rungo
Helping a Purpose-driven Navigation App Translate Their Mission into Brand Messaging That Wins Business
Foundational Brand Messaging Sprint | Web Copywriting
The Bottom Line
RunGo had built something special: a voice-guided navigation app that turns runs and walks into story-rich adventures. They had started out as a consumer app, but later saw the opportunity in Saas and selling to partners and bigger brands. However, when it came to explaining their value to these increasingly varied markets—such as hotel partners (their largest revenue driver)— the founders recognized the challenge of speaking convincingly to such differing needs.
After working with Forge & Spark on a Foundational Brand Messaging Sprint, RunGo gained crystal-clear positioning, audience-specific sales language, and practical copy blocks they could immediately apply across their website, and sales outreach.
The result? Faster conversations, refreshed website messaging, new email sequences that convert, and a strong foundation for creating on-brand AI content.
The Challenge: “How Do We Explain What We Do to Varied Audiences?”
Craig Slagel and Noah Bloom knew their product worked. Active travellers loved it. Hotels appreciated it. But translating that value into clear, consistent language that captivated their different audiences? That was harder than it should have been.
Their website messaging felt broad, and RunGo’s unique value—spatial storytelling, screen-free exploration, and sustainable alternatives to paper maps—didn’t land clearly for everyone. Internally, too, the team wanted to produce more consistent content. Every pitch deck, every email, every social post felt like starting from scratch.
They needed a messaging foundation that could work across audiences: individual runners, hotel concierges, event organizers, and tourism partners. Something they could use again and again without reinventing the wheel.
The Approach: Discovery, Clarity, Activation
Forge & Spark began with a deep-dive discovery session, uncovering what made RunGo truly distinct, and listening as the RunGo partners identified the commonalities among their varied audiences. Ultimately, we were able to work together to link those audiences, and find a story that was relevant to all of them. This allowed us to build on those pillars/mission/vision with messaging that adapts to each market without confusing others.
▶ The dual-audience challenge. RunGo serves both end users (travellers who want guided routes) and business partners (hotels who want to delight guests without adding staff workload). Most of their messaging blurred these two audiences together, leaving hotel managers confused about RunGo’s specific value to them.
▶ The hidden differentiators. Unlike other fitness and running apps designed for athletes tracking performance, or Google Maps (built for car navigation), RunGo was purpose-built for story-driven exploration. That distinction wasn’t clear in their materials.
▶ The values underneath. Accessibility, sustainability, and human connection weren’t just nice-to-haves; they were core to why RunGo existed. But that purpose wasn’t articulated in a way that could inform sales conversations or content strategy. We learned that going strong on screenless, exploration, and stories, were the uniting forces.
From there, we built a complete messaging toolkit:
▶ Core Brand Messaging that sharpened their story and positioned RunGo clearly against competitors
▶ Hotel-Specific Messaging with ready-to-use pitch blocks, landing page headlines, and objection-handling language
▶ Purpose & Values Statements that connected product features to broader beliefs (sustainability, accessibility, delight)
▶ Brand Voice & Tone Guidelines designed for both human writers and AI tools—practical, not theoretical
Everything was delivered in an editable Google Doc as well as a PDF so the team could adapt and iterate as needed.
The Turning Point: When Messaging Becomes Actionable
The real breakthrough came when RunGo’s team started applying their new messaging—not just admiring it.
Website refresh. With clear positioning in hand, they rewrote key pages to speak directly to hotel managers. Headlines shifted from feature-focused (“Voice-guided routes”) to benefit-focused (“Give your guests more than directions—deliver curated routes with immersive stories”).
Sales emails that land. Using their new hotel-specific messaging blocks, the team built an email sequence that now clearly articulates RunGo’s value: reducing concierge workload, enhancing guest experience, and replacing outdated paper maps with something guests actually want to use.
Social content with purpose. RunGo’s Brand Beliefs—unique perspectives on sustainability, accessibility, and the power of local storytelling—became the foundation for social posts and thought leadership. Suddenly, content wasn’t just promotional; it was educational and values-driven.
The Impact: Clarity, Confidence, and Conversions
With their new messaging foundation, RunGo now has:
▶ Sharper sales conversations. Hotel partnership pitches are clearer and more confident. The team can articulate exactly why RunGo is different—and why hotels should care—in seconds, not paragraphs.
▶ A repeatable messaging system. Creating new sales materials, updating the website, or writing social posts no longer requires starting from scratch. The messaging guide provides ready-to-use building blocks that stay on-brand across channels.
▶ A trust-building narrative. By centering accessibility, sustainability, and guest delight—values that matter deeply to hotel partners—RunGo’s messaging now resonates on both a practical and emotional level.
▶ Results that feel good. From invoice reminders that get paid to sales emails that convert, RunGo’s new voice strikes the right balance: professional, warm, and unmistakably human.
Check out more examples of our work with clients here. And if you’re looking for support with your own Brand Messaging, we welcome you to reach out. We’d be delighted to set up a free consultation to explore how we might help.