YARD NYC Goes the Extra 26.2 Miles for Its Clients

On Sunday, November 3rd, when the 54th annual TCSNYC Marathon commenced, it was not only the second year that YARD NYC has partnered with the NYRR organisation to develop and create the omnichannel campaign, but it also marks the second year that several YARD team members will run the 26.2 miles themselves, driven by their emotional connection to the work and organisational mission of NYRR. 

When NYRR came to YARD looking to reinvigorate their creative platform, the team realised that the current platform, It Will Move You, wasn’t the problem, it just wasn’t fully realised…yet. Rather than clear the slate and create something new (which most agencies would do), YARD embraced the line and expanded the potential into something much larger. The communication had focused mostly on the runners, but it was missing the impact of the marathon as a whole because the NYC Marathon is much more than the 50,000+ people running. It’s the one day that the city that never sleeps shuts down the rat race for the big race. We exchange traffic jams for goosebumps, and strangers give each other high fives. Runners and spectators from all over the world converge in NYC to celebrate the event, the athletes, the community, and the city itself -  a testament to the promise of NYC as the true global melting pot of humanity. 

The 2024 multi-media campaign was developed in two parts - an Apply campaign that debuted earlier this year, reminding 100,000+ runners to sign up for a chance to run the most coveted marathon in the world, and the Tune In campaign which is just rolling out now, including on TV, online, Times Square, Madison Square Garden, Barclays Centre, on the NYC subway and at the Marathon Expo and Race Day Pavilion. 

“To really understand what makes the NYC Marathon unlike any other, we knew we had to experience it for ourselves. With many of our agency team investing in a 16+ week gruelling training routine to run the race, it’s given us first-hand knowledge of what it’s like to experience the true magnificence of this event, which has been fondly dubbed the biggest block party in the world. Naturally, this has fuelled our creative ideas and executions.” explained Ruth Bernstein, CEO of Yard.

The campaign for 2024 just ended, but the previous year’s efforts were incredibly successful with more than 100,000 people applying to run in the Marathon, a 51% increase from 2022. The Marathon app was downloaded 500K+ times, a 9.5% increase YOY. The campaign reached nearly 100M digital impressions, an increase of 120%.