Retroactive knocks it out the park in first two months

Retroactive, the new creative sports marketing agency launched by former Springbok Bryan Habana, Mike Sharman,  Ben Karpinski and Shaka Sisulu in October 2018, has already signed up three big-brand clients: Biogen, Jawitz Properties and Cricket South Africa and has gone live with campaigns for all three.

“The market has welcomed Retroactive’s disruptive and fresh approach to digital sports marketing with open arms,” says Sharman. “The already profitable agency is achieving exceptional, measurable results for its clients, and we look forward to working with more sport and fitness brands and sporting personalities who want to change the digital sports marketing game for the better.”

Hobbo’s #BiogenJourney

The Retroactive Biogen campaign films and shares the #BiogenJourney of James Hobson, or ‘Hobbo’, a regular South African guy on his journey from being in the worst shape of his life weighing in at 130kgs to attempting to complete the IRONMAN 70.3 in Durban in June 2019. While documenting Hobbo’s journey and sharing his learnings and experiences, the campaign encourages South Africans to share their own journeys to #BeYourBest with Biogen.

Since he started his #BiogenJourney in September, Hobbo has lost 17kgs, dropped 4.8% in body fat, and 3.3 points in his Body Mass Index (BMI). The campaign has reached 1.3m South Africans to date: 90,000 views of the fortnightly video diaries, more than 1,000 engagements, and over 6,500 downloads of the podcast content.

“I was in the worst shape of my life when I started my #BiogenJourney, but the programme’s holistic approach to nutrition, exercise and vitamin supplements is inspiring me to continue – just as I hope my journey is inspiring other South Africans to join me on a journey to health,” says Hobbo.

Brandon Fairweather, marketing manager Biogen South Africa, notes that documenting Hobbo’s journey over nearly a year will show South Africans that the path to real health is not an overnight quick-fix, but should rather be a holistic lifestyle strategy. “The traction we’re gaining for the brand working with Retroactive is nothing short of incredible!” he says.

 Jawitz #RealLifeRealEstate campaign

In its work with Jawitz Properties, Retroactive is seeding content for a goose-bump inducing campaign led by South Africa’s favourite footballer, Lucas Radebe, that asks South Africans to share their #RealLifeRealEstate story. Lucas kicks off the campaign by sharing what made his childhood home so special and encourages South Africans to share their own digital story about their dream home.

The campaign aims to identify people who need help the most with their property dreams this festive season, and culminates with weekly prizes for stories, and massive grand prizes won on regional radio stations before the end of the year.

 Cricket South Africa’s Mzansi Super League

Habana, Sharman and Karpinski are all passionate sports fans at heart, and the opportunity to share their ideas and dreams of the ideal fan experience with Cricket South Africa couldn’t be missed.

Retroactive has supported the launch of the inaugural Mzansi Super League with inspiring online content, and is at the heart of telling the stories that emotionally connect fans and would-be fans via digital and TV content to drive more feet into cricket stadiums across the country.

https://twitter.com/MSL_T20/status/1068369408496676865

“We’re blown away by the overwhelmingly positive response that Retroactive has received over the past few weeks, and with R1.5million turnover already secured, the agency’s ability to further disrupt conventional sports marketing to achieve outstanding results for brands is crystal clear,” Sharman says.