Tadej Pagacar riding in the yellow jersey toward Tour de France victory through Paris.
When we were asked to create a Tour de France campaign for Colnago and their UAE team, we had no idea Tadej Pogacar would ride the Colnago V3RS all the way to the podium to win the biggest prize in cycling. We did know that some of the most iconic riders in history have ridden Colnago.
But Pogacar, who was down by nearly 1:00 to his countryman Primoz Roglic at the start of the 20th stage, miraculously came back. He overtook the leader and made up an incredible 2:00 minutes in the time trial to secure the yellow jersey and all but guarantee a Tour de France victory.
This was a beautiful victory for a number of reasons. Pogacar became the youngest Tour winner since 1904. The 20th stage victory is being compared to Greg Lemond’s improbable victory in 1989. And it vaulted the young rider to icon status along with Colnago riders like Gianni Motta, Eddie Merckx, Giuseppe Saronni and so many other.
This setting was the perfect launch for our new campaign. When you’re working on a brand with such an incredible history, you have to be careful with the tone. It’s important to be deferential to the brand while at the same time making a strong enough statement.
When the line, “Icons Ride Icons” found its way onto the page, we knew we had something. Faruk Sagcan set it in yellow, Graphik type and then added the classic Colnago Club logo in the “O” of the second “Icon.” Then we paired it with photography of the greatest riders we could get our hands on and left every other line on the floor.
The client loved the campaign. We loved the campaign. And today, we put the line over a picture of the 2020 Tour de France winner. And it was that much better. Congratulations, Pogo, and the UAE Team. And thank you to Mark Reidy at True Communications for bringing us in on this amazing project.
###
The Small Agency Blog is produced by Division of Labor; a top San Francisco creative agency and digital marketing firm that’s been named Small Agency of the Year twice by Ad Age. The award-winning creative agency services clients on a retainer or project basis. They also offer freelance services and fixed-rate projects for startups and smaller brands.