Adam DeerDirector, Creative & Brand

Asics METASPEED:Hakone Ekiden

A launch built for another agency to run

Beat Your Best · Video

01The challenge

Long-distance running advertising often leans on big personalities and spectacle.

Asics needed METASPEED 2 to compete with Nike without copying that approach.

02The insight

Elite amateur runners aren’t chasing fame. They’re chasing personal bests and running for their teams.

03The idea

We launched the shoe alongside the Hakone Ekiden, Japan’s leading amateur long-distance relay.

The campaign connected individual personal bests with team success, in a quiet, confident tone that fit the runners.

Beat Your Best · Instagram
Sky Edge · Social
Asics Running Japan Instagram post: a runner sits on a chair trackside in low sun, with a blue play arrow graphic.
Social
Instagram post: a low-angle shot of a runner’s legs and METASPEED shoes on the track.
Instagram post: the METASPEED Sky shoe with the Japanese word for “stride type.”
The METASPEED campaign page on the Asics Japan site, with Beat Your Best banners and runner photography.
Site

04Built to hand off

We created the concept, identity and assets, then delivered a brand playbook the Asics agency in Japan could use to adapt and run the campaign.

The work had to hold together after our part was done.

Four playbook pages: content overview, a suggested communication calendar, a one-day countdown Instagram post and a stride and cadence carousel.
Playbook: content plan, calendar and social formats
Four playbook pages: the “Beat your best” messaging structure, the color palette, product layouts and Asics photography.
Playbook: messaging, color, product layout and photography

05My role

Role
Creative Director.
Agency
Indigo Slate
Year
2021
Work
  • Campaign identity
  • Video
  • Social
  • Site
  • Playbook