Building blocks – creating a brand with global appeal

In today's crowded digital landscape, it’s more important than ever to have a brand that stands out from the rest.  

Great Scott joined forces with the Christchurch Marathon just two weeks out from their 2024 event.  We needed to hit the ground running, and we did, sharing some awesome stories and securing great media coverage in the lead up to, during and after the event.  

After a short breather, we hosted an epic brainstorm session with organisers focused on how we could help bring their long-term vision to life: an iconic international festival of running with ten-thousand participants, presented with Christchurch passion. 

We decided a brand refresh was in order - injecting bold, vibrant colour to modernise the look and feel of the event. 

So, how do you build an engaging brand that appeals to locals but also has enough oomph to pull runners in from overseas?  

To stand out across all communication channels we needed consistent typography, templates and layouts, as well as a well-developed photograph 'style’. 

Quality and consistency were key. The brand needed to generate appeal across a range of media types, catching the eye of magazine readers, billboard viewers and social media scrollers, among other audiences.  

“The previous logo used two primary colours – blue and green, but we stripped it back to a single vibrant blue – the result was a brand with a slick, modernised feel” - Gemma Parmentier, Great Scott Graphic Designer 

Choosing a single primary color made it easier to incorporate secondary hues across the brand. For instance, sky blue was chosen to represent the 10km race, while an earthy green was used for the Half Marathon branding. To inject some playful energy, we added a dash of blue and purple to the mix.

The refreshed look and feel was rolled out as part of the event’s 2025 launch, timed to coincide with the opening of registrations. 

“We are ecstatic with the result – the Christchurch Marathon is going from strength to strength, and our brand needed to reflect that. Now, with a modernised look we are well on our a way to achieving our long-term vision.” – Chris Randle, Event Development Manager  

Media coverage link: https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/04/21/watch-dad-helps-daughter-with-cerebral-palsy-complete-chch-marathon/