OPPORTUNITY
Marathons were made by men, for men. So we decided to change that.
SOLUTION
Every Woman's Marathon, powered by 26.2 Team Milk, debuted in Savannah, Georgia, Nov 16 2024. Not just a race but a celebration of female power and a coming together of runners from all backgrounds.
Gale was in our fourth year of partnership with MilkPEP and continuing to build on our commitment to women in sport. On international women’s day 2023 we promised to allocate 100% of campaign coverage to women. Later that year, we scaled that sports strategy to create our own marathon, for women, by women.
To help conceptualize Every Woman’s Marathon, one of the largest branded experiential activations in recent history, Milk and GALE enlisted an advisory board comprised of accomplished female runners of all types. This includes: the first female marathon finisher Kathrine Switzer, para-triathlon champion Danielle McLaughlin, Olympic runner Deena Kastor, activist Alison Desir and long-distance champion Des Linden.
As part of a social and digital-first launch approach, we knew we wanted to inspire—to show women who run that we know what running means to them. We know the extra hurdles they must overcome to get out there and train.
And we had to do it with words. Amanda Gormon was the first person to come to mind.
Our launch video was released on Every Woman’s Marathon social channels, including TikTok, Instagram and Facebook at 12:00 a.m. January 23, 2024. It ran on Amanda Gorman’s social channels, as well, and was the first ad on TikTok when users open their app on January 23. By the end of day 1 we had 262 sign ups. Is that a sign or what? After just one week we had 2k+ sign ups, 236MM+ earned impressions, 100% positive sentiment.
The weekend itself was unlike any other. Full of community, rather than competition. It was 14 months of production, media, creative ideas and more…… and we can’t wait to do it again next year.
Insider scoop: I had been diagnosed with cancer not too long prior to the kick off. I am a runner. A mom. So many things to so many people. I established the creative concept wrapper (we run for us), all the language and a tone that would resonate with women everywhere. I worked on this all through treatment and this video is what it is because of the love poured into it by me and my partner Ali Eng. This was an enormous project with countless unsung heroes but I won’t shy away from the fact that this video would not have have existed without my writing, the writing that inspired Amanda’s piece, the writing that could only have come from a runner, mom, writer, cancer survivor, resilience master.
But the comments said it all.
