Hi Lovie Awards judges, let’s ride to your next horizon.

Lapierre is a premium French cycling brand that merges design and performance. Its target audience is a community of dedicated cyclists, with a keen eye for technology and competitiveness. Exactly what the brand’s newest flagship represented. The launch of Xelius in Europe needed to emotionally connect to this audience by highlighting Lapierre’s values. But this goal had to be achieved with an insufficient production budget, compared to competitors, and no media investment. So there was only one solution on our horizon: be bold. 

Breaking paradigms with art

The message “Ride your next horizon” was the starting point to rethink the codes of the category. Instead of taking the cyclist to distant and hostile places, which would require a high production cost, we decided to transform a studio into a real digital art installation, with projections, LED screens, and high-tech mapping lights to recreate countless impressive compositions. This sensorial journey into what is going on in the body and mind of our protagonist, connected perfectly with all the technology and design behind Xelius. The result was a human and true mantra of a racer determined to keep going, created both in voice and visuals, as stunningly energetic as it is mesmerizingly peaceful, like any great athlete in motion.

Making room for the community

New horizons is also about going beyond having standard athletes in the casting. So we went deep into the cycling community and found Duke Agyapong. Born and bred in London, however Ghana is where he originally calls home. Duke has built a humble yet dedicated following of aspiring cyclists through his stories about turning his passion for cycling into opportunities for new experiences. His entire mantra is simple: inspire others to ride the same way he was inspired to pick up a track bicycle and ride regardless of the boundaries set. This was a perfect connection to the campaign message.

Reaching out to different cultures

With such a true insight, combined with an unexpected artistic execution and a protagonist who speaks the language of the community, the campaign transcended Lapierre’s social networks, generating a high rate of engagement in France, Spain, Germany and the United Kingdom. The Xelius model had a record-breaking waiting list registration and definitely opened a new horizon for the brand.