Brooks Trail
I had the honor of helping spearhead the Brooks trail brand and establish voice, tone, visuals, and the overall feel of the brand. As a trail runner myself, it was a delight to take my learnings from the trail and apply them to my work. I co-created our trail guide, also known as our “trail bible”, which served as the foundation for all trail creative work moving forward.
While I have written extensively for trail over the years, I hope this work demonstrates that each season, I can bring a unique angle and energy to the arsenal.
Equipped to ascend
In an effort to be more competitive in the trail scene, Brooks launched the brand’s first-ever, head-to-toe trail collection. We were tasked with introducing the new High Point Collection in a way that would not only resonate with our NA market but also with our European audience. For our concept, we took one of our well-known trail athletes, placed her high up in the mountains of Madeira, and let the stunning vistas and Hillary speak to the capabilities of the collection.
I crafted the headline “Equipped to ascend” to assure our audience that Brooks has the trail gear to get runners from the parking lot to the peak reliably. This tag not only became the foundation of the :60 spot, but went on to be used in multiple trail campaigns across various channels and deliverables.
My favorite part of this project was conducting the interview with our athlete, Hillary Allen, on the side of the road in a small minivan.
Summitability?
This was the first trail video launched under the new Brooks Let’s Run There brand wrapper. It was an exciting challenge to adopt a new, slightly edgier tone while communicating the Cascadia’s ability to adapt to any terrain. Not only did I bring the energy and excitement one feels while careening down a mountain into the video, I also introduced a new word — a personal goal achieved.
We didn’t go this far just to go this far
For the launch of the new Caldera 8, I was asked to tell a story of distance and perseverance, so we headed to the beautiful mountain town of Chamonix, featuring a legendary system of endless trails. To tell a story of grit and pushing through the kilometers, I pulled from a personal mantra I sometimes have to repeat on the trails, “the only way out is through”. From there, I scribbled down the idea, “we didn’t go this far just to go this far” and brought it to life.
The dirtier the shoes the better the story
For my very first trail project, I was tasked with selling a trail shoe with a completely white upper. I was able to make lemons out of lemonade and framed the shoe as a blank canvas ready to tell a story of mud, dirt, and dedication. The more wrecked your shoes look, the bigger the adventure.
