The campaign aimed to highlight the powerful link between hydration, movement, and mental health.
To celebrate Buxton’s year-long partnership with Sir Mo Farah and mental health charity Mind, we headed to the TCS London Marathon to bring the ‘Side by Side’ initiative to life.
As part of Buxton’s wider ‘Sweat and Tears’ mission, the activation was designed to spotlight the relationship between being active, staying hydrated, and supporting overall wellbeing.
We took over a content hub at the critical Mile 24 mark on the Embankment – the point where runners famously hit the wall – to capture the raw grit of the race and provide a visible reminder that no one should have to push through their toughest challenges alone.
The magic happened when we paired the legendary Sir Mo with Jordan Adams, one of Buxton’s ‘Sweat and Tears’ runners who tackled the course with a refrigerator strapped to his back.
By facilitating their side-by-side mile, we created a visual narrative that perfectly illustrated Jordan’s message: that everyone carries an invisible weight, but no one has to carry it alone. This powerful moment of peer support, captured in real-time, provided the media with the definitive image of the day and brought the Sweat and Tears platform to life in a tangible, high-impact way.
The campaign dominated the news cycle, securing 59 pieces of coverage and a reach of 293 million. This included a clean sweep of national print features across Daily Mirror, Daily Express, Daily Star, and Daily Record, alongside pieces in METRO, the London Standard, and a major feature in The Daily Telegraph.
A high-profile interview with Sir Mo led to a full-page spread in The Scotsman, ensuring the brand’s key messaging was delivered with maximum impact.
Beyond the newsstand, Sir Mo shared the mission in a dedicated broadcast interview with the BBC, while the story went viral on social media via the Daily Mail and Mirror’s TikTok and Instagram channels. The project culminated in a hero campaign video that set a new creative benchmark for the brand, ensuring the message of support stayed front and centre long after the final runner crossed the finish line.
