The Challenge

As one of the biggest cycling events of the year, the Sea Otter Classic attracts 80,000-plus people. With less than a month before Sea Otter, Bosch eBike Systems partnered with Tech Image to plan a successful event.

With no prior cycling relationships, Tech Image needed a plan to reach out and build relationships with attending media. With only  an Instagram channel in place, Bosch also tasked the agency with building an entire digital and social media strategy in roughly three weeks to help drive eBike test rides at the festival.

This was the time to prove to Bosch that Tech Image could successfully pull off event coordination in less than a month.

The Idea

For media relations, Tech Image researched surrounding publications attending the event and created a list of more than 50 tier-1 journalists, making introductions and gauging interest in the event. The team also reached out to every appropriate local reporter and calendar editor in the Monterey area.

To reach the cycling journalists, Tech Image acquired the official press list and cross-referenced it with existing outreach to determine new faces and saturate the entire media landscape.

For digital and social media, Tech Image outlined and proposed a social media strategy, which included managing the channel in real time and creating the necessary accounts on Facebook in order to properly advertise on Instagram. The team also designed a Bosch-branded Snapchat filter and geo-located it to the entire festival grounds.

The Results

Tech Image took media relations to the next level at the 2017 Sea Otter Classic, working with 33 publications during three short days. The appointments resulted in 15 articles within just 48 hours of the event’s final days, with many more in the following weeks.

On the social side, Bosch saw a 2,449 percent increase in Instagram engagement, and more than 20,000 users reached on Snapchat. The custom landing page was developed in one week, creating the opportunity for Bosch to collect sales leads.