Why is Team Rynkeby a PR SUCCESS?

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Mannov has been Team Rynkeby’s agency for nearly five years. During these five years the bike event has grown from minor exercise event to one of the largest and most famous charities in Denmark.

But what is it that has made Team Rynkeby such a massive PR success? Here are our top 7 reasons – perhaps you can draw on our experience when developing your own event.

WHY IS TEAM RYNKEBY A PR SUCCESS?

1: AUTENTHICITYAs much as we regret to admit it, part of the reason why Team Rynkeby has become such a huge PR success is that the project was not thought out by marketing people to fuel a sales-generating stra-tegy. On the contrary, the project was conceived and developed by ordinary employees at a Christ-mas party in Rynkeby Foods. This has given Team Rynkeby a beautiful and authentic story to tell the world, creating a solid and natural foundation inter-nally in the company. The authentic and non-com-mercial starting point continues to permeate Team Rynkeby, even if the project management has be-come professionalized as the project has expanded in and outside of Denmark.

2: A COMMON CAUSESince Team Rynkeby donated the first DKK 38,000 to children with cancer back in 2002, the bike team has become synonymous with Børnecancerfonden (the Danish Child Cancer Foundation). Team Rynke-by and Børnecancerfonden have developed side by side over the years to the benefit of both parties. Today, Team Rynkeby is Børnecancerfonden’s lar-gest sponsor by far. This has provided Børnecancer-fonden with enough funds to initiate targeted child cancer research.

3: VOLUNTEERSIn 2013, more than 210 volunteer helpers each pay DKK 3,500 to spend a full week of their summer va-cation on servicing the almost 1,000 cyclists. Additi-onally, hundreds of sponsors donate provisions and other materials to the team. Without these volunte-ers it would not be possible to execute a project like Team Rynkeby.

4: LOCAL ROOTSTeam Rynkeby consists of 21 locally rooted teams. Each Danish region has at least one team. The local roots and presence is paramount to many sponsors. Additionally, this provides an excellent opportunity to create local and regional media stories becau-

se the local media can follow the local team. In fact Team Rynkeby generates two-thirds of its media coverage from local and regional media.

5: EXTREME CHALLENGEWhen Team Rynkeby was founded in 2002, not many Danes had heard of anyone who had cove-red the entire distance to Paris by bicycle. And even though Team Rynkeby has sent a large number of Danes to the French capitol on a bicycle through the past 11 years, 1,200 kilometers by bicycle in just se-ven days still requires loads of preparation and trai-ning. The extreme challenge that ordinary untrained people see in riding a bike to Paris is still met with astonishment and poses a good story that Team Rynkeby and its many participants can tell over and over again.

6: EXCLUSIVITYSelvom Team Rynkeby er vokset markant siden pro-jektets start i 2002, er det ikke muligt at finde plads på holdet til alle de mennesker, som gerne vil med. Til 2013-turen måtte Team Rynkeby give afslag til mere end 2.000 mennesker på holdets venteliste. Det er selvsagt rigtig ærgerligt for de mennesker, som ikke kommer med, men det er også med til at gøre det til en endnu mere speciel oplevelse for de mennesker, som bliver udtaget til holdet. Team Ryn-kebys eksklusivitet er med til at gøre projektet inte-ressant.

7: CELEBRITIESTeam Rynkeby’s PR success is in no small part due to the celebrities who have been part of the team over the years. Though celebrities are a minority on the team, they generate lots of coverage. This has also made it easier for the participants on Team Rynkeby to find sponsorships for Børnecancerfonden.

Read more about Team Rynkeby on www.team-rynkeby.dk