Case № 12
A complete rebrand and custom WordPress ecommerce build for a U.S.-based fitness platform that needed to step out of startup mode and into a mature, evocative identity, with custom integrations into Hubspot and the Kajabi learning platform.
RunDNA is a U.S.-based fitness platform built around running gait analysis. The company had launched on a do-it-yourself Wix site, and CEO Doug Adams brought me in when they had outgrown the platform and needed to step out of startup mode into a mature, evocative brand. They also needed custom integrations between their online shop, their Hubspot customer relationship system, and the Kajabi learning platform that hosts their virtual certification courses.
I led the rebrand from logo and identity through brand application, designed the new responsive website, and developed a fully custom WordPress build with two heavy ecommerce integrations. The shopping cart adapts based on whether the order is a virtual course or a physical product. Order data flows into Hubspot to drive marketing automation and fulfillment. Course registrations sync into the Kajabi learning platform to place the user in the correct program automatically. Plus a Run Pro locator, a self-serve listing tool for gait analysis businesses, and a VDOT calculator for runners.
This case study walks through how the rebrand was planned, what shifted in the user experience, and why the new platform has held up as RunDNA continues to grow.
RunDNA had built a real business on a do-it-yourself Wix website. The company had outgrown the platform but the team was small enough that the rebuild had to be planned carefully or it would derail the day-to-day operation.
Doug and the RunDNA team had three things they needed from the project. The brand identity had to step out of startup mode and into something premium, evocative, and confident enough to live alongside the established names in fitness technology. The website had to handle two very different ecommerce flows (virtual courses and physical products) without making customers feel they were on two different sites. And the manual work the team was doing to process orders, register course participants, and sync data into Hubspot had to disappear into custom integrations behind the scenes.
There was also a search consideration. The existing Wix site had little organic search footprint to speak of, which meant the rebuild was an opportunity to build search-friendly foundations from day one rather than carrying over a legacy footprint. That changed the strategy: the rebuild could be optimized for what the company wanted to rank for, not just what it already ranked for.
I started in discovery with Doug's team and a competitive analysis of the established fitness technology brands. The goal was to land on a brand identity that read as premium and evocative without losing the runner-first credibility RunDNA had built. The output was a one-page brand brief every downstream decision (logo, type, color, photography, voice, web) tied back to.
The brand identity got rebuilt from logo and wordmark out. The visual system was anchored on a confident type pairing, a more mature color palette, and photography that put runners and the moment of running at the center of the brand. From there I worked into the responsive website, with wireframes for every unique page type tested in a cloud-based prototyping tool before the first splash of color hit the screen.
The site was rebuilt on a fully custom WordPress backend with two heavy ecommerce integrations. The shopping cart adapts based on whether the order is a virtual course or a physical product, asking for only the information RunDNA needs for that order type. Order data flows into Hubspot to drive marketing automation and fulfillment. Course registrations sync into the Kajabi learning platform to place the user in the right program automatically. All of it happens in seconds behind the scenes, so the customer experiences a frictionless checkout that strengthens the brand.
I ran working sessions with Doug's team and analyzed the established fitness technology brands so we could land on an identity that read as premium and evocative without losing the runner-first credibility RunDNA had built. The output was a one-page brand brief every downstream decision tied back to.
I rebuilt the logo, wordmark, type pairing, color palette, and photography direction so the brand could carry across web, packaging, signage, and digital marketing as a single confident system.
I designed every unique page type in a cloud-based prototyping tool with mobile and touchscreen prototypes alongside desktop, so stakeholders could feel the responsive experience in context before development started.
I developed a fully custom WordPress backend with a shopping cart that adapts based on whether the order is a virtual course or a physical product, asking the customer for only the information RunDNA needs to fulfill that order type.
I built custom integrations so order data flows into Hubspot for marketing automation and fulfillment, and course registrations sync into the Kajabi learning platform to place the user in the right program automatically. The team's manual work disappeared behind the scenes.
The rebrand had to read as the move from startup to mature business in a single launch. I built the visual system around a confident type pairing, a more mature color palette anchored on darker, more evocative tones, and photography that put runners at the center. The result is a brand that holds its own next to the established names in fitness technology, without losing the runner-first credibility that had built RunDNA's audience.
RunDNA sells two very different things: virtual certification courses delivered through the Kajabi learning platform, and physical products that ship. A single one-size-fits-all cart would have made both experiences feel weird. I built a cart that detects the order type and presents only the information the customer needs to provide. A course registration asks for the registration details and routes into the learning platform. A physical product asks for shipping information and routes into the fulfillment workflow. Same site, two clean experiences.
Before the rebuild, the team was processing orders by hand and entering customer data into Hubspot one at a time. I built a custom integration that pushes order information straight into the customer relationship system, tags it appropriately, and triggers the right marketing automation and fulfillment workflow. The team's manual work disappeared behind the scenes.
Course registrations had been a manual handoff between the website and the learning platform. I built a sync so when a customer purchases a course, the website confirms the registration with Kajabi and places the user in the appropriate program automatically. The customer gets instant access. The team gets time back.
The new site is also home to a Run Pro locator for runners looking for a gait analysis specialist near them, a self-serve listing tool that lets gait analysis businesses add themselves to the RunDNA database and become part of the community, and a VDOT calculator that takes a runner's time and distance and generates an instant performance report. Each tool was designed to give visitors a reason to come back to the site between purchases.
Not a services list. The real work streams, in the order I ran them.
I ran working sessions with Doug's team and analyzed the established fitness technology brands. The output was a one-page brand brief every downstream decision tied back to.
I rebuilt the logo, wordmark, type pairing, color palette, and photography direction so the brand could carry across web, packaging, signage, and digital marketing as a single confident system.
I designed every unique page type in a cloud-based prototyping tool with mobile and touchscreen prototypes alongside desktop, so stakeholders could feel the responsive experience in context before development started.
I developed a fully custom WordPress backend with a shopping cart that adapts based on whether the order is a virtual course or a physical product, asking only for the information RunDNA needs to fulfill that order type.
I built custom integrations so order data flows into Hubspot for marketing automation and fulfillment, and course registrations sync into the Kajabi learning platform to place the user in the right program automatically.
I built the Run Pro locator, the self-serve listing tool, and the VDOT calculator, walked Doug's team through a recorded session on the publishing tool and search best practices, and stayed on post-launch for two months of complimentary support.
The RunDNA platform, in the browser.
Adaptive cart for virtual courses and physical products.
From the test to the training to the result.
Nick was very patient and organized which helped us undertake a daunting company rebrand and website design. Nick met the time frames set forth and guided us through everything from start to finish. Nick is very quick to respond to any needs or questions and delivers the highest quality work I've seen yet.
The new brand and platform launched and RunDNA has been running on it as the foundation of their digital presence. The company has grown into the mature brand the rebuild was built for, the ecommerce flow handles virtual and physical orders without friction, and the integrations into Hubspot and Kajabi continue to eliminate manual work the team used to do by hand.
Doug describes the engagement in the words a small team uses for an agency they trust: "Nick was very patient and organized… met the time frames set forth and guided us through everything from start to finish… very quick to respond to any needs or questions and delivers the highest quality work I've seen yet." That's the outcome that matters most for a startup-to-mature rebuild. The brand and the platform are treated as load-bearing infrastructure, not as one-off marketing artifacts.
The brand reads as a confident, mature member of the fitness technology category. The cart handles two very different order types in a single clean flow. The Hubspot and Kajabi integrations make a small team feel like a much bigger one. And the Run Pro locator, self-serve listing tool, and VDOT calculator give runners reasons to come back to the site between purchases.
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