Cycle for Change – Powered by Matrix Fitness
ABOUT THE PROJECT
Matrix Fitness South Africa is a premium fitness equipment brand, part of Johnson Health Tech, known for innovation and performance. In 2025, Matrix sought to position itself as a purpose‑led brand, aligning commercial goals with social impact.
Cycle for Change was created as a national spinathon campaign to fund and install 40 Matrix bikes at Velokhaya Life Cycling Academy and Songezo Cycling Academy, building permanent indoor cycling studios for township youth.
MANGO‑OMC was brought in to lead publicity, script development, and the contracting and management of the social media team. We oversaw the team’s work, ensuring content cadence, tone, and reputational safeguards were aligned with the campaign narrative, but did not implement or design content ourselves.
BRIEF AND REQUIREMENTS
MANGO‑OMC’s role was to:
- Position Cycle for Change as a purpose‑driven spinathon with NGO partners at its core.
- Develop all campaign scripts (MCs, influencers, press releases, social captions).
- Contract and manage the social media team, overseeing their delivery and ensuring alignment with campaign strategy.
- Deliver the publicity strategy: national and regional PR, media releases, reputational Q&A, and competitor differentiation.
WHAT WE DID
Despite challenges (short timelines, competitor overlap, and corporate pricing sensitivities), the campaign achieved exceptional visibility and engagement:
Media Coverage
- 58 clippings across online, print, broadcast, and social.
- Combined reach: 39.8 million.
- AVE: R3.59 million.
- Broadcast dominated: 22 placements, reaching nearly 30 million viewers.
- NGO voices (Velokhaya and Songezo) featured prominently, alongside MC Nic Dlamini.
Digital & Social Media
- Paid media budget across Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
- Campaign reached 2.83 million views, generating 74,000 link clicks (CTR 2.61% – above industry average).
- TikTok launched from zero, achieving strong traction with influencer‑led reels.
- Scripts and content pillars ensured consistent, premium, purpose‑led messaging.
- MANGO‑OMC oversaw the social media team’s execution, ensuring quality and strategic alignmen
Reputational Safeguards
- Pre‑approved Q&A addressed campaign ethics, NGO involvement, and transparency.
- Differentiated Cycle for Change from competitors (e.g., Vusa Rugby Academy, CHOC Cyclethon).
- Ensured NGO visibility remained central, balancing sponsor recognition with authentic storytelling.
RESULTS
The campaign demonstrated the impact of a publicity‑led strategy combined with managed social amplification:
- Media reach: 39.8 million
- AVE: R3.59 million
- Social CTR: 2.61% (above industry benchmarks)
- Outcome: Cycle for Change positioned Matrix Fitness as a purpose‑driven brand, while delivering tangible NGO visibility and reputational integrity.