BBH Singapore

Client: BBH Singapore
Product: Running Stories
Title: Running Stories
Media: Mobile App
Country: Singapore
Date Of Campaign: Launch - October 2020

Background: There is a market of 1.2 billion people who run once a week and have a smartphone. Yet few run regularly. We saw an opportunity to create a product that goes beyond existing entertainment apps runners use to stay motivated (music, podcasts - all designed for passive consumption, neither personalised nor interactive).As all of us were put into lockdown in 2020, the WHO advised people to go out and run to help cope with stress and anxiety. It became the perfect moment to take a leap and launch this platform that integrates fitness, audio and entertainment. After all, running helps reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 45% (WHO).

Idea: For more information visit www.runningstories.app Running can be boring and monotonous. So we created Running Stories, a first-of-its-kind entertainment platform created to motivate couch potatoes to go running, and casual runners to run more often. Simply by ‘enter-training’ them. It mixes storytelling, fitness and audio into one customised audio experience that casts you as the protagonist of the story by using real-time data. The plot points in the story are triggered as runners pass GPS markers, such as landmarks, shops, streets and buildings, incorporating them into the story. As well as using other live data points like date, time and weather. The result is an augmented audio narrative that integrates with your surroundings making them fully immersive. Stories are based on distance, and each episode ranges from 1km to 2km, motivating you to head out for more, and training you by occasionally making you sprint or run upslope. In ‘The Extraction’, you have 20 seconds to sprint across a bridge wired with explosives.

Results: Running Stories has since been featured by some of the world’s leading news and technology publications - e.g. BBC News (3-minute exclusive on TV and online), Mashable, and GQ - which have a combined viewership of approximately 1 billion. It has received praise from the community and industry leaders such as Fernando Machado for its brilliance. It also won an FWA of the Day for its cutting-edge innovation.We have received interest from runners and running clubs globally - from London to Iowa, Oman to Paris. To date, it has opened the door with over 10 new business opportunities with sports brands, entertainment platforms, tourism boards and even national health organisations around the world.