Running, and Growing, a Local Brand

Leatherman Harriers Sunday Runs Aims to Attract New Runners.

Ten years ago, half a dozen trail runners got together to train for the Leatherman’s Loop, a local 10k trail race and what is arguably the largest trail race east of the Mississippi. Lee Willett, the owner of Studio 23, was one of those founding members. In those early days, runners were contacted by email and maps were hand-drawn and shown to runners the morning of. But early on, the group’s organizer was injured and Lee offered to take over to keep things moving forward.

Quickly, it became clear there was potential to grow so Lee suggested registering SundayRuns.org and got to work creating the website which has grown over time. Today, ten years later, there are 200 unique trail maps on the site, an updated calendar, weekly run updates, lists of east coast trail races and 100-mile ultras, weekly photos of the group, and useful tips and files for all levels or runners—all for free.

Recently, we updated and expanded the organization’s branding to include new initiatives including the establishment of our Rookie Runners program aimed to get new runners onto the trails. As the club evolves, we’ll be there to update the brand as necessary and keep the group, ahem, running.

 

An Official Update to a Premier Brand

Longtime client Official Sports wanted to update its signature U.S. Soccer referee uniform to a modern, clean look using premiere materials and addressing some of the limitations of their previous shirt. As a trail and ultra runner, Studio 23 owner Lee Willett had some strong ideas about what a referee would want in a performance shirt and set to work. While the company could have worked with a standard clothing designer, they understood the importance that the shirt had as a cornerstone of their brand and wanted to make sure that whatever the new design was, it would maintain a visual link to their current shirt.

The core branding element of the previous uniform was a repeating pattern of a pair of thin and thick stripes running the length of the shirt from shoulder to waist. Among other things, this meant that each component of the shirt was die-sub printed separately so that the stripes aligned but the process of imprinting altered the base material performance capabilities. Since, regardless of the design, we knew the shirt needed to perform like a champ, we looked for alternatives that would allow us to retain the stripe but limit the printing. We developed over a dozen alternative designs showing different collars, pocket openings, shirt closures, and stripe details. In the end, Official Sports and USSF decided to implement a design with a half zip front, slim spread collar, ventilated side panels with subtle chevron design, and an inset stripe detailing on front, back, and sleeves as a nod to the original shirt.

The final design is cleaner, looks more athletic, and has been well received by referees throughout the country. It retains the signature double stripe as a graphic element and thus insures continuity of the brand. But as for how it looks, you make the call. See it at OfficialSports.com

Building a Community, One Mile at a Time

In 2012, the leader of a local fledgling running group, the Leatherman Harriers, would send a weekly email to a group of around 25 runners to coordinate a weekly run, usually on Sundays. When the leader got injured, Studio 23 creative director, a member of the group, volunteered to take over the mailings temporarily.

“Once I started the mailings, I realized that I couldn’t always be counted on to be at my desk to send them when I wanted so I decided to set up a professional email list and allow runners to subscribe and unsubscribe as they wanted. Then, it became clear that instead of handing out maps before the run, it would be useful to allow runners to download their own maps of the course in case they wanted to run at different times. Thus, SundayRuns.org was born.

“The site forms the social hub of the Leatherman Harriers and includes over a hundred course maps, lists of upcoming regional races, postings of the weekly run with map download, helpful tips for running, geolocated course downloads, social media accounts updated weekly, Strava Club board, calendar subscriptions, and the email signup.

“One of the highlights of the week is the group photo taken at the start of the runs which is then posted on Facebook, Instagram, and on the site itself to give potential runners a visual of this excellent group. Since taking over duties, the emails now go out to over 600 runners weekly, we’ve developed several new local trail races, and the group has developed into an accomplished cadre of ultra runners who have tackled some of the most challenging trail races in the world. I look forward to sharing many more miles with them ahead.”

A great example of using online tools to build an offline community. See the site at SundayRuns.org

 

 

Official Sports Kicks Off a New, Secure Store

Official Sports e-commerce website design by Lee Willett / Studio 23

official_sports_webHow important is security to your company? Official Sports hired a developer to create a secure e-commerce store for their soccer referee gear store. Unfortunately, they found that the site had been compromised and credit card data was stolen. That’s when they called Studio 23.We reviewed the situation and developed a game plan. We were able to access the store files, scrub any user data and get the site back quickly as a brochure. We assessed existing e-commerce options and knew that whatever system we would recommend would be very secure but also be recognized as a secure brand by customers. Ultimately, we recommended using Amazon’s webstore platform. We developed a new look and feel to the store to reassure visitors that the store was, in fact, new. We worked with the client in porting catalog records and images into the new platform, creating promotions and a special holiday shop just in time for their annual sale.

By the time the holiday sale concluded, the company saw an increase in sales of 11% over the previous year—an impressive increase considering the circumstances. We’d call that a big win but you be the referee and visit the site at OfficialSports.com.