The Background
Tommy's, the charity saving babies' lives, came to us to develop the creative look and feel for a brand new running event. And not just any running event — the first ever closed road half marathon to run through both the City of London and the City of Westminster, taking in the full sweep of the capital along the way.
The Brief
Tommy's brought us in early, inviting us to attend market research focus groups and workshops so our creative thinking could shape the event name and messaging from the ground up. Once the name — London Landmarks Half Marathon — was agreed, we moved into developing the full creative look and feel.
The bar was high. The creative needed to cut through in a market that already had serious competition, including Cancer Research UK's Winter Run and the Royal Parks Half Marathon.
The Work
Our approach was to put the route front and centre — London itself as the hero — and celebrate the city's quirky, hidden history that most people walk past every day without a second glance.
We built an attention-grabbing campaign around a bold yellow and pink palette, then demonstrated how that visual identity could flex across the full range of channels — master ads, merchandise, digital ads and event signage. We also developed a set of guidelines so the in-house team could roll the concept out confidently across all event collateral.
The Results
Fifty charity partners signed up in year one. Five thousand public places sold out in a matter of minutes, with over 70,000 people hitting the registration page the moment it went live at 9.30am. The event raised over £4 million in 2018, with projections of £14.3 million across the first three years.
Since then, London Landmarks Half Marathon has gone on to raise over £50 million.