Overview:

I created a Canadian Olympic Medalist campaign featuring every Canadian Olympic cyclist who won a medal, including Kelsey Mitchell, a gold medalist in track cycling. The campaign was launched immediately after she publicly expressed disappointment about an article falsely claiming she had retired from cycling.

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Strategy:

This campaign was multi-faceted, designed to achieve several key objectives:
- Driving engagement from Olympians by creating content they would resonate with.
- Generating new engagement from cyclists and sports enthusiasts by leveraging high-profile athletes.
- Increasing brand awareness for the company through association with elite athletes.
- Enhancing brand credibility by aligning with professional Olympic athletes, reinforcing trust and legitimacy within the cycling community.
- Inspiring followers in the cycling community (both new and experienced riders).
- Celebrating the Olympians' accomplishments to foster a deeper connection with the audience.

Execution:

I strategically timed Kelsey Mitchell's feature post to be released after her public frustration, offering a positive and counter-narrative that reinforced her identity as an active and successful cyclist. By providing a factual, celebratory post highlighting her achievements, I positioned the brand as an authentic and supportive presence in the cycling world.

Results:

Kelsey Mitchell engaged with the campaign by liking every post in the series.
She also commented directly on her feature post, demonstrating clear interest.
Notably, she was not following the company at the time, meaning her engagement was driven purely by the campaign's effectiveness.

In addition, the campaign attracted engagement from another Olympian, Carson Mattern (Paris 2023), further solidifying its reach and credibility within the cycling community.

The campaign strengthened brand credibility and awareness by fostering real connections with elite athletes, signalling to the audience that the brand is well-regarded in professional cycling circles. This strategy also highlights how psychology, empathy, and strategic timing- combined with multi-layered marketing objectives- can drive high-profile engagement, establish brand credibility, and create impactful content.

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Overview:

Reaching the Instagram Explore Page is one of the most effective ways to increase brand visibility and attract new followers. However, it's particularly challenging for niche brands, as their target audience is smaller, and competition for organic reach is high. This case study details how I strategically positioned Velofix and The Fix – two niche cycling brands – to land on the Explore Page over 10 times, often as the very first post shown, using organic content alone.

This was achieved on a brand-new account with no followers or pre-existing engagement activity, confirming that the results were not influenced by algorithm triggers or prior audience behaviour – a rare and impressive organic feat.

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Strategy:

To maximize organic visibility, I implemented a content strategy designed to trigger Instagram's Explore Page algorithm using organic engagement alone. This strategy included:

- Optimized Posting Times: Posting when engagement was at its peak to increase initial interactions.
- Highly Shareable Content: Crafting posts designed to encourage shares and saves, two key signals for Explore Page visibility.
- Targeted Hashtags & Captions: Using niche-specific hashtags combined with compelling calls-to-action to drive engagement.
- Strategic Visual Appeal: Designing visually striking and professional posts tailored to the cycling niche to stand out on the Explore Page.
- Brand Voice Consistency: Maintaining a consistent tone and style across all posts to reinforce brand identity and resonate with the audience.

Execution:

I crafted content that resonated with the cycling community while keeping branding, relevance, and engagement at the forefront. The execution phase focused on:

- Visually striking, well branded posts with cycling-related themes to appeal to Instagram's algorithm.
- Strategic engagement techniques to encourage interaction and boost reach.
- Testing multiple types of content and tracking which formats were most likely to land on the Explore Page.

Results:

The strategy was highly successful:

Both Velofix and The Fix appeared on the Instagram Explore Page over 10 times.
- Increased brand visibility with engagement spikes following Explore Page placements.
- These placements were confirmed by checking from a brand-new account with no following actibvity, ensuring that the results were purely organic and not influenced by pre-excisting audience engamenent. This verified the Explore Page success.
- Curated a stronger presence in the cycling niche by more organic reach, engagement, and interactions from users outside the brand's existing follower base.

This case study highlights my ability to understand and leverage Instagram's algorithm to drive organic visibility, even for niche brands that face greater challenges in reaching a broad audience.

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Overview:

I designed decals for a coffee truck, which were unexpectedly featured live on CHCH News during a morning segment. The decals played a key role in driving engagement by prominently showcasing the company's branding, social media handles, and website URL.

Strategy:

The decals were designed to balance aesthetics with functionality, with no prior knowledge that they would be featured on television. Key information, including the company's Instagram handle and website URL was strategically positioned for maximum visibility to both on-site customers and viewers. The clean and professional design ensured the branding would stand out, even under expected circumstances like a live TV segment.

Execution:

The decals were implemented on the coffee truck with a focus on simplicity and visibility, allowing them to communicate the brand message effectively. When the truck was featured live on CHCH News, the host highlighted the decals by reading the social media handle and website URL on-air, amplifying the brand's reach and engagement.

Results:

The CHCH News featured drove a significant increase in the company's instagram followers and website traffic. The clear and strategically placed decals allowed the brand to capitalize on the unexpected exposure, creating a direct connection with a wider audience and reinforcing the effectiveness of clear, intentional design.

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Overview:

A strong, cohesive brand identity is essential for audience trust, engagement, and credibility. When content aligns with a company's mission, it reinforces brand authority and strengthens the connection with followers. However, off-brand content such as unrelated or misaligned posts, can disrupt the audience experience, dilute messaging, and reduce engagement.

One such instance occurred when an off-brand post appeared on a company's social media page. While the post itself was not harmful, it did not align with the brand's established messaging, causing a noticeable shift in content flow.

Strategy:

Recognizing the impact of consistent branding on audience perception, I have always prioritized:

- Curating content that aligns with brand identity to ensure relevance.
- Maintaining a structured content calendar to keep posts strategic and engaging.
- Following brand guidelines for visuals and tones to create a seamless feed.
- Balancing educational, promotional, and community-driven content that supports audience needs.

This approach ensures that every post serves a clear purpose and reinforces brand messaging, avoiding content that may seem out of place.

Execution:

While I was not responsible for the off-brand post, its presence highlighted the importance of content oversight and strategic consistency. In response, I focused on:

- Strengthening content planning processes to minimize inconsistencies.
- Ensuring posts align with audience expectations to maintain trust.
- Refining internal brand guidelines to prevent future off-brand content.

Rather than reacting to individual posts, my role is to proactively establish and maintain branding consistency, ensuring that the overall content strategy stays cohesive and effective.

Results:

By reinforcing a strong content strategy:

- The brand has maintained a professional and consistent presence across social platforms.
- The audience continues to engage with relevant, brand-aligned content, reinforcing trust.
- Content planning improvements have reduced the likelihood of off-brand posts, strengthening long-term branding efforts.

This case study highlights the importance of maintaining a clear brand identity and ensuring that all content reflects a company's mission and values. Even a single off-brand post can impact brand perception, making strategic planning and consistency key to long-term success.