This is not your normal 5K. It’s a costumed run, through a cemetery that ends in an all-out Halloween Bash. And this is no ordinary project. For one, it includes every form of advertising you can imagine. And for another, it’s a project that Ample takes on free of charge. After all, it raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) and Kevin’s family has been working closely with CFF since he was knee-high to a werewolf.
Photo Shoot. Thanks to Alias, who once again donated their services.
In theory, it should be simple. It’s a 3,000 person beer-swilling costume party, dressed up like a charity 5K. In reality, it’s tough to come up with a fresh idea that fits everything from a radio spot to a billboard. So, we put our noses to the grindstone, packed up our stuff and went to the bar. As we, “got into the mindset of the consumer,” the idea struck us. Olan Mills.
The Run Like Hell is a memory-making machine. And we thought, what better way to show the memories Run Like Hell provides, than to pose costumed runners as if they were in family portraits. We imagined a home, filled with pictures of werewolves and zombies posed in front of wood-paneled walls, under soft lighting. We thought about awkward prom photos, senior portraits, and yearbooks shots.
With all that in mind, Kevin recruited some major talent for the photo shoot (his little brother and his room mates). Adam, went out in search of costumes, and Rob had to watch some “how to do makeup,” YouTube videos.
We put the concept into action, online, offline and over the airwaves. Creating billboards, print ads, radio spots, brochures, posters, tee shirts, banner ads and a new website – one mights say that this was a robust campaign.
In every instance we used the humor of the images and design to sell the idea of Run Like Hell. From there, we tried to add as little clutter as possible. The focus was simple: when and where do I sign up?
The “where to sign up,” was a big chunk of this year’s project. A full redesign of the website condensed the site down to a single page with some cutting edge functionality. Explore the Run Like Hell website for yourself. See how each section expands, photos are pulled in from Flickr, Maps are pulled in from Google, and registration is a single click away.
Poster. These touted our “Prom Theme” title. And told you when and where to sign up.
Billboard. A focus on the date, with a nod to senior pictures from the mid 90s.
Tee Shirts. Every year, it’s the shirt that gets the most scrutiny. And in 2010, other than the wolf man looking “too much like Jesus,” we received few complaints.
Print Ad. This smooth looking character truly brought Olan Mills style to life.
Print Ad. Do Zombies smile? Only when a ghosted image image of that same zombie is behind them.
Website. It sells the uniqueness of the race, gives all detail and pushes you to register in one page.
Banner Ads. Appearing on local media sites, these grabbed your attention, then pushed you to the site.
As we’ve mentioned. Kevin’s family has been a part of this event for quite some time, and the years are starting to pile up for the rest of the Ample Crew. Below you’ll find the posters from years past.
A few of the campaigns below were created with the help and generosity of Barefoot Advertising. In fact, many of the characters in the 2008 poster are still Barefooters today.
2009 Campaign. This was the first year we cut down to a single slogan for the whole year. And attempted to show runners, running.
2008 Campaign. A more Nike/Gatorade type feel. We wanted to push the idea of serious runners in ridiculous costumes.
2007 Campaign. This year, the collateral focused on pairs of runners and the brochures, inciting more group costumes at the actual event.
