In New Balance’s second year sponsoring the Virgin Money London Marathon, the company was intent on becoming the top running brand in the UK. But among marathon runners, it wasn’t top of mind as a running brand. With rosters of world-famous marathon champions, category competitors already owned messaging about being the most elite running brand. Our brief was to find a differentiated way to resonate with our target — London's serious runners — and drive relevance for the brand not just on the day of the race, but also in the weeks leading up to it.

Inspired by the ritual of London runners coming together to enjoy a pint after a hard run, we decided to open a pub exclusively for runners — where the only currency accepted was miles run. A user-friendly mobile experience rooted in the popular running app Strava incentivized runners to log their miles and turn them into pub currency via a card in their Apple or Google wallet, creating a new kind of engagement with New Balance and a rewarding branded experience. This activation was the foundation of our “Everybody’s Race” campaign, designed to acknowledge the Virgin Money London Marathon as not just any race, but a race that unites the larger British community like no other event. The quintessential London Marathon experience is one of philanthropy, unity, and camaraderie, and we wanted to acknowledge and amplify that spirit and experience in all touch points of the campaign.

Whereas New Balance's competitors focus on celebrating elite runners, we wanted to center our idea on the real runners and create something true to their experience. We found that during training, our target was looking for the support of more than just their shoes. Running is a solitary sport and many runners feel alone, especially those training during London's harsh winters. Knowing they have to wait for race day to feel the unity and acknowledgement of the British community, we aimed to bring them support when they needed it. We activated the insight that local runners love getting a pint with friends after training, and beer in moderation can have a positive impact after a workout. We demonstrated that New Balance truly understands runners — including the rituals that make that experience unique to London — and is there to support them during the most difficult parts of their training.

To exchange miles for pints, participants were invited to enter branded running challenges on Strava between Feb. 18 and April 18, 2019. Those Strava miles were automatically converted to The Runaway pub currency via a card the user added to their Apple or Google wallet. To get their pints, runners just had to scan their wallet card at The Runaway, which opened Feb. 24, 2019, at 64-68 Charing Cross Road in the heart of central London. This mechanism turned a simple and nondisruptive mobile engagement into a meaningful experience between the runners and the brand.

Our goal was to engage London's runners, and we did. More than 23,000 runners added The Runaway pub card to their mobile wallet. They ran more than 532,000 miles in pursuit of beers with New Balance, the equivalent of more than 20,000 marathons. And those who completed our branded challenges earned almost 63,000 pints, the equivalent of one and a half pints for each of the 40,000 people who run the London Marathon. But our campaign extended far beyond the runners who engaged with us. With more than 30 million people reached through earned media alone, we were able to penetrate the broader running community — in London and beyond.