The Fitbit Fifty is a brilliant example of how Dennis can work with our clients on brand extensions to provide truly engaging, creative content and brand activation for our readers, all under one roof. By extending our reach beyond Coach, we are able to tap into a combined reach of 14m uniques along with our combined print circulation of 429,644.”
