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Cheam Sports 1 Year Case Study

Hitting a 3-pointer
From the centre line
Less than a second left
In overtime
Game 7

For the win

Here’s how we helped Cheam Sports create unique, highly targeted media and partnership experiences that continue to drive awareness and purchase intent.

Summary:

Mix together 1 part monster online retail sales machine, 1 part big box goon muscling into the neighbourhood, and 1 part depressed downtown economy – and you’ve got yourself a perfect storm intent on sinking every mom-and-pop brick and mortar shop around.

Our Roles:
Marketing Strategy
Brand Activation Events
Social Media Advertising
Content Development
Video Production
Public Relations Outreach

Important Stats ↓

%5 Increase

Gross Margin
Vs Previous Year

%30 Increase

Overall Sales
Vs Previous Year

%220 Increase

Single-day Sales
(Setting a 45 Year Record)

Challenge

Cheam Source for Sports simply couldn’t compete.

Over the past decade, Amazon ate up market share as people moved from shopping locally to buying online.

Add to that, a big box sporting goods store had moved into town (at a better location), and the downtown (where Cheam Sports is located) had deteriorated into what is often described as “the third-world suburbs”.

Chilliwack was going through an unprecedented building boom as young families flocked from insanely priced real estate in the big city, out to the burbs.  The problem, however, is that these new ‘Wackers’ were moving predominantly into South Chilliwack, away from the downtown war zone and away from Cheam Sports.

Yes, the future looked bleak for this once-iconic Chilliwack-born business.

Objective:

Create new excitement around a quarter-century old, locally owned business.  Lift brand awareness (with emphasis on the south side of Chilliwack), build differentiators, increase sales.

Chilliwack Marketing Case Study - Cheam Sports
Cheam Sports
Chilliwack Marketing Case Study
One Yellow Tree Marketing Portfolio
Cheam Sports The Show
Cheam Sports Spring Training
Chilliwack Marketing - Case Study - One Yellow Tree Cheam Sports
Cheam Sports The Show Branded Content

Solution

Online retailers like Amazon serve people who are buying.  We set out to help Cheam focus on people who understood the value of the shopping experience.

Understanding that competing with the big guys on price is nothing but a race to the bottom, One Yellow Tree developed a fully integrated digital and offline strategy focused on reaching our most valuable audience at key touchpoints, during key times of the year.  We determined a key differentiator and crafted a USP to help define the Cheam shopping experience.

Our plan wove unique shareable video with social PPC ads, event activations (ULLR, Hockeypalooza), timed offers, & influencer outreach.

Cheam Source For Sports

Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Chilliwack Marketing Case Study - Cheam Sports Fit Guarantee

This is one of the main differentiators between buying in Cheam’s local brick-and-mortar store.  Online retailers like Amazon simply can’t provide a precise fit.  Once you buy a skate online, it’s yours to keep no matter how it feels.

Brian and Geoff have been fitting skates, ski boots, shoes, and other sports footwear for over 50 years combined. They’ve taken many courses and continue to educate themselves on the latest techniques to fit gear perfectly to your body.

The bottom line? If your gear doesn’t fit, your performance goes down. Your posture suffers, and you get injured.

Brian and Geoff are so confident in their fitting skills, they guarantee their work. If your gear doesn’t fit perfectly, you can return until you’re 100% satisfied.

Complete Website Overhaul

We rebuilt cheamsports.ca – not only redesigning the visual experience, but creating a catalogue-style content management system that anchored their USP, showcased their inventory, and provided a foundation that we could drive all marketing efforts towards.

Event Activation: Hockeypalooza

In August of 2018, we created a branded event we called ‘Hockeypalooza’. This event celebrated minor hockey in Chilliwack, ran over a 3 day period, and featured a variety of on-site, hockey-related activities.

To support turnout, we ran a highly-targeted social PPC campaign leading up the event, which showcased the 3 days plus the annual hockey sale. The result was the highest multi-day sales revenue in the company’s 45 year history.

Marketing Case Study - Hockeypalooza Chilliwack

Event Activation: ULLR Ski & Snowboard Sale

ULLR is an annual sale event created in November of 2018.  The purpose was to build excitement around the upcoming ski season and position Cheam as the local go-to for ski and snowboarders.  With Manning Park and Sasquatch (both family-focused ski areas) so close to Chilliwack, it made sense to direct our core marketing initiative at them.

We first worked with Cheam to craft an offer – coming up with a ‘scratch and win’ that provided people with the possibility of receiving their entire purchase for up to 100% off.

We then scripted a quick, funny, sharable video to help draw attention to the sale.

Finally, a sophisticated, highly targeted FB campaign was run for 5 days leading up to the event.

The result was the highest single-day sales revenue in the company’s 45 year history.

Chilliwack Marketing Case Study - ULLR Ski and Snowboard Sale
Marketing Case Study - ULLR Sale Chilliwack

“It was the first time in my lifetime that we have had the customer’s lined up to come in at opening time.”
Geoff, Co-Owner of Cheam Sports

Branded Video Content: “The Show”

“The Show” is a campy, irreverent look at product reviews through the eyes of “Geoff” and ”Brian,” the fictional owners of Cheam Sports.

They personify old-school bootstrap values against new-school technical equipment.

The consumer brands loved the episodes, and customer engagement went beyond the videos – Geoff and Brian were recognized in the store, mall, schools, and basically anywhere they went.

Branded Video Content

Video Content: Building Authority

We continue to build a series of videos which leverage Cheam’s 50 years of sports equipment experience by showcasing them as experts in:

  • Fitting (boots, skates etc.)
  • Skate sharpening
  • Ski & snowboard tuning
  • Waxing
  • Mounting

Find out how we can put solutions like these
to work for you.

Get in Touch

Results:

Here are the campaigns we’ve run for Cheam Sports so far. All have had mind-blowing results:

Hockeypalooza Sale
3-day hockey sale with on-site event activation.
14 day Facebook ad campaign.
42,187 people reached
191,852 impressions
615 actions

Ullr’s Ski And Snowboard Sale
5-day Facebook video ad campaign.
11,188 people reached
83,076 impressions
847 actions
2,426 ThruPlays

Christmas Sale
5-day Facebook video ad campaign.
10,972 people reached
90,114 impressions
1646 actions
3,032 ThruPlays

Boxing Day Sale
3-day Facebook video ad campaign.
15,336 people reached
53,203 impressions
1,355 actions
2,505 ThruPlays