Client: Greater Manchester Walking
Branding / Campaign collateral / Video / Animation / Social
The Brief
When Greater Manchester set out their ambition to become the first ‘walking city region’ we knew our campaign for GM Walking needed to connect people to the idea that walking has a lot more to offer than just being ‘active’. We know that it’s one of the most accessible ways of becoming more active so how do we inspire people to do it more?
The answer? To elevate walking and resonate with people on a more personal level. The Greater Manchester Way was a whole population campaign that tapped into a sense of pride, ownership and relatability. Our concept was built around the real life walking stories of the people across Greater Manchester, in a bid to inspire and encourage people to find their own way, and see where it takes them. Because that’s The Greater Manchester Way.
My Role
Campaign Concept - Alongside my creative director, we conceived the concept at the core of the campaign - elevate walking and celebrate the personal stories.
Brand Identity - Setting a modular design system, I created collateral for various media formats.
Portrait Illustration - Depicting our five local walking advocates through illustration so they became part of the campaign brand.
Animation - Using an interview recording as a starting point, I defined an illustration style, created assets and animated Chloe’s personal story of what walking means to her.
Connecting people with the idea that walking has a lot more to offer.
Giving people clear reasons to walk more that resonate with them on a personal level.
Giving them a sense of ownership of the campaign.
Feeling attainable, but backed with a greater ambition.
Out of home campaign creative included two ‘generic’ versions and five ‘walking story’ versions featuring real people from across Greater Manchester. The ‘walking story’ versions were positioned in and around the featured individuals local area. Illustrations where created depicting each of the five Manchester locals to further elevate their personal walking story.
Videos of locals sharing their personal, and often intimate, stories of what walking means to them and the positive impact it’s had. Through these stories we were able to convey the variety of benefits walking can have and encourage people to reconsider their own walking experiences.
We further supplemented the video content with an animated version of another Manchester local named Chloe. Using animation we were able to explore more of the internal, mental health benefits accessed through walking. Candid interview recordings form the voice over with the illustrations adding depth and metaphor.
