The “how do we advertise wearables?” question remains open at this point.
Apple Watch aside, Fitbit is the best-selling wearable on the market. The first campaign to promote it, created by San Francisco’s Argonaut and released last November, was essentially a montage of people doing things that could be measured with the product.
The shop’s newest campaign “In the Running,” launched today, is heavier on the narrative. The release calls it “a light-hearted romantic comedy” about a guy who sees a girl and spends an untold number of weeks getting into shape so he can actually keep up with her as she runs the hills of San Francisco rather than simply watching her fly by.
Will our protagonist ever run faster than the object of his affection? Once he trains hard enough to keep up with her, will she actually pay attention to him or tell him that it’s kind of creepy to have someone following you around the city? Are there more convenient ways for him totell her he’s interested?!
We will probably never know the answers to these questions. But we have to agree with the release: the campaign marks “a unique approach” for a category that usually forces agencies to run :30 montages starring shiny product close-ups that feel designed to satisfy tech fetishists rather than appealing to a general audience. This one is aimed squarely at the average Joe who happens to live in the Bay Area and work somewhere in tech.
Frédéric Planchon, whose past work includes campaigns for Vodafone, HSBC, Miller, Guinness, Coca-Cola, and more, directed this new spot.