A German running shoe company with 40+ years of expertise needed to evolve its story. Their shoes had credibility — designed by and for serious runners — but they lacked the emotional resonance to grow beyond niche audiences.
A Refreshed Identity.
Elevated identity, messaging, and visual expression to inspire the hardcore running community.
A Reason to Run.
Shifted positioning from technical storytelling to emotional brand platform with “Run above reason” as a unifying creative platform.
Internal Alignment.
Unified platform that gave leadership, designers, and marketers a shared foundation to tell the brand story consistently.
There was a product but no story.
Joe Nimble had long been respected among elite runners. Their shoes were engineered with precision and insight from decades of running experience. But the marketing was one-dimensional: product features, performance specs, and technical superiority.
This overemphasis on function left a gap. While their shoes delivered, their story did not. Runners didn’t feel emotionally connected to the brand, they admired the expertise, but they didn’t love it.
To grow, the brand needed to shift from being a shoe manufacturer to being a community brand: one that spoke to the mindset of the hardcore runner who runs not because they have to, but because they can’t imagine not running.
Capturing the spirit of runners who always find a reason to run.
Bond created the “Run above reason” platform — a bold articulation of what sets serious runners apart. It flipped the narrative: instead of rational, technical storytelling, the brand became about emotional truth.
Our approach included:
- Brand positioning: Defined a new space in the market centered on grit, discipline, and the emotional highs of running.
- Messaging framework: Built narratives around the daily rituals and motivations of runners, reframing running as an emotional outlet, not just a physical activity.
- Visual refresh: Crafted a new design system that expressed passion, toughness, and endurance, aligning product expression with the runner’s mindset.
- Creative expression: Concepted campaigns that celebrated the hardcore runner the ones who run in the rain, in the cold, before dawn, when no one else will.
Performance meets passion
The Run Above Reason platform became a love letter to runners. It unified identity, product storytelling, and community under a single emotional truth.
The shift allowed Joe Nimble to punch above its weight. Once perceived as niche and highly functional, the brand now had cultural resonance that expanded its appeal without alienating its core audience. Internally, the platform provided clarity for leadership, designers, and marketers, aligning all teams around a shared vision of emotional connection.
From niche performance to cultural resonance, the BondX team delivered:
- A cohesive creative platform that unified brand, product, and community around a single idea.
- An emotional narrative that resonated deeply with core runners, while expanding appeal to new audiences.
- A visual and verbal identity that elevated the brand beyond functional credibility, enabling it to compete in a crowded market with cultural relevance.
- Internal alignment: the platform gave leadership, designers, and marketers a shared foundation to tell the brand story consistently.
