Case Study - RUSSELL ATHLETIC Bundle

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The Challenge

Russell Athletic is a 119 year old global athletic wear brand. They needed a consistent source of user-generated content (UGC) to power their digital strategy. What is UGC? Images and videos created by real users of the brand in real-life settings.

UGC is proven to boost ad performance and social engagement. It can even increase time on site, conversion rates, and average order values significantly. Most brands cannot organically produce enough UGC to meet their digital marketing needs. Requesting permission to reuse organically produced UGC is also a challenge.

The target audience was diverse millennial men, with a street wear, dance wear or artistic vibe.

The Solution

Producing diverse content -- at scale -- is no sweat for ApexDrop. Our eclectic micro influencer network mirrors the population of the United States.

We simply offered the chance to collab with Russell Athletics to the fashion and lifestyle segments of our private network of influencers. 1885 influencers jumped at the opportunity to produce content in exchange for Russell Athletic's product gifts.

Of those, 460 influencers were activated -- those who best fit the Russell Athletic vibe.

The Outcomes

Over six campaigns, ApexDrop activated 460 micro influencers for Russell Athletic campaigns. They produced a whopping 1,461 pieces of license-free content where were shared via 410 posts and 106 stories with potential reach of 7.2 million followers.

Micro influencers are known for their high engagement rates. ApexDrop influencers and their fans engaged 368,232 times with these posts and stories. The 5% engagement rate (average) was significantly higher than the industry average (source).

Russell Athletic gained 8,124 new followers, a 23% increase, on its Instagram page during the campaigns.

Working with the ApexDrop Team has been a great way for us to reach a broader audience while seeding product to targeted influencers. Having an influencer strategy has allowed us to connect with true brand ambassadors and collect social content that shows a diverse, creative audience. We love to see how Russell Athletic product is captured with the influencers unique styling. - Beth Adams, Russell Athletic, Brand Marketing Manager