The CCN Media Manual: Build Your Brand + Ours

For Sponsored Teams, Athletes, Ambassadors & Individuals Interested in Being Featured on CCN Social Media

The Why Behind Your Voice

This is an extensive journey, but it will significantly benefit both you and CCN in building a collaborative relationship. This guide outlines how you can effectively enhance your brand while simultaneously supporting CCN through your athletic pursuits. We aim to make your posts more impactful, create measurable value, and foster a mutually advantageous relationship between you and CCN Sport.

Although success in competitions is commendable, achievements alone do not drive the sale of athletic apparel. Customers are influenced by connection, storytelling, and trust in a brand that resonates with their values and lifestyle. At CCN Sport, we sponsor athletes and teams not only as part of our commitment to community support, but also because robust partnerships enable us to reach a broader audience and foster business growth.

Every sponsored program, including Professional UCI Teams, clubs, elite teams, or ambassador projects, shares similar objectives: increasing visibility, garnering support, and inspiring others. By aligning our messaging strategies, we ensure that both CCN and our partners optimize these opportunities. Before we delve into specific strategies, it's essential to understand how your social content can yield the most benefits for you, and CCN.

Your Role as a Brand Representative 

• You are a visible, trusted voice to your followers.
• You represent the brand in action. Your voice carries weight.
• Your experiences provide credible proof of performance.

Why Alignment Matters 

• Strong, aligned messaging helps both sides grow.
• Shared tone and strategy multiply the impact. When we all post consistently and clearly, the brand grows stronger.
• Consistent branding across accounts builds legitimacy.

How We Measure Impact 

• Engaging content has a far greater impact than isolated posts.
• Return on investment (ROI) is not limited to results.
• We evaluate engagement, messaging alignment, reach, and lead generation.

The Emotional Edge and What Works

We want to see your world and your story. For one rider, that could mean pro-level aerodynamics. For another, it may offer all-terrain comfort. Share why CCN helps you go further, and tell stories that resonate emotionally. Happy moments, motivational anecdotes, and posts that inspire trust in your gear not only connect with your audience but also build lasting value for the CCN brand.

Visual Standards – Show the Brand

High-quality visuals are crucial for maintaining CCN’s professional image and fostering a strong connection with the audience. By showcasing CCN apparel in well-composed photographs, you not only elevate the brand’s aesthetic but also effectively communicate its values. The visuals should reflect authenticity and quality, capturing moments that resonate emotionally while adhering to the brand’s standards. Whether it’s a striking image of a rider conquering rugged terrain or an elegant display of CCN gear in action, the imagery must inspire trust, reinforce brand identity, and highlight the benefits that CCN provides to its users. Compelling visuals are a powerful tool not only to promote engagement but also to ensure lasting brand recognition.

Ensure:

• Clarity: The subject is in focus, and CCN apparel is prominently displayed.
• Composition: High-quality ride shots with clear kit visibility and scenic environments work best.
• Consistency: Maintain a cohesive aesthetic aligned with CCN's branding while avoiding hard sales talk.
• Focus on portraying the lifestyle and the experience rather than just the product.

What to Avoid:

To ensure your posts meet the brand’s standards:

• Avoid cluttered, overly edited, or distracting backgrounds.
• Ensure CCN gear is identifiable and prominently displayed—no cropped-out logos or unclear visuals.
• Refrain from large group shots without a clear focus.
•  Steer clear of vertical-only content that doesn’t format well on Instagram.
• Solely posting podium or race start images.
• Vague captions or overuse of generic hashtags.
• Gear shown without explanation or context.
• Non-tagged posts (which cannot be tracked or shared).

What Works

Content that is singular and specific stands out the most. Eye-catching visuals where CCN gear is clearly visible and relevant are key.

Examples of powerful content include:

• Unboxing & #NewKitDay: Simple, authentic, and exciting posts that consistently perform well.
• Race Day Prep: Sharing the essentials in your race or rain bag from CCN.
•  Behind the Scenes: Highlighting morning routines, pre-race rituals, packing, or travel moments.
• Product Talk: Explaining why you love your favorite CCN bibs, jacket, or gloves.
• Lifestyle Cues: Capturing recovery ride coffee stops, weekend spins, or beautiful sunset views.

Your unique perspective and authentic connection to CCN are what make your content impactful. Create posts that tell a story, inspire action, and reflect the high-quality standards of the CCN brand.

Multi-Platform Strategy: Be Where Your Audience Is

While Instagram is our priority platform, cross-posting to Facebook extends reach with minimal effort. What performs on IG may need slight tweaks for tone or format on other platforms, but every post builds visibility.

To optimize reach:

• Tailor Captions: Keep tone and context aligned with platform style
• Schedule Wisely: Use tools like Buffer or Hootsuite to post at peak hours
• Track Results: Engagement and reach vary across audiences—watch for patterns

📸 Photographer Credit & Image Rights

As a CCN-sponsored athlete, you are expected to have permission to use any image you share. You must also credit the photographer wherever possible. We assume repost rights unless told otherwise. If a photographer contacts us with a complaint, we will refer to these expectations.

This is important. Nothing derails our marketing faster than a photo rights issue. Always secure approval and confirm it is okay for us to repost.

Partnership Opportunities – Grow Together

As a CCN partner, you have access to collaborative initiatives that build your brand while supporting ours:

• Email Features: Be highlighted in CCN newsletters with exclusive content or gear tips
• Affiliate Codes: Share a personal discount link and earn commission while helping fans access CCN
• Co-Branded Gear: Participate in special projects like limited-edition kits or rider-designed accessories

Additionally, every team, club, or athlete website should include active links and CCN logos pointing to our website. This helps promote the partnership, drives traffic, and boosts visibility.

If you’d like to take it a step further, we can create a custom landing page for you on ccnsport.com.

This allows us to:

• Track clicks and visitor engagement from your audience
• Monitor and measure the success of our partnership
• Strengthen both your website's and our SEO ranking through reciprocal links

It is a simple but effective way to grow together through meaningful digital integration. that build your brand while supporting ours:

These efforts enhance brand visibility and can lead to increased sales, greater engagement, and more opportunities for you and CCN. Ensure key elements are centered and clearly visible.

Tagging Guide – Be Visible, Be Found

Mention @ccnsport_official in relevant Instagram posts and refer to CCN Sport on Facebook to increase visibility. For Instagram, use hashtags such as #ccnsport and #neverstopriding to make posts discoverable to a larger audience. Likewise, for Facebook, create posts by tagging CCN Sport and including content that reflects our brand values. This approach ensures content accessibility across platforms and increases the potential for being featured or shared.

Tagging is essential for visibility. Without tags, engagement, reposts, or amplifications are not possible. Tagging enables us to monitor your activity, showcase your story, and link your audience with CCN.

Collaborator Strategy – Share the Spotlight

Utilize Instagram's Invite Collaborator Feature for High-Impact Content: This feature enables your post to appear directly on the CCN Sport feed upon approval, significantly enhancing visibility and engagement. Collaborator content also optimizes the Instagram algorithm for both your account and CCN’s, thereby expanding the reach of the post across both audiences.

Steps to Invite a Collaborator on Instagram:

• Begin creating a post as usual.
• Tap “Tag People.”
• Select “Invite Collaborator.”
• Search and select @ccnsport_official.
• Share your post.

Once approved, your content will be displayed on both your feed and CCN’s, thereby broadening your audience. We review all collaborator posts, but please note that approval does not ensure we will repost it. As we continuously develop our brand message, not every post will align with our current direction. If you have a critical Instagram or Facebook post, such as a product review, a high-quality image, or a team highlight, please feel free to send us a direct message. This helps ensure we see it promptly and can amplify it when it aligns with ongoing campaigns.

Sample Message to CCN:

“Hi! I have just posted a feature utilizing the new winter jacket from @ccnsport_official. I would appreciate it if it could be reshared. Please let me know if you require any further information.”

While Instagram remains our primary platform, reposting on Facebook is also crucial. Publishing from Instagram and permitting cross-posting to Facebook is the most efficient method to maximize visibility across both platforms with minimal effort. If you have an essential Facebook-only post, such as a key event, sponsor mention, or product story, we recommend sending us a direct message. This will enable us to engage, reshare, or add to our feed when appropriate.

Marketing Ideas and Initiatives

Marketing Ideas and Initiatives aim to showcase content that resonates deeply with customers while effectively driving engagement and sales. Here are some concepts to inspire impactful strategies:

Gear-in-Use Stories

• 🧥 Cold Weather Gear – "Wore the Thermal Tights on a 5-hour rain ride. Stayed warm, dry, and comfortable."
• ☀️ Hot Weather Kit – "Climbed 3,000 meters in the mesh jersey. Light, breathable, and never felt soaked."
• 💨 Wind Protection – "Pulled out the Wind Vest mid-ride. Fit perfectly in my pocket and blocked the chill instantly."
• 🚴♂️ CCN Aero Speedsuit for Racing – "Wore the Aero Speedsuit in a criterium last weekend. Fit was second skin, no drag, no distractions."
• 🧼 Durability – "After 40+ washes, my Nova Bibs still fit and feel like new. Worth it."

Day-in-the-Life Vignettes - Custom Product Shoutouts:

• 🧵 "Love the fit on the Team Issue Jersey. Club-level comfort with pro-level detailing."
• 🎨 "We designed our kit with the CCN team. The online tools made customization easy, and the final product turned heads at every race."
• 📦 "Our new custom order just landed. Quality and packaging were spot on. Check out the Elite Race Bibs—top-tier comfort."
• ☕ "Stopped for coffee mid-recovery ride. Good thing the Wind Gilet was in my back pocket."

Pro Tips

• 🔗 Include your CCN status in your bio: “Sponsored by @ccnsport_official”
• 🧠 Clearly mention product names (Nova Bib, Aero Jersey) for better search visibility.
• 📸 Use high-quality, well-composed images. Clean visuals are more shareable.

Performance Insights – Metrics We Monitor

Our tracking extends beyond race outcomes. These metrics provide valuable insights into how effectively your content supports the CCN brand and resonates with your audience. The more aligned and engaging your content is, the better we can assist with your initiatives.

We regularly review this information to guide our decisions on future levels of support, product allocation, repost priority, and broader marketing collaborations. Continuous interaction with our marketing team is essential. Sponsorship goes beyond merely receiving products; it involves actively contributing to the CCN narrative and helping to share it. Consistent performance and brand alignment foster greater opportunities for both parties.

We evaluate your content not only based on aesthetics but also on its effectiveness in promoting the CCN brand.

Key performance indicators include:

• Engagement Rate: Likes, comments, shares, and saves
• Reach & Impressions: Number of unique viewers and total views
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): Frequency of link clicks in your posts
• Follower Growth: Increase in audience size over time

Additional factors we consider:

• Approved collaborator posts
• Shared and reposted content
• Engagement levels (likes, comments, saves)
• Audience reach and impressions
• Story mentions featuring visible CCN gear
• Posting consistency
• Link and click-through tracking when applicable

The more your content aligns with our strategy, the greater support we can offer.

Closing Message – Building Success Together

Being part of CCN Sport means contributing to a common mission. Your content allows others to understand the experience of training, racing, and riding in our apparel, enhancing its credibility. Your journey inspires customers to trust in our products and brand. Together, we can create more than just content; we can build a community, foster a culture, and establish a global brand presence that represents passion, performance, and authenticity. Every photo, story, and tag contributes to this collective effort.

Let us continue to advance together and ensure every post is meaningful.

For any questions or support, please contact:

DAVID@CCNSPORT.COM