The Gymshark Billboard
Well known for creating memorable marketing experiences, Gymshark put a billboard in New York at the centre of an extraordinary social media campaign.
Having acquired the advertising space in Times Square via Buyers & Sellers Media plc, Gymshark asked its audience of followers on Twitter to decide on what content should appear on the billboard.
And it blew up!
Content suggestions with the most likes were in the running to win, and social influencers were quick to jump in on the conversation, quickly making the campaign trend across the globe.
After 1000’s of replies flooded in, two US-based entrants were leading the way, and a YouTube battle commenced between Jschlatt (2.23m subs) and Corpse Husband (7.27m subs).
The two YouTubers battled it out asking their highly engaged audiences and influential friends to get behind their posts as they went head-to-head to see who could win the chance to feature on the billboard.
As a result of the battle, each audience launched their own hashtag in a battle to win – each of which trended in multiple regions across Twitter.
After more than half a million likes on their original tweet, containing the suggested content for the billboard, American musician and YouTuber Corpse Husband emerged as the winner.
The original tweet by Gymshark asking for content suggestions achieved 20 million impressions!
Now it was time to ensure the campaign was unmissable and capitalised on the moment whilst doing so in a way which felt genuine to Corpse’s and the Gymshark audience.
To create even more engagement, Gymshark launched an online 48 hour countdown to the billboard going live. The countdown also included music, live chat and gaming – which of course was consumed by large audiences all over the world.
And, when the countdown hit zero, the billboard was revealed!
Dominating Times Square the Gymshark billboard, featuring content from Corpse Husband, was live and fans flocked to see it.
Gymshark and Corpse Husband both shared images on Twitter and #CorpseTakesNYC was soon trending worldwide.
Fans sharing images of them in front of the billboard then added to the phenomena, to make the whole campaign a truly global event.
In short, the Gymshark Billboard was the perfect fusion of DOOH and social media, that created the most memorable and engaged of campaigns, and clearly demonstrated how brands can dominate across multiple lifestyle environments by igniting both heavyweight mediums.