Defining the reach and impact of the world’s only all-diabetic, pro cycling team
An initial ask for social media content and strategy quickly blossomed into a greater storytelling opportunity. Working closely with brand and communications teams from Novo Nordisk HQ, leadership from Team Novo Nordisk, as well as coaching staff and the cyclists themselves, we were able to access and emotional depth that set the team up for a more universal appeal.
Task
For over 15 years, Team Novo Nordisk—a professional cycling team made up of all-diabetic riders—has raced in pro circuits around the world to show that extraordinary things are possible even in the face of diabetes. Though they haven’t reached a podium yet, with the addition of new star cyclists, they find themselves poised for their greatest seasons yet.
However, balancing the roles of the team and each individual rider in conversations about both professional cycling and life with diabetes proved complicated. There was also a growing divide in communications across the mostly disparate audiences of pro cycling fans following the team for their performance in the sport and those living with diabetes following for guidance about disease management.
Solution
We built distinct tracks within their communications that could host more personal connections to the team and could scale depending on the audience and type of story they wanted to tell, and we designed templates and pilot assets for their social team to bring these tenants to existing content tracks.
We then joined the team at training camps to meet and help highlight key facesand voices amongst the riders. With this trust built, we produced the 2025 season’s kick-off showreel and crafted deeper narratives for their newest starrider, Bailey McDonald, in the form of two short films.
The team had hours of cool and inspirational sports content already, so we focusedon a more unorthodox approach to the script and cinematography—exchanging epic voiceovers for a call with mom and drone shots on the road for post-training close-ups in an apartment. We also composed bespoke music for the films to create a distinctand cohesive feel across the films.
Results
The result was a campaign for the newest starrider that far exceeds social media. The films we made inspired the client tobring the story to wider audiences with a more traditional media campaign, aswell as patient advocacy and HCP communications.
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