In November 2024, Mana Group brought to life an inspiring showcase of athletic excellence as Rio Tinto and Athletics Australia partnered to bring world-class Olympic and Paralympic athletes to the Gladstone region in Queensland, Australia.
Featuring top-tier talent from the Paris 2024 Games in workshops and clinics held at Trinity College, the Athletics Superstars in Gladstone community event on November 30 didn’t just showcase elite performance; it also inspired local communities and stakeholders while highlighting Rio Tinto’s long-term investment in regional sports development through the Rio Tinto Athletics for the Outback (AFTO) program.
Mana delivered end-to-end project management including operations and logistics, marketing and communications, media and PR, budget management, elite athlete recruitment, stakeholder engagement, and community consultation and participation with the objective of ensuring that the activation connected Rio Tinto employees and the Athletics Community in Gladstone with Rio Tinto’s national partnership with Athletics Australia.
Strategic Communications: Telling the Story of AFTO’s Impact
Mana developed a two-phase communications plan that foregrounded the partnership between Rio Tinto and Athletics Australia and underscored the legacy of the AFTO program.
The first phase brought into the spotlight the success of the AFTO program since reinstatement of the program in 2022 with Rio Tinto’s financial support.
- Content & PR Strategy: Over a six-week period (October–November 2024), Mana produced four key articles profiling AFTO’s success and impact growing athletics in remote communities in regional Australia.
- Stakeholder Storytelling: Each article told its story through the eyes of those directly involved—from young athletes and their families to program facilitators and local community leaders.
- Custom Content Deployment: Mana tailored the content for various platforms for Rio Tinto and Athletics Australia to share via their internal and external networks such as websites, social channels, and print and online newsletters and bulletins.
For the second phase, Mana executed a tactical recruitment campaign to drive participation and coordination for the Athletics Superstars in Gladstone event to showcase the shared commitment between Rio Tinto and Athletics Australia toward empowering communities.
Mana collaborated in creating informative and eye-catching copy and design assets including call-to-action videos from the participating star athletes, operational eDMs and post-event surveys, and helped determine optimal distribution of these by Rio Tinto and Athletics Australia through website landing pages, internal newsletters, and social media posts.
Mana also coordinated directly with the community groups invited, working with the Gladstone Athletics Club, Special Olympics Gladstone, and Trinity College students to drive their participation.
Timely and precise communication targeted key stakeholder groups, namely the Rio Tinto employees and families, Gladstone community members as well as its athletics and run clubs, and local leaders and council members. This allowed them to take advantage of the exclusive opportunity to learn from and be inspired by athletics superstars, ensured engaged attendance and reinforced the event’s significance in the broader community.
Media Management
Mana managed the event-day logistics of providing the media access for interviews with the athletes and key staff from Rio Tinto. With coverage coming from local print and online media outlets, radio stations, and television news, Mana provided a post-event media package with video, image, and interview assets and press release.
Mana also led the production of a highlights reel, which Rio Tinto and Athletics Australia shared on their respective channels and platforms to communicate their commitment to regional sport.
Event Execution & Brand Visibility
In charge of branding production, setup, and administration of on-field stations and communications as well as location logistics with venue Trinity College, Mana coordinated multiple moving parts in the rollout of the community event, ensuring seamless operations throughout under consistent brand identity.
Beyond Gladstone
Mana’s involvement strategically communicated the AFTO program’s achievements, fostered local participation, and amplified brand visibility, helping Rio Tinto strengthen its reputation as a dedicated partner in regional sports development alongside Athletics Australia.
With the success of this activation, the future looks bright as Rio Tinto AFTO continues to empower communities and inspire the next generation of Australian athletes. And behind every successful initiative, a well-executed communications and engagement strategy makes all the difference—a role that Mana proudly delivered.
