Garmin’s ‘Combat Warm-Up’ Social Tutorials Make Stand For Safer Running Conditions for Women

Garmin teamed up sprinter Kim Gevaert, Taekwondo champion Laurence Rase and agency FamousGrey for a Belgian/Luxembourg initiative called ‘Combat Warm-Up’ which guides users through a series of exercises which simultaneously teach self-defense.

Part of the Kansas-based GPS and activity tracking wearable device company’s ‘Run Fearless’ platform, the idea is based on the idea that every woman should be able to walk and run where she wants, when she wants. Yet, one in every two women often take a side trip for fear of harassment and Garmin wants to raise awareness of this societal problem.

The empowering Combat Warm-up is a three warm-up exercise set to prepare for a running session and teach self-defense techniques and was developed by the brand and a pair of Belgian athletes: Olympic gold medalist Kim Gevaert and European Taekwondo champion Laurence Rase.

The promotional campaign and instructional creative was developed by a multi-disciplinary team from the with Belgium-based WPP agency including Famous Grey (creative), FamousGreyX (digital), Famous Relations (PR) and Famous Productions (production).

The initiative is spearheaded by a manifesto film raising awareness for the feeling of insecurity many women experience and a plea for ‘fearless’ running.

This is followed by a trio of powerful tutorial videos developed to give women a physical and mental boost before running. Sprinter Gevaert led the running exercise design and development to ensure the warm-ups activate the right muscle groups before running, while taekwondo champion Rase (now the Technical Director of the Flemish Taekwondo Federation) integrated the self-defence techniques.

The creative approach aimed to create an appropriate atmosphere and tutorial style by ‘emanating a certain roughness and strength’.

Released on 22 June, the videos are deployed across Garmin Belux social media channels and as highlights on Garmin’s Instagram page. While digital agency arm FamousGreyX targeted women with an interest in running via paid Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

There is also a ‘behind-the-scenes’ support video hosted on the Garmin blog.

“We feel that women are sometimes inhibited when they run outdoors alone because they don’t feel comfortable. We, Garmin, can’t eliminate all insecurities or fears, but we can help women by opening up the conversation and by offering them tools that improve their state of mind before running,” explained Garmin Belgium Marketing Manager Nicolas Coppens.

The campaign was created for Garmin Belux marketers Nicolas Coppens and Tom De Schrijver by a team at creative agency FamousGrey and sister PR agency Famous Relations.

The Famous Grey team included Executive Creative Director Peter Ampe, Art Director Yana Gestels, Copywriter Zoé De Priester and Project Leader Siebe Lefebure.

The digital team at FamousGreyX included Head Of Digital Joachim François, Digital Account Manager Siebe Lefebure, Online Marketeers Jonas Sprengers and Sander Cuypers, Digital Strategist Wies Dickens, Social Creatives Sarah De Prez and Laureen Delbauche, plus Graphic Designer Sacha Lempereur and RTV-Producers Gaelle Haesaert and Marlies Neudt.

The PR agency group included PR Director Kathy Van Looy, Senior PR Manager Laure Vandeghinste and PR Managers Laura Godinho and Eva Van Riet.

While the unit at Famous Grey Productions included Producer Gaelle Haesaert, Director Max Pauwels, DOP Edouard Legrelle, Post-Producer Gaelle Haesaert, Offline & Online Editor Sven Van Hee and Motion Designer Fries Vansevenant.

Comment:

This campaign follows on from the ‘Dear Body’ Garmin Venu2 global launch campaign in Spring 2021.