Run Blue: Getting People Around the World to Step Up for Water
We helped Mina Guli, an ultra-endurance runner and water advocate, build an on-the-ground community for water in 202 countries and territories.
In March 2022 in Uluru, Australia water advocate and runner, Mina Guli woke in the wee hours of the morning, laced up her shoes, put on a headlamp and set out on Marathon 1 of what was to be a 200 Marathon journey in one year across 32 countries finishing at the UN Water Conference in NYC in March 2023.
What she (and we) were to experience and learn, was astounding and made an even stronger case for action, at the highest levels, for access to water across the globe.
The #RunBlue campaign aimed to put water at the top of the global agenda by inspiring meaningful action on water from companies and people.
During the year, we organised community virtual running and walking activations which ensured that Mina had a global community alongside her, so she was able to bring their voices to the conference in NYC.
In each country Mina visited she met with local people who are facing water pressures, or who have solutions to the water crisis, over 40 mini-documentaries were created to share these stories and highlight issues on the ground.
Throughout the campaign, in between running! Mina gave several keynote addresses (including at COP27, Dushanbe Water Process, Davos and UN Water Conference) and media interviews to ensure that the message was top of mind.
The Challenge
From a communication and organisational point of view, the main challenge was unpacking how to sustain interest in a campaign and a topic for an entire year. It’s a long time to keep a community engaged and involved. In this case - it really was a Marathon and not a sprint.
Just like running 200 Marathons, campaign endurance requires discipline, a lot of planning and an understanding that things can change at any moment.
Plan. Pivot. Plan. Adapt. Plan….this was the ebb and flow of the campaign, we needed to be fit, and clear thinking and seamless adaptation helped us maintain our rhythm.
The Solution
It may surprise some, but a supportive global community is created by design: unique virtual activations, strategic thought leader outreach and well-crafted social media updates meant that we were able to sustain interest and indeed grow the movement.
Video and photo production teams on the ground captured stories and the sights and sounds of the expedition. We made sure that these mini-documentaries constantly fed our socials and educated our community.
Gather people on the ground. Use direct outreach (emails, social DMs, WhatsApp) to people to get them involved in some capacity, by telling their communities about the activations or organising community runs themselves.
Get key opinion leaders involved - don’t be too proud to ask for help.
In the final #WorldWaterRun activation which coincided with Marathon 200 in NYC, we enlisted the help of heavy hitters like the GOAT Eliud Kipchoge who endorsed the event and encouraged their communities to sign up.
A partnership with leading water technology company, Xylem, secured in the process of the campaign led to two breakthrough opportunities to drive signups. Mina was given the opportunity to speak about the World Water Run at Yankee Stadium in front of thousands of fans; and a very special call for involvement from Pep Guardiola and Man City Football Club.
Building a Truly Global Movement
Mina Guli and the Thirst Foundation are building a truly global movement for water.
In our final Run Blue activation, the World Water Run, people in 196 countries signed up, along with major organisations, civil society organisations, non-profits, and leading voices for water around the world.
Run Blue also delivered on the mission of making water more visible, urgent, and accessible.
We achieved 4,3 billion media impressions (Critical Mention); 771 million social media impressions (Keyhole). And an online reach of 560 million (Brand24). Conservatively, the AVE (Advertising Value Equivalent) of this was easily over $70m (Brand24 + Critical Mention).
On social media, most of this was driven by the use of the hashtags we created in the various global support activations, like #Sweat4Soap. However, Mina also gained over 100k social media followers along the way (Twitter, Facebook, Strava, LinkedIn, and Instagram).
The campaign is over, but lives on. Mina and Thirst have not only leveled up in brand recognition, but also have a global network of people, organisations, and supporters who are now poised to take substantial action to improve local water management. There is also a spectacular library of as-yet-unreleased footage that will enable continued storytelling about the global water crisis.
You can follow Mina on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Our team and the #RunBlue community learned about some of the major issues:
Access to water is not democratic, some communities are still having to walk for days to get water
The commodification of water is dividing communities and, in places, penalising the less fortunate
The impacts of deforestation in massive water towers like the Amazon will be difficult to recover from.
There is hope however, thankfully there are innovative solutions that are being implemented across the globe and people who care enough to make an impact.
Treeshake Team
Strategy: Dave Duarte
Campaign and Content Director: Melissa Attree
Content & Community Management: Megan Damon, Vukosi Mnisi
Art Direction: Alez Odendaal
Design: Robyn De Villiers
Community Management: Phumelele Mbatha, Thameena Dhansay, Kirsten de Klerk, Emma Ferns
Mobilization & Outreach Management: Elaine Rumboll
Technical Lead: Schalk van der Merwe
Mina Guli completes Marathon 200/200 outside the UN in NYC.
Photo credit: Kelvin Trautman
