National Marathon
Work
Strategy, design, brand development, logo development, signage, marketing collateral, merchandise
Challenge
With the race going into its sixth year, the client wanted to evolve the event's entire brand presence into something that had a stronger visual impact and better highlighted what makes the National Marathon such a unique event.
Solution
The client already had started on an initial rebranding and completed one marketing piece, so we had certain elements that were already approved and in place. The direction had been towards using a distressed vector look combined with sepia-toned photography to convey an "antique feel" that represented the historic nature of DC. We felt that this direction moved the brand into more of a western feel and didn't highlight the power and energy that embodies modern DC. Our first decision was to focus on uncluttering the photography and shifting from sepia-toned to black and white to highlight the event more clearly and powerfully. Since the client had a good stock of photography, this shift alone gave us a lot of options. The second area we felt could be improved was brand integration. Previous races had focused on vector graphics of some of DC's more popular attractions, but with our shift to photography we felt including these elements detracted from the overall message. We also realized that there wasn't anything in the previous materials that really emphasized that the National Marathon is a sporting event. In looking for something to tie things together, we thought that the "ribbon" made the most sense. It could be used to introduce a sense of motion as well as more of a sports feel and would also add a great sense of contrast with the photography.
Impact
The client and sponsors were happy about the new direction and felt that it better conveyed what the National Marathon was really about. They also felt that thew new direction would provide a strong foundation from which to grow the brand in 2012.