Polar, the leader in heart rate monitoring and fitness assessment technologies, engaged CooperKatz to elevate its positioning and media coverage beyond pure product placements – to PR that conveyed the brand’s strong lifestyle benefits.

Driven by our strategic positioning – Exercise Intelligence – and supported by our three-pronged communications architecture, the campaign focused on three key market segments: sports performance, education and general fitness/wellbeing.

Our efforts included training executive spokespeople and tech representatives in lifestyle benefit messages; setting up high-level media interviews with the company’s president and senior category executives in the U.S. and Canada; launching numerous new products; and supporting a school-based program aimed at reducing childhood obesity by educating students about life-long fitness.

As part of an integrated campaign, CooperKatz launched a Polar-branded YouTube channel and produced a series of product and software videos that are attracting growing viewership and in several instances have ‘gone viral,’ appearing on mainstream media and fitness enthusiast blogs.

Media placement highlights of our efforts have included major newspapers like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and USA Today; magazines like Men’s Health, Shape, Runner’s World, Wired and National Geographic Adventure; and broadcast outlets like CNN, FOX News and WCBS-TV; and online sites and blogs like EverydayHealth, FitSugar and Engadget.

As part of an integrated marketing campaign, Polar, the leader in heart rate monitoring and fitness assessment technologies, tasked agency-of-record CooperKatz with launching and maintaining a YouTube brand channel. 

CooperKatz wrote, produced and edited a series of five product and software videos for the channel that in a few short months were viewed more than 11,000 times. Polar videos – universally well received for ‘putting a face to the company’ and helping to simplify product set-up and user information for consumers – have also gone viral, cross-posted on a number of mainstream media and fitness enthusiast blogs. CooperKatz is increasing video production to include a series of ‘how to’ and ‘why train with heart rate’ vignettes that will complement the overall user experience.

Beyond this video initiative, outreach to/through social media channels is a critical part of our holistic communications program for Polar. We routinely work with high-traffic bloggers focused on fitness, ‘gear’/electronics and lifestyle to conduct Polar product reviews, share insights on the benefits of heart rate training and ensure that the experts at Polar are a resource for them and their readers.