Arby’s, an American drive-thru restaurant chain, was in pursuit of a younger and more diverse audience, hungry for new food experiences. As a brand passionate about delivering quality meat sandwiches through a drive-thru, it only made sense that Arby's next innovation be the Big Game Burger: a venison, elk, and wagyu beef blend burger.

Arby’s needed a way to drive awareness and buzz of this new, limited-time burger offering, without any traditional media support.

The Big Game Burger is an adventurous burger; a unique, and usually inaccessible option at a drive-thru restaurant. A menu item like this deserved to be introduced to the masses in an equally adventurous way - through the first-ever Hike-Thru restaurant.

Located in the Elk Mountain Range in Colorado, USA, hikers placed their order at the base of the mountain and received their specialty branded gear to help them on the way up. From there, they embarked on a 4.1 mile (6.6 km) hike, with branded checkpoints along the way to keep hikers energized, refreshed, and excited. Once atop the 10,731 foot (3,271 m) summit, they were treated to the first taste of the Big Game Burger from the most remote Arby’s on the planet.

Garnering 2.3B earned media impressions and 17.9MM social media impressions, the Arby’s Hike-Thru was a first-of-its-kind experience that gave consumers the first taste of the Big Game Burger along with the content to introduce it to the masses in an epic way. The culinary innovation of the burger itself and the immersive Hike-Thru experience resulted in an uptick in attracting the younger audience (18-29) Arby’s was pursuing.