THE GREAT WARM UP

Short List
TitleTHE GREAT WARM UP
BrandTHE NORTH FACE
Product / ServiceTNF100 ULTRA MARATHON
CategoryC01. Fast Moving Consumer Goods
EntrantFRED & FARID SHANGHAI, CHINA
Entrant Company FRED & FARID SHANGHAI, CHINA
Advertising Agency FRED & FARID SHANGHAI, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Fred & Farid FRED & FARID SHANGHAI Chief Creative Officers
Aste Gutierrez, Feng Huang FRED & FARID SHANGHAI Creative Director
Joseph Davies FRED & FARID SHANGHAI Copywriter
Radouane Guissi, Nicolas Liberman FRED & FARID SHANGHAI Art Director
Frances Alvarado FRED & FARID SHANGHAI Business Director
Nichole Niu, Susanna Ding FRED & FARID SHANGHAI Account
Roy Zhang, Jim Sun FRED & FARID SHANGHAI Editors
Dora Zhang, Juni Zhu, Chloe Goût FRED & FARID SHANGHAI Agency Producers

Brief Explanation

We were briefed to recruit hardcore runners for one of the toughest races ever: The North Face 100 Ultra Marathon. The strategy was to make all other marathons look like a mere warm up in comparison. By targeting the finish line of a marathon, we were getting the attention of 100% runners, the exact target audience TNF was looking for. THE NORTH FACE’s brand DNA is about “Pushing Boundaries”, and this execution encapsulates this motto in an ironic, engaging way.

The Brief

For more than 40 years, The North Face has made activewear and outdoor sports gear that exceeds your expectations. We were briefed to recruit hardcore runners for one of the toughest races ever: The North Face 100 Ultra Marathon. The strategy was to make all other marathons look like a mere warm up in comparison. By targeting the finish line of a marathon, we were getting the attention of 100% runners, the exact target audience TNF was looking for. THE NORTH FACE’s brand DNA is about “Pushing Boundaries”, and this execution encapsulates this motto in an ironic, engaging way.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

Thousands of runners were exposed to our message at the end of the race, with thousands more watching the video of the events post-race. As a result, thousands signed up for the race, including the winners of the Wuxi Marathon.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

We hijacked the finish line of one of Asia’s biggest marathons: The Great Wuxi Marathon, where we congratulated runners that “Warm Up Is Over.” We placed this message on every iconic finisher item: victory flags, a podium, and trophies – of a guy warming up. These “Warm Up Trophies” were awarded to finishers, and also the winners themselves, with an unnecessarily grandiose one going to the marathon champion. Running bibs led to an online parody list comparing the marathon they just ran, and the TNF100. Products on our T-Mall Online Store (China’s Amazon) did warm up exercises.