One shot to get it right.
180 Cadence puts on some of the best running races in the world. When they launched the inaugural Parramatta Half Marathon in the Sydney Area, the stakes were high from day one.
“The medal for Parramatta Half Marathon comes with a lot of expectations because it’s the inaugural year, and there’s eight thousand people doing the race. We have to make sure that people want that medal around their neck when they finish the race.”
For a brand new event with no history to lean on, the medal had to do real work — build identity, generate excitement, and give runners a reason to sign up before the race had ever been run.
A medal worthy of the moment.
Badges & Medals stepped in as a design partner, not just a supplier. From day one, the team understood what was being asked of them and what was at stake.
“From day one, the team understood that the expectation is high, and we have to exceed all standards and expectations of what would be typical of a half marathon medal. And the team has done that.”
The result spoke for itself.
“The Parramatta Half Marathon medal is by far the best medal I’ve seen for a road running race.”
When the medal reveal becomes your best marketing tool.
When 180 Cadence released the medal on social media, it was their highest-engaging content of the year.
“Every time we release the medals on socials, it is always — wow, this is amazing, the best medal yet. Everyone’s sharing it, commenting, liking, and the engagement when we reveal the medals is some of our highest engaging content.”
Runners were tagging friends before they’d even toed the start line. The medal reveal had become a registration driver and Treglown recognised exactly what that meant.
He proposed packaging the medal reveal as a proactive promotional tool for every event: a ready-to-go reveal asset offered at the point of design sign-off, built into the marketing calendar before a single ticket is sold.
A simple idea to get the local community rallying for this new event.
Why 180 Cadence doesn’t want you working with Badges & Medals.
“Working with Badges and Medals has been amazing. No brief is too complicated, and they always go above and beyond to make sure that medal really wows the runners and gives them the best experience when they cross the finish line.”
So good, in fact, that Treglown’s final word of advice was this:
“Don’t work with Badges and Medals. We want them more to ourselves. And if you can’t see how good their medals are and how much of an impact they can make, then I’m sorry, but I don’t think they can help you.”
The Parramatta Half Marathon is completely sold out. Badges & Medals will continue to support the event’s growth in the coming years.