Degree hosted a disability-friendly marathon in the metaverse to raise awareness around the need for more inclusivity and accessibility for people with disabilities.
Objective:
Degree sought to break down barriers to movement and inspire everyone, regardless of ability, to move more.
Target Audience:
Degree is on a mission to get the world moving — one step, skip, jump, or jive at a time. It doesn't matter where you start, Degree wants to give everyone the confidence to move and keep moving. However, people with disabilities face many barriers to movement in the physical world. Degree needed to revise its position to be more inclusive and spark conversation on why representation matters.
The metaverse promises a new virtual world free of physical limitations and societal stereotypes. However, it is not yet unlocking that promise. In fact, 60 percent of people feel that virtual worlds lack inclusivity, and many are calling for more accessibility.
Degree's main goal was to raise awareness around the need for more inclusivity and accessibility for people with disabilities, both in real life and in the virtual worlds in which people increasingly spend their time.
Creative Strategy:
To achieve this goal, Degree created the world's first marathon in the metaverse.
The brand partnered with Decentraland (one of the platforms that has garnered increased attention as a part of the metaverse) to help shape the standard of inclusivity and representation in the virtual world.
Working with Grammy-nominated recording artist Fat Joe (Joseph Antonio Cartagena) and Paralympic athlete Blake Leeper, the brand hosted the Degree Metathon. The event's headliner talent shared their unique and inspiring stories about the barriers to movement they had to personally overcome.
Degree also worked with disability experts to better understand the needs of underrepresented movers in the metaverse and then polled the Decentraland community, finding that 98 percent of landowners support making movement on the platform more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities.
Context:
The first step that needed to be taken in the metaverse was its introduction of a more inclusive avatar library. Available for the first time at the Metathon, newly developed avatar wearables — such as prostheses, running blades, and a wheelchair — offered greater representation for people with disabilities and enabled participants to create avatars that were representative of their unique identities.
Degree then had to build awareness, spark conversation, and inspire confidence in everyone to move more, whoever they were, however they moved.
Overall Campaign Execution:
The wheelchair-friendly and adaptive device-compatible Metathon course allowed participants to run alongside Leeper and Fat Joe.
As a lead-up to the event, Degree launched digital out-of-home (DOOH) placements in Boston (strategically planned around the Boston Marathon) to create buzz around the Degree Metathon.
With digital spectacles and disruptive street furniture strategically placed along the Boston Marathon route, Degree surrounded Marathon Monday (and beyond) in an effort to drive awareness of Degree's virtual marathon.
On the day of the Metathon, Degree's headline talent further promoted the event to create significant social buzz, and to showcase Degree's commitment to championing inclusion for the para-ability community.
Degree also secured Metathon mentions on ESPN's SportsCenter to drum up excitement on event day.
Degree's effort:
