The ask was to focus on New Balance's running apparel line. So, we honed in on the community of runners. We landed on our idea after extensive research, and late night shower thoughts.
The runner's high is subjective and varies, but all runners agree it keeps them coming back. But, like inner peace or enlightenment, the runner’s high can't be forced and has no substitute. If it were easy, everyone would run. We will champion that moment and encourage our audience to pursue the runner’s high. Let’s treat running like it should be treated..
Our mock OLV to hone in on the tone and vision for the campaign.
Our goal was to create a nationwide community of runners and get New Balance to own the running space in their own way. We did this by creating over 20 routes in collaboration with Strava--a social media app for runners--all over the country, On our path's dedicated for runners, we wanted to create an experience of interconnectivity. So, we created the portals, large LED displays with a tracking camera visible. The amount of running silhouettes shown is dependent on how many people are also running past a portal at the same exact time, but on a different route. You could be running in New York, and see activity from runners in California, Texas, and beyond.
Really playing into the sacred aspect, we created "shrines" for runners to interact with. Runner's can rest or stretch on our branded benches, or drink from the runner's fountain. If they wish to push themselves, there are also challenges like sprinting up an incline or taking on a ridiculous amount of stairs.
We created the Temple of Running too, a New Balance store reimagined as a sacred site for running. It would be located in Boston, Massachusetts, the hometown of NB. Stepping inside the temple, one can witness the specific amount of spiritual energy being generated by each route at that exact moment. The temple will have interactive museum-like displays that pay tribute to the sacred art of running. The campaign will measure the amount of energy using Strava and the cameras on our portals
TEAM SPICE AND RACK :)
Art Director: Oscar Zurita
Art Director: Chloe Montague
Copywriter: Bjorn Johansen
Copywriter: Jackson Knox
Strategist: Jose Paniagua-Hernandez
Strategist: Callan Harrington