STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® is an international extreme sports competition series. Its roots lie in Australia and New Zealand, where workers in the timber industry would hold competitions to determine who was the fastest in a range of wood chopping and sawing disciplines that closely simulated their everyday work.
The Champions Trophy format includes four of the six traditional STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines; Stocksaw, Underhand Chop, Single Buck and Standing Block. Fifteen athletes from around the country fought tooth and nail with razor-sharp axes and high-powered chainsaws to chop and saw through four blocks of wood in approximately one minute. The Australian champion also went on to represent the nation on the world stage in Sweden.
Thrive was tasked with delivering a cost-effective and strategic PR campaign that maximised the reach of STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® to drive interest and engagement in the sport, athletes and the STIHL brand, while encouraging attendance at the Australian Champions Trophy in Geelong.
We also looked to leverage the Australian athletes competing in the 2019 STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® World Champions Trophy in Sweden to raise their profiles and showcase STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® as the Original Extreme Sport.
By utilising athlete talent, we were able to secure pre and post-event interviews in local, metro and national titles across print, broadcast and online mediums. Once the winners of the Australian competition were announced, we profiled these athletes pre and post-event for additional stories.
Media coverage for both events exceeded KPIs, with a combined media reach of over 2 million impressions spanning print, broadcast and online titles.
Thrive will continue to work with STIHL TIMBERSPORTS®, with the Australian Championships being held later this year on the Gold Coast.
To find out more about STIHL TIMBERSPORTS® visit: https://www.stihl.com.au/timbersports.aspx