The Royal Parks Half

Evolving London’s original half marathon

Brand strategy
Brand identity
Brand campaign
Brand assets
Brand guidelines
Brand activation
Event branding
Signage and wayfinding
Tone of voice

Client

The Royal Parks Half is the only half marathon in central London, taking in the capital’s most beautiful and iconic landmarks through four of London’s eight Royal Parks. The annual event helps to raise funds for The Royal Parks and hundreds of other UK charities.

Brief

The Royal Parks Half was the first half marathon in central London. But since launching in 2008, they had seen an increase in competition from other mass-participation sporting events in London. The Royal Parks Half wanted to evolve their brand to increase recognition and help fulfil their ambition to become the most sustainable half marathon in the world.

Solution

Rose were asked to create the brand strategy and resulting brand identity for The Royal Parks Half – a sub-brand of The Royal Parks – to help build recognition for the event amongst runners and the public, as a remarkable race for everyone. Rose created the new brand identity for The Royal Parks Half, based on the concept of owning the ‘Half’ in their name. This idea is reflected in our playful logotype, and the use of two colours, boldly expressed as halves to represent the city and the parks in Autumn. The concept was rolled out across all event branding, marketing, digital, merchandise and OOH applications using half and half imagery. Rose also created comprehensive brand guidelines for internal and third party agencies and partners to follow for annual event brand applications.

Results

The year following The Royal Parks Half re-brand was their most successful ever, achieving a record number of entrants. The brand continues to help the event grow, and in 2024, The Royal Parks Half saw a further 43% increase in applications. Their commitment to sustainability has seen them remove all single-use plastic from the event, introducing refill points and compostable cups along the route. The event is now second only to the London Marathon in offering charities the highest fundraising per head, raising over £65 million for more than 1,200 UK charities in 2024¹.

¹ royalparkshalf.com

The Royal Parks Half

Evolving London’s original half marathon

Client

Brief

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