Background
Muscle Republic is one of Australia's pre-eminent activewear brand. The brand is built on e-commerce, with the majority of sales coming through the website. As a significant member of the fitness community domestically, Muscle Republic is involved in a lot of events, activations and physical initiatives each year.
The Task
As part of a six-month consultancy with Muscle Republic, Butterflys was tasked with assisting in an expo build for the Sydney Fitness Show 2019. Turnaround time was c. 1.5 months.
Context
The Sydney Fitness Show is Sydney's largest fitness event, with over 50 000 visitors over the course of three days each year. At Muscle Republic's previous Sydney Fitness Show appearance, the brand set a sales record.
In approaching the build, Butterflys noted that there were a few key elements to consider:
- Muscle Republic's off-centre positioning to the main entrance. Although visible to entrants, the proportion of the immediate vendors would make it a challenge for visitors to immediately spot the Muscle Republic booth.
- Flow of traffic through the booth, from immediate visibility, through to the process of checking out during crowded hours.
- The potential shutdown of the online store during the weekend, with all resources focused on the physical activation.
Solution
Butterflys worked closely with Muscle Republic and experienced builder Project Station to create a stand layout that would increase efficiencies and remove the risk of burnout.
Expo Location
The expo stand was created with a few key features:
- Five aisles dedicated to different product ranges, with a 3:2 split between female and male ranges;
- Three change rooms for prospective customers looking to try on outfits.
- A Muscle Republic logo on a red background on the side facing the main entrance.
Restocks of items were stored below the clothing racks, each tub split into various sizes for ease of restock. Restocks of the entire booth were held in the storage location, to be used only during off-hours for restocking of the racks and the storage compartments under the racks.
Campaign & Promotion
The expo coincided the launch of a brand new range for Muscle Republic, and as part of this we included advertising and boards that highlighted the combination deals exclusive to the expo weekend.
Rather than closing the online store over the weekend, it was determined that we would run the same expo deals on the website for customers who were unable to attend the show.
To complement both online and expo traffic, we increased our paid marketing budget allocation over the weekend, including a location-specific campaign directed at all attendees. This was in line with our mantra, Activity Breeds Activity. We utilised the brand's presence at a major event to leverage an opportunity to drive traffic and sales to the website.
A vlog was made for each day, along with an overall recap presented one week post-expo. Along with this was a significant amount of social proofing, with content creators directed to capture as many customer interactions as possible and their opinion of Muscle Republic product.
The Outcome
The 2019 Sydney Fitness Show was a revenue-success for Muscle Republic. Despite a close to 50% reduction in attendees over the three days, Muscle Republic managed to break the previous record by 11%.
This only took into account sales made at the expo, and as part of the overall campaign online sales also broke the three day return record that was previously set by 2018's Black Friday promotion.
Take advantage of your brand's involvement in various initiatives, and make the most of the ability to branch out into other brand-building activities.
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