Decathlon UK appoints media shop for expansion drive

Sports retailer Decathlon UK has handed its media account to Fifty to support a new global strategy aimed at modernising its business, including the launch of a revamped UK ecommerce site and a new digital shopping experience.

The agency, which specialises in AI-driven media planning and buying, will be responsible for developing and executing Decathlon UK’s integrated media strategy across all media and channels.

Fifty has experience working with a raft of global retail brands, including the launch of American sports equipment company Under Armour’s new line of running shoes. In the sports world, it has worked with a number of Premiership football clubs to help them understand their untapped audiences as well as England’s Red Roses, resulting in record breaking attendance at two of their key fixtures.

During the Covid crisis, Fifty’s technology was used to power the UK Government’s pandemic communications by understanding the groups of people most likely to resist vaccination and to understand where they could be reached to persuade them of the benefits.

As part of the Decathlon pitch process, Fifty used its AI-driven audience technology to identify growth audiences for Decathlon’s premium road cycling brand, Van Rysel, by benchmarking Van Rysel’s audience against their competitors, and building a targeted plan of how to steal market share.

This came complete with full addressable audiences’ custom made for Van Rysel, and audience sizing across all regions of the UK to determine where their money would be best spent.

Decathlon UK head of performance marketing Oliver Simpson said: “Fifty’s capabilities perfectly align with our growth goals, with the AI platform showcasing how we can adapt to market trends quickly and more accurately.

“Early on the Fifty team showed us where we had opportunities to reach new audiences in key growth segments and importantly how to connect with them, an approach that will support long-term brand building and sustainable growth.”