For the last two years, Anthem has worked with Wilderness Magazine to generate awareness and drive sign-ups for its Walk1200km Challenge, New Zealand’s largest walking group. 

Created during the pandemic, the Walk1200km challenge encourages New Zealanders to walk 100km a month over the course of a year. The initiative aims to provide participants with a sense of purpose and a supportive network, experiencing the numerous health benefits associated with walking along the way. Attracting participants with diverse backgrounds, some take on the challenge as way of coping with grief, progressing their weight-loss journey, building new connections, preparing for a ‘Great Walk’, or simply adopting a healthy, daily habit.  

Each year, Anthem has developed a strategic media relations campaign, with the intention of amplifying awareness of the challenge and motivating Kiwis to participate. To achieve this, we dedicated time to understanding the stories of the Walk1200km challenge’s ‘superwalkers’, ensuring accurate and compelling storytelling in media releases crafted on their personal journeys. Highlighting the uniqueness and variety of each superwalker, as well as the challenge’s main strength – its support network of enduring individuals, human-interest focussed media angles were pitched to key news and lifestyle outlets, offering interviews where superwalkers could share their reasons for participating. 

This community-first approach resonated at both a local and national level, with key coverage including mentions in Canvas and the Weekend Herald as a great activity to take up over the summer, an interview with Walk1200km founder Alistair Hall on RNZ and NZ Listener, and a special focus on superwalker Jade in The Press. 

In 2023, Anthem also supported Wilderness Magazine with its sponsorship outreach, prioritising companies with strong alignment, developing personalised outreach materials, and facilitating this engagement. Wilderness Magazine was able to secure an international technology partner to support the Walk1200km challenge in 2024. 

Anthem’s work with Wilderness Magazine was rewarding for both the client and our team and a great reminder of the difference that daily habits can make in overall health and wellbeing.