October 2019
Project summary
Česká Zbrojovka Academy is a new marketing channel whose main objective was to increase brand awareness and promote products in a highly regulated industry.
Ultimately, we succeeded in finding a model that successfully monetised the entire project. We created, promoted and sold an online video course, educated the target audience and, at the same time, helped the client acquire a new database of sport shooters and enthusiasts, which they can now work with further. The course was led by Eric Grauffel, a multiple IPSC world champion in sport shooting with handguns.
| Client: | Česká zbrojovka |
| Project launch: | February 2022 |
| Competitions: | 3rd place IEA 2022 |
| Cost: | several hundred thousand CZK |
| Return on investment: | 5 months |
| Segment: | B2B, B2C |
| Industry: | education, weapons, hobbies |
| Services: | development, UX/UI |
Česká zbrojovka
Česká zbrojovka operates in the field of firearms engineering for the armed forces and police, as well as for sporting and hunting purposes. It also manufactures parts and assemblies for the aerospace and automotive industries and special tools for the engineering industry.
The company is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of small arms (pistols, rifles, small-calibre rifles, shotguns and air guns), a fact underpinned by sales to around a hundred countries worldwide. It is involved in development and manufacturing. Since 2017, it has been part of the Česká zbrojovka Group, and its turnover for 2020 reached CZK 4.7 billion.
Brief
Thanks to our successful collaboration on previous projects, the client approached us with the task of creating a concept and technical solution for an e-learning course on the topic of “How to handle firearms safely”, which would primarily promote its products to the ideal target groups – sports and recreational shooters.
The aim was to stay within a relatively tight budget whilst maintaining the quality expected of a major brand.
The client chose Eric Grauffel – a six-time world champion in sport shooting – to lead the course.
The project addresses several objectives simultaneously: promoting the Česká Zbrojovka brand and Eric Grauffel’s personal brand, selling courses, educating the target group, and, last but not least, the opportunity for paid online promotion in a highly regulated sector.
Website Objectives
- Promotion of the Česká zbrojovka brand Primární cíl
- Promotion of Eric Graufell’s Personal Brand
- Sale of shooting courses
- Education of the target group
- Implementing paid advertising in a highly regulated industry
Solution design and implementation
Marketing in a regulated sector is not a problem.
We proposed a technical and scheduling solution on the PRO version of teachable.com. A bespoke solution was also an option, but the project’s financial and time constraints did not allow for it. We knew, among other things, that the project would be promoted to shooters from all over the world, so we needed to find a platform capable of handling various tax regimes in different countries.
Implementation timeline
We completed the project within 5 months of the first meeting:
- November 2021 – first project meeting
- December 2021 – delivery of videos
- January 2022 – platform setup, sales landing page
- February 2022 – project launched, start of course sales and campaign
- March – April 2022 – the course itself, 5 weeks, 2 lessons per week LIVE Q&A with Eric Grauffel
Several promotional videos were filmed for the campaign:
- introductory video
- short highlights reel
- a recap of each week
- a teaser for the next 2 lessons in that week
The course comprises 10 lessons 5× Live Q&A sessions with Eric Grauffel
During production, we needed to adhere to the following
technical requirements for the course:
- Each week, participants were granted access to 2 lessons, each comprising 25–40 minutes of video content from the studio, the field and the shooting range.
- As soon as a participant completed a lesson, the next one was unlocked (they could not skip ahead).
- Live Q&A sessions with Eric Grauffel took place every Friday via a YouTube stream and directly on the Teachable platform – e.g. from a trade fair in Germany, a shooting range in France, Las Vegas, etc.
- Communication with participants took place directly on the platform.
- We set up automated email campaigns for various stages of the learning process.
Project results
The Česká zbrojovka Academy proved to be a smart way to promote products that would otherwise be very difficult to showcase. Through this digital project, we helped Česká zbrojovka find a marketing channel where it can gather contacts for sport shooters and enthusiasts whilst also monetising the course.
The client rates the project as a success beyond expectations. In autumn 2022, they will relaunch it, thereby further increasing its ROI: At the same time, filming for the second series, with a larger budget, will begin at the end of the year. A total of 210 courses were sold for €56,493, representing a successful ROI of 103.58%.
A major benefit of the collaboration was that we were able to turn an idea intended to educate and promote a product into a fully self-sustaining and profitable business model.
Project highlights
Client reference
Winner of the IEA 2022 competition
This project won third place in the
prestigious Internet Effectiveness Awards in 2022.
Energy and industrial companies
Industry category