Decathlon: advert-top-1 by Rosapark

To promote the release of the new running shoe model Ekiden Run Active for beginning runners, Kalenji and agency Rosapark created a new international TV campaign. In order to attract the attention of these amateur runners, the brand Kalenji started with a simple, yet poignant outlook, that there’s a reality that routinely plagues novices: the hardest part is getting started.

Running is, above all, a battle with one’s inner self. Because we have a cold, because it’s raining, because we’re tired… endless excuses to not get off the sofa. Ultimately, the most difficult part of running is finding the determination to cross that first hurdle, that distance between ourselves and our shoes.

Emboldened with this argument, Kalenji wants to build itself as the champion of making running obtainable for everyone, with the idea that the Ekiden Run Activ user should feel empowered, encouraged, and should have that desire that motivates them to start again, to not give up.

The strength behind the film, is portrayed both through the message and the artistic direction envisioned by Rosapark and director Ben Strebel (Sovage), who worked tirelessly to create a run entirely in reverse. This approach, carried out in slow motion, adds an even deeper sense of soul, poesy, and emotion to the film that contrasts the focus on technique and performance that we usually see in the sector.