Aims

1. 100% increase on Rio 2016 social media KPIs
2. To be in the top 5 most engaged with Olympic IFs at Tokyo 2020

insights

Olympic audiences saw equestrian sport as elite and in need of modernisation. We needed to dispel these misconceptions and clearly communicate a point of difference and distinctiveness.

Solution

Our point of difference was clear: equestrian sport is the only gender-neutral Olympic sport where men and women compete on the same stage as equals. Furthermore, age is no barrier. 16-year-old men compete against 60-year-old women.

These two key points were at the heart of our chosen messaging and campaign name. We tested 5 campaign names (via focus groups & surveys) among a sample of 150 people from the 7 target markets. #WeDontPlay tested the best and became the name of an Olympic campaign that saw FEI finish as one of the most engaged with sports at Tokyo 2020.

We then had to ensure that content on FEI’s own channels wasn’t tailored solely for fans of equestrian sport. That’s why we decided to focus on the incredible stories of riders competing at perhaps their very first or even their 8th Olympic Games and tap into their emotions and celebrations.

We also highlighted organisations such as the Ebony Horse Club in Brixton, London who were visited by Eventing Olympian Tina Cook as she continued to break down barriers to equestrian riding entry for inner city kids.

Content was distributed across owned, earned and paid digital channels, with our data-driven audience analysis providing a secure foundation for all content.

While we wanted to engage non-equine fans, we knew we couldn’t isolate our core audience. The reach, shares and support of this audience would be fundamental to our success so engaging with them was built into our distribution strategies.

We therefore utilised the relationships we have built with National Federations, athletes, equestrian influencers and publishers. We knew our #WeDontPlay content would speak to the heart of those who work in and admire the sport.

watch the #WeDontPlay Launch Video

Interesting Facts

1. FEI’s three discipline pages had the highest engagement rates of all International Federation pages on Facebook during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

2. The FEI Eventing page on Facebook doubled in size to 100k fans.

3. #WeDontPlay content generated 2.7x more impressions and 1.6x more engagements per post that other FEI content.

4. #WeDontPlay won ‘Best Entertainment, Leisure and Travel Campaign’ at the Independent Agency Awards.