LiveTribe directors Kaia Lavender and Gary Ravenscroft travel to the Canary Islands to take viewers on a run of their lives. All to highlight Merrell’s latest Merrell Test Lab (MTL) Skyfire 2 trail running shoe in a :30 spot.
The spot titled, “Weightless,” puts Merrell’s lightest, fastest elite running shoe to the test in nature’s toughest proving grounds.
“We’re very happy to be collaborating with Merrell as their brand evolves creatively,” says Lavender, who, along with Ravenscroft and the MTL creative team have collaborated on several campaigns for the leading hike and outdoor brand.
The spot poses the question, “Why are shoes all the same when the trails are all different?” Runners are demanding more lightweight footwear. Eliminate the non-essential materials.
“Weightless” is a mix of live action and vfx (and begins in the dark, the iconic Skyfire 2 encased in glass (vfx) within the forest. A group of runners outfitted with headlamps quickly traverse down the side of a volcano (no vfx). Appearing in the early dawn, the shoe starts shaking violently before throwing off its unnecessary white shell (yes, lots of vfx), revealing the ISPO award-winning footwear. “We wanted to highlight real innovation, the FlexPlate™ developed by MTL, Merrell’s product advancement incubator,” adds Ravenscroft. “Everything in the spot aims to show that one can access the same advanced footwear that elite runners wear. The MTL Skyfire 2 was built for serious athletes to blaze up mountain trails. Now it’s your turn.”
Fast cuts of shoe, match cut to explosive views of butterfly, bloodstream, lightning strikes and sweat intercut with runners whipping through the woods. The spot concludes with runners atop a fog-shrouded peak, finished with their run to the tagline, “Same is boring.”
About LiveTribe
LiveTribe is a creative foundry that breaks with the ordinary by bringing together custom collaborations of directors and creative artists to produce original, compelling and occasionally disruptive content. www.livetribe.tv
About Merrell
Merrell exists to share the simple power of being outside and is committed to building an inclusive and sustainable environment for future generations to enjoy. As the global leader in outdoor active footwear with the Moab hiking boot and Jungle Moc, Merrell is focused on merging performance, styling, and comfort to empower all people to confidently explore the outdoors. The brand was recently named Footwear News’ 2022 Brand of the Year for promoting a more diverse vision of the outdoors. Visit Merrell.com or follow us on social @Merrell. Merrell is a division of Wolverine World Wide, Inc. (NYSE: WWW), one of the world’s leading marketers and licensors of branded casual, active lifestyle, work, outdoor sport, athletic, children’s and uniform footwear and apparel.
