RunAsYouAre was new to Vancouver. Rather than announcing ourselves with a traditional launch campaign. Rather than announcing ourselves with a traditional launch campaign, we wanted to show the city exactly who we are and what we stand for. So we brought six Vancouver locals, all self-proclaimed non-runners, together, gave them a challenge, and documented every step of it. The challenge: complete a half marathon. With support from the store and a Nike sponsorship, we followed their 12 week journey from first run to race day. In doing so, we introduced our brand, our values, and our voice to a new city.
Project Type
Brand Campaign
Project Role
Graphic Design, Marketing Strategy, Social Media Strategy
The Goal
As a new store, Just the Half was RunAsYouAre's introduction to the city. The campaign let us establish our brand voice, showcase our unique shoe fitting process, and connect with a new audience, all at once.
Casting six non-runners was a deliberate values statement. We believe running is for everyone, and there is no better way to say that than documenting six everyday people taking on a half marathon. The name carried the message too, reframing "just the half" as the remarkable achievement it actually is.
Beyond the brand building, the series had a practical purpose too. Episode releases were timed to build momentum and drive awareness leading into Vancouver Marathon week, the biggest running event in the city.
The Work
Working within the visual direction established for the campaign, I was responsible for building out the full suite of marketing and social assets that brought Just the Half to life across every channel. That included designing the campaign website layout, a series of marketing emails, and all social media content throughout the 12 week run.
The campaign told its values through literal, human storytelling, which left a lot of room to have fun with the copy. As a self proclaimed non runner, the message resonated personally too. So much so that I ended up as one of the six participants. The team wanted a familiar face in the mix, and I was happy to put my money where my mouth was.
Reflections
Just the Half was a strong campaign with a genuine idea at its core, and the Nike partnership gave us the resources to execute it properly. Looking back, the one thing I would approach differently is the content strategy. The docuseries format was ambitious, but our audience lived on Instagram, not YouTube. The long form episodes were a great piece of storytelling, but we could have done more to meet our community where they already were, breaking the content into shorter, more frequent touchpoints for social.
That said, it laid the groundwork for what came next. The brand showed up with a clear voice and a strong point of view, and the activation week that followed proved the audience was there and ready to engage.