Case Study + Web

Case Study: A Rebrand and a New Website that is Making a Difference

Part I: Background on Appalachian Running Company

Appalachian Running Company opened their doors in 2008. Their heart is to pour their passion, experiences, and expertise into serving their customers. When they opened, their store and selection was small, but clients appreciated the great products and the team’s heart and enthusiasm to serve their customers.

Appalachian Running Company’s store-front location—sandwiched between a physical therapy clinic and a casual shoe store—brought a wide-variety of customers into the shop that without the strategic location, they might never normally see. Their in-store customers included serious runners dedicated to distance running and people with a desire to play with grandkids without pain. The Appalachian Running company served a wide-variety of customers.

As Appalachian Running Company has grown, their team’s passion to help each customer reach their personal goals—regardless of athletic ability or running speed—helped brand them as a client-centered company. Whether their customer was an ultra-distance runner or a diabetic patient, a world champion athlete, or not, Appalachian Running Company believes everyone deserves an elite-level shoe fitting and gold-star service.

Appalachian Running Company opened a second location in Chambersburg, PA in 2016 that is focused on client service and as a result, is doing very well.

Part I: Their Challenge

Appalachian Running Company needed to develop a brand voice and be able to articulate what makes them unique. After a discovery process, our team identified their unique promise:  

“Shopping at Appalachian Running company is not just about shoes, it’s about where the shoes will take you and enable you to be a difference maker.”

We listened to their team’s passion for client service and the exceptional service they gave to championship runners and elderly customers who just wanted to be able to walk without pain. Appalachian Running Company’s entire team had a great story to tell and a passionate owner, however their story was not being told well.

Part III: Our Solutions

We started out with a brand update to make sure their signature imagery and design matched the quality of their service.

We then handcrafted a website that focused on sharing their unique story. The website narrative was crafted around being a difference maker. Our team put extensive time into creating an “experience” page that visually walks the viewer through the in-store process that makes working with Appalachian Running Company so unique.

We also created a brand video to tell the story of Appalachian Running Company in a compelling and engaging way. The video is showcased on their website and shared on social media.

Part IV: The Results

The results were astonishing! Upon launch, we immediately received stories from customers who mentioned in the store that they felt “more connected” to the brand after spending time on the website and seeing the new branding imagery.

The video reached over 56,000 viewers in the first month and inspired countless others.

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Cross & Crown has continued to work collaboratively with Appalachian Running Company on other web and video projects and the partnership continues to inspire both teams and the community.