Kindred

Kindred Group plc's (Kindred) flagship brand Unibet has, together with Tour de Tietema (TDT), developed an online learning tool in response to the growing concern over heart health issues within the cycling community. In addition, the cycling team will wear a custom exclusive jersey to draw attention to the importance of heart health. A free and interactive Augmented Reality (AR) experience will be communicated, featuring digital versions of the cycling team owners Bas Tietema, Devin van der Wiel, and Josse Wester, guiding users through an eight-step process to perform lifesaving resuscitation. The campaign aims to increase survival rates by educating the team's followers and the wider public in the Netherlands and Belgium on these crucial skills.

"As a sports betting provider, sports is in Unibet's DNA. This awareness campaign fits well with our focus on increasing social engagement, and we hope that, together with Tour de Tietema, we can inspire as many Dutch people as possible to complete the AR experience, says Lennart Kessels, General Manager Netherlands, Kindred Group. 

"I try to follow my heart in everything I do, but I have noticed both in cycling and outside the sport that a less well-functioning heart can also make you very insecure. Unfortunately, you hear stories about heart problems more and more often within the cycling world. Yet not everyone knows how to act when something really goes wrong. We, within the team, didn't know how to perform lifesaving actions. With our cycling team, we reach a lot of people, so we wanted to use that reach to draw attention to this current issue", says Bas Tietema, one of the owners of Tour de Tietema, as he shares his personal motivation behind the campaign.

" We have previously raised awareness for the eight live-saving skills together with Club Bruges. By tailoring this now to cycling, we hope to educate even more Belgians about the importance of these live-saving techniques. As playing responsibly is one of our key focuses the link to acting responsibly in sports is evident, adds Dennis Marien, General Manager Belgium, Kindred Group.

During the Tour of Antalya, the TDT-Unibet team donned a special jersey featuring the campaign name 'Follow Your Heart' on the chest, hearts on the sleeve, and the eight lifesaving skills incorporated into a heart on the back.