Wattbike, the original smart bike manufacturer, has launched its first major brand campaign to challenge penthouse perceptions of home cycling, as it pushes its beginner-to-superstar credentials to a wider home fitness audience.
The ‘For Real Athletes’ campaign, which launched with a TV spot created by MATTA and produced by Spindle, introduces us to a world of determined everyday and professional athletes, finding unique ways to integrate Wattbikes into their lives and routines to achieve their fitness goals.
Wattbike has been the mainstay of professional conditioning programmes for a long list of elite teams and performers around the world over the last 10 years.
But the pandemic has also driven a new consumer to indoor cycling – one that doesn’t strive to reach the pinnacle of performance but simply wants to use the very best bike at home to fast track their fitness.
Serving up a very British antidote to a category awash with pristine portrayals of home fitness, Wattbike’s campaign shows real people working out after a long shift, squeezing in a session before breakfast or on daddy-duty and whilst borrowing an ironing board as a makeshift laptop stand.
We also see Wattbikes in the All Blacks training camp – to whom they are the official performance bike supplier – as a nod to how much they’re loved by sport’s most successful performers, as well as everyday athletes.
And in golden moments, that will be entirely relatable to millions of serious home fitness enthusiasts, we see waistbands being unceremoniously hiked up, shorts being released from the saddle trap and household distractions being drowned out to acknowledge that the road to fitness perfection isn’t always perfect.
Amy Johns, Marketing Director at Wattbike, said; “This campaign captures the very heart of Wattbike.
Whether you’re an All Black or just always trying to improve, we see everyone who can ride a Wattbike as an athlete and that’s what drives us to make the best smart bikes in the world.
“Our research told us that there are millions of people who are serious about getting fitter and are increasingly choosing to do that in their own home – but they also want a product that they can invest in for a lifetime of gains.
This campaign underlines that Wattbike is a tool that can stretch and adapt to any fitness goal and, most importantly, it delivers proven results in the real world.”
Ed Hughes, Chief Marketing Officer at Wattbike, added, “We’ve always led from the front at Wattbike, and whilst we know the prevailing winds of the industry tempt us to believe every smart bike deserves its own hand-crafted plinth on a balcony overlooking a famous landmark, we know our customers have just one goal – to get fitter.
That’s why we’ve chosen to celebrate their determination and commitment in an authentic way and create a new community of Real Athletes with this campaign.”
Matt Hunt, Executive Brand & Strategy Director for MATTA, says: “What we wanted to do with this brief was to flip the traditional fitness advert on its head, showing the ‘real’ side of getting and keeping fit around other commitments, how life gets in the way – and how not everyone has the perfect, home built gym in which to train.
The ‘raw’, humorous presentation of fitness as something that is certainly not pretty, or perfect reflects the lives of our ‘Real Athletes’ – who prioritise their fitness and will go to great lengths to ensure they are able to fit it into their lives.’