Last Sunday [September 6], New Balance unveiled a series of brand activations to mark London’s Big Half and New Balance’s Big Relay.

The New Balance Big Relay took place after the main Big Half race on Sunday.

The activations were devised by creative agency Syn. The work was designed to be “community first and product driven”. At the centre of the campaign was the recently launched SuperComp Rebel v1, a performance running shoe.

The marketing drive extended to the running course, with three “cheer” zones being placed along each route. Each zone featured a cheer bodega, branded merchandise, product displays, floor graphics, cheer signs, branded flags and a cheer platform.

Spectators were able to create personalised signs and collect the branded items and a completed sign earned visitors a token to use on the branded gumball machine.

Amarjit Kang, creative lead at Syn, said: “For us, the opportunity wasn’t simply to put New Balance branding along a race route. It was about creating reasons for people to actively participate and feel part of the community – whether that was making a sign for a runner, taking a photo, customising a bandana or spending time in the festival space.

“It’s been brilliant to partner with New Balance on bringing the activation to life, and the energy on race day showed what can happen when a brand creates an experience people genuinely want to be part of.”

Brand ambassadors were in attendance, roaming around and capturing content using receipt cameras.

In the festival zone, there was a dedicated try on space for the trainer. There was also a treadmill to allow consumers to test the shoe out and a refreshment station, mirror signing wall, a bandana-making workshop and live DJ.

The experience could also be found at New Balance’s flagship store in Oxford Street. The store had medal engraving services available.

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