CASE STUDY / EF Hub on wheels
Boston needed a partner that believed in cycling. EF needed to spread a message about the power of exploration. Enter EF Hub on Wheels.
When EF bought a pro cycling team in 2017, a journey started to spread the message of the power of exploring the world on two wheels. The challenge, as I saw it, was how to localize that mission in the Greater Boston area, the home of EF’s North American Headquarters. Not everyone has the chance to explore Spain or Italy, but almost everyone can find a way to experience new neighborhoods closer to home. The opportunity to sponsor Hub on Wheels was much more than getting our logo out in Boston (although that was a plus). It was an opportunity to demonstrate that wonderful transformation happens when people move through and support the places close to home, expanding their belief in what’s possible.
THE APPROACH
Discovering Opportunity Close to Home
Cycling isn’t always an easy sport to connect with. Cities aren’t always designed with cyclists in mind, but Boston was on a mission to change that. And EF was a brand that had already embraced cycling, but needed ways to demonstrate how it connected with EF’s purpose. This was a partnership that made sense for everyone.
When I decided to sponsor Hub on Wheels as a brand activitation for EF in 2018 and 2019, I knew that I wanted participants to have an experience that felt fun, inclusive, and welcoming. To bring to life the joyful spirit you felt riding bikes as a kid—because on a bike you could explore far and wide, tasting freedom as you felt yourself fly.
THE PROCESS
A Story of Exploration
As the sponsor, pulling together an event of this magnitude in Boston involved countless people, working across organizations and teams to do epic things (including shutting down Storrow Drive). But we did it because we were united in our goal to help raise as much money as possible for Boston Children’s Hospital, the charitable beneficiary of the ride.
The experience also needed to feel quirky and uniquely Boston. Fortunately one of the members of the marketing team, Brooke Parker, secured Keytar Bear (IYKYK), who played at the finish line in Government Center. It set the tone for the day—a celebration exploring Boston in a way that felt celebratory, welcoming, and just the right level of delightfully weird.
THE WORK
Bringing the Power of Pink to the Neighborhoods of Boston
As our sports partnership lead said to me at one point, “I feel like we truly might have somehow crafted the right mix of not just extremely talented players, but also some of the elusive chemistry we’ve sought.” This event was one of alchemy—a city with a vision, a team with expertise, and a brand with joy and energy to spare. It was a delight to the creative orchestrator of it all. To succeed in brining my vision to life, I knew we would need clear, iconic design. For that I turned to John Magnifico, a trusted design partner that I had worked with since our days at Mechanica.
The Team // Partnership Management: Amy Van Aarle and Adam Bickelman / Creative Direction: Amy Van Aarle / Design: John Magnifico / Photography: Greg Cooper / PR: Adam Bickelman / EF Event Team: Courtney Sewell, Melisse Lombard, KC Lee, Brooke Parker, and many, many more.
THE SHIFT
From Cyclists to Adventurers
This was a truly inclusive, uniquely Boston experience that brought everyone, at all levels of cycling, together. Lawson Craddock, at the time a member of the EF Pro Cycling team (and famous for his lanterne rouge ride in the 2018 Tour De France), joined the ride in 2018. At the same time, we were able to increase the number of kid riders by 93% from 2018 to 2019.
Most of all, participants got to feel the joy of experiencing the city of Boston on two wheels while raising money for Boston Children’s Hospital. And they got to do it with EF’s spirit of adventure felt everywhere.
~5,000
Riders in 2019
50%
Increase in riders YOY from 2018 to 2019
120%
Increase in donations to Boston Children’s Hospital YOY from 2018 to 2019
158%
Increase of unique visitors to the registration site YOY from 2018 to 2019