The NYC Marathon is the world’s largest marathon. During COVID, NYC was too unsafe to host the marathon, forcing all 45,000 runners to compete virtually at home and the expected 3 million live spectators to miss the event. So Volvo, a brand dedicated to making roads safer for drivers and pedestrians, brought the NYC Marathon to runners and fans everywhere. The RUN NY playlist by Volvo is a 60-track audio playlist built using sound recorded on the actual marathon route. By leveraging Spotify, the personality of NYC neighborhoods and joy of the fans during this monumental event was kept alive.

Due to COVID, the iconic NYC Marathon was forced to become a virtual race. Competitors would run the race remotely, using an app. Volvo still wanted to give runners a unique marathon experience, while keeping them safe and at home. With no actual marathon happening, Volvo needed an innovative idea that stood out from the clutter of marathon messaging and had a strong connection to their safety values.

Volvo safely brought the NYC Marathon to runners & fans everywhere. Using real audio captured along the marathon route, Volvo re-created the entire NYC Marathon through sound with a 60-track Spotify playlist. From Staten Island, to Harlem, to Central Park, the playlist featured tracks from 13 iconic neighborhoods along the marathon route. The playlist allowed runners to put in their headphones and experience the sound of New York’s iconic streets from all over the world, one step at a time.

In the wake of COVID, many people had to forgo in-person events including one of the world’s biggest and most famous, The NYC Marathon. For their own safety, runners were forced to compete remotely. Volvo's continued safety ambition for everyone, led to still bringing the Marathon experience safely to runners & fans, through sound wherever they were in the world. At an isolated moment in time during lockdown, a solo activity of running was turned into a collective aural experience, using the energy of crowds cheering and liveliness of the city to keep runners motivated and moving forward.

Volvo introduced the RUN NY playlist by Volvo, a 60-track audio poem. This playlist ran for the duration of the 2020 NYC Marathon. Runners were now able to safely get in the New York State of mind from anywhere on Earth. Volvo promoted where fans share their running experiences across digital platforms, targeting paid social and within Spotify.

6 weeks worth of audio was streamed from RUN NY, the playlist hit 2x Spotify’s engagement benchmark and led to a 6x increase in virtual runners this year.