Following a soft launch in November 2011, Competitor Group Inc (CGI) has now ‘successfully launched GearBuzz, a unique digital property that mixes e-commerce and product reviews.’ According to CGI, the website builds off the trusted editorial voice of Competitor’s media assets and leverages the passionate participants of CGI events, which includes the flagship Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon Series.
“We found that the most popular content on our media websites centers around gear and product reviews,” said Alex Baxter, Chief Digital Officer of CGI. “Looking to diversify our digital revenue, the thought occurred to marry successful content with product sales. Retail and manufacturing partners would have an audience engaged with video and written reviews, and our users would have the opportunity to purchase these products as an exclusive or at a discount.”
Since November 2011, GearBuzz has found success in leveraging the scale of CGI and the collective buying power of its audience to extract savings on reviewed products. Included in the offerings so far are brands that customers already know and love, in addition to lesser-known functional gear that may be hard for consumers to find on their own.
According to CGI, ‘this editorial curation of a very fragmented marketplace has already provided significant value to both GearBuzz members and merchant partners.’
In addition to accessing CGI’s valuable audience, merchants have reportedly realized the benefit of incremental sales revenue. GearBuzz not only drives brand awareness and traffic to merchant websites, but also has delivered incremental sales lift, ‘20% on average, above the value of the product(s) promoted.’
The GearBuzz effort is consistent with CGI’s broader approach to the digital space. Similarly themed initiatives include CGI’s recent acquisition of event-registration service RaceIt and the soft launch of RunnersTraveling, a travel booking website for event participants.
“Not only are we looking to diversify revenue streams with this activity,” added Baxter, “but we are adding value to our audience through new and innovative products that dramatically change the way our industry defines digital media.”
