Description

For more than 30 years, John Hancock’s been the underwriter for the world’s most storied and challenging road race. The Boston Marathon. Unfortunately, unless you worked for Hancock, the City of Boston or the Boston Athletic Association (race organizers), you had no idea. So, in 2018, we set out to change that.

The brief was simple enough. Make John Hancock = The Boston Marathon in the hearts and minds of the community, runners, spectators, media and customers.

We created an inspiring theme line — “Together Forward” — that linked the two together. And we brought it to life with arresting imagery of runners from past marathons and landmark cityscapes on our branded backdrop.

Our theme and imagery were featured on banners hung throughout the city, on buildings and elevators, in windows and print ads, media kits, shuttlebus wraps and throughout the Marathon Expo. And the grandest execution of all — a 30-plus-foot physical mural made up entirely of user-generated photos taken throughout the city.

After all that, our pre/post study reported that there was a slight uptick in awareness of Hancock’s association with the marathon. But when asked specifically about the theme, “Together Forward,” most associated it with Adidas or Reebok.

Oh, well. You live and hopefully learn.

The Team — CD: Tony Capozzi; CWs: Ricky Mahoney, Erin Grannemann, Megan Tracy, Bea Pasts; ADs: Nicole Ricciardi, Kelly Deppisch, Isabel Bonenfant; Producers: Pete Tran, Marva LeBrun, Wendy Donnelly; Photographers: Thomas Magno, David Murphy Walker, David Tommy Faxxon.

Role

ECD, Strategist & Copywriter

For

John Hancock Brand Sponsorship

Date

April 2018