Title	MARATHON MOTIVATOR
Brand	DUNKIN' DONUTS
Product/Service	DONUTS
Entrant	THE MARTIN AGENCY London, UNITED KINGDOM
Idea Creation	THE MARTIN AGENCY London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production	ODELAY FILMS London, UNITED KINGDOM

Name	Company	Position
Daniel Fisher	The Martin Agency	Executive Creative Director
Mark Hawkins	The Martin Agency	Project Manager
Mark Nicholson	The Martin Agency	Creative Director
Jonty Harbinson	The Martin Agency	Designer
Christian Gill	The Martin Agency	Broadcast Producer
Chris Martin	The Martin Agency	Copywriter
Jesse Mitchell	The Martin Agency	Art Director
Soren Birk	The Martin Agency	Art Director
Lloyd Daniels	The Martin Agency	Copywriter
Stephaine Hobart	The Martin Agency	Account Director
Tom Woods	The Martin Agency	Account Manager
Richard Hunter	Odelay Films Ltd	Director
Ben Falk	Odelay Films	Executive Producer
Barbara Nanna	Odelay Films Ltd.	Producer
Jos Newbolt	Odelay Film Ltd.	Director

The Campaign

Capitalising on the silly outfits as one of the talking points of the London Marathon, we invented the ‘Marathon Motivator’, a ‘carrot on a stick’ style device that dangles a giant donut in front of the person wearing it. We devised a fake back story for the headgear, claiming it was a failed fitness product brought out by Dunkin in the 80’s and backed up the story with fake 1980’s style advertising that was ‘leaked’ in social before the event. The ‘never before seen’ product was then showcased in the race itself by one of the country’s top marathon runners, Scott Montgomery, for the enjoyment of the live audience of millions.

Creative Execution

The authenticity of the ‘leaked’ 1980’s commercials was key - to make the QVC ad look as authentic as possible, we shot it on film using a retro Sony Betacam SP. The print ad designs were directly inspired by a series of 1980’s magazine ads. We ran a competition in social to find a game runner to wear the device in the race, won by Scott Montgomery, one of the country’s top marathon runners. The ‘marathon motivator’ contraption itself was hilariously over-the-top which, combined with the branded #justdonut outfit Scott wore, ensured the desired standout on race day, and saw him featured in the Huffington Post’s ‘best of the best’ costumes showcase.

The campaign delivered huge scale & reach for its extremely modest budget - exposure for the branded included a reach of 800k live spectators at the event itself and a live TV audience of 1.29m. Engagement smashed all previous Dunkin’ Donuts benchmarks with £100k+ of earned media value via PR and social and a 4800% spike in social engagement vs. the brand’s monthly average.

Dunkin’ Donuts hijacked one of the biggest public spectacles of the year, the London Marathon, with an outfit inspired by a fake product from their archives that capitalised on silly outfits being one of the event’s key talking points. The product was launched in social before the race with a ‘leaked' ‘original commercial’ and a ‘leaked' ‘original print campaign', and was then showcased in the flesh during the race itself by one of the country’s top marathon runners, capturing the imagination of a live audience of millions. It punched well above the weight of the meagre production budget

With a modest number of restaurants nationwide, the London Marathon was identified as the perfect event to hijack based on its proximity to one of Dunkin’s busiest stores based in the heart of the capital. Also, whilst to outsiders the London Marathon may seem an important event in the sporting calendar, to Londoners it’s a day for fun, silly outfits, beer, snacks and socializing (making it the ideal fit for Dunkin, with their fun & irreverent brand personality). This was the audience we set out to connect with. The conceit of the fake ‘leaked’ archive materials drove talkability, shares & earned media as well as gaining the brand some awareness before the event to maximize engagement on race day itself when this ‘never seen before’ product was showcased in the flesh.