The Challenge

US Olympic gold medalist Jessie Diggins had just claimed the World Cup overall title, cementing her as the No. 1 Nordic skier in the world, a massive achievement inside a sport that is still not “mainstream” in the United States. As a Salomon “360 athlete” (skiing/running/outdoors), the brand needed to quickly move to convert the momentum created by Jessie’s performance into visibility for both her, as an athlete, and the brand as her primary equipment sponsor.

The Opportunity

The opportunity I defined was to highlight Jessie’s on-snow accomplishments while promoting Salomon’s new spring running and apparel ranges to an urban audience. To do so, we put Jessie in front of an audience that would relate to her as an elite athlete first, regardless of the sport.

The Approach

Collaborating with Jessie’s agent, the US branch of our global agency (Ketchum), and Salomon’s US marketing leadership, I led the build-out of a two-day schedule that included sit-downs with high-profile media and an afternoon workout with a group of fitness-minded influencers from New York City, a market Salomon was targeting to grow brand awareness. The gym session meant the story was about Jessie as an athlete anyone could relate to, not about a sport most of the audience had never seen.

Execution

• Organized a two-day, end-of-season NYC media trip for Jessie Diggins following her World Cup overall title

• Produced a training session led by Jessie for a group of female fitness influencers

• Gifted influencer attendees Salomon footwear and apparel to share across their own social channels

• Secured and arranged interviews with The Wall Street Journal and New York Times Magazine

• Two days of behind-the-scenes content capture for Salomon's own social channels

My Role

• Conceived and produced the NYC athlete activation

• Liaised with athlete’s agent, Salomon’s global PR agency, and Salomon’s US marketing leadership

• Secured and briefed The Wall Street Journal and New York Times Magazine on interview opportunities

• Captured on-the-ground content across the two-day trip used on Salomon’s and Jessie’s social channels

Results & Impact

• Coverage in The Wall Street Journal and New York Times Magazine

• Reached a new, young female audience in a key market through 20+ influencers

• Generated authentic, athlete-led content across influencer, owned, and earned channels from a two-day trip

In Her Own Words

Jessie hand-writes notes thanking people for their work. Always a class act.
(An odd number of people meant I somehow wound up being her workout partner for the influencer workout session. Can you say: Exhausted!)