5010: Get creative with your surroundings

Capturing the playful freedom that bikes deliver—when freedom wasn’t an option.

The challenge

When Santa Cruz briefed us to launch their new 5010 trail bike with the tagline “Get creative with your surroundings,” we didn’t expect just how literally we’d need to take that when COVID hit.

With international travel off the cards and the world locked down, our planned shoot in Greece was scrapped overnight. Instead, we had to figure out how to launch a flagship bike from a back garden—while still engaging the brand’s passionate, detail-driven fan base and capturing the playful freedom the 5010 is known for.

The insight

MTB fans aren’t just looking for polished commercials—they want content that speaks to their culture, their in-jokes, their way of seeing the world. That meant whatever we made couldn’t just be creative for creativity’s sake. It had to be packed with little nods that only a true fan would notice, while still being fun and surprising enough to win over a wider audience. We’re firm believers in how constraints can spark unexpected ideas—and this was our chance to prove it.

The game plan

If we couldn’t film in the real world, we’d build one. We created a miniature mountain bike trail from scratch and brought it to life with a custom-built fingerbike and a very nimble stunt hand—Handy MacAskill. The tone stayed true to Santa Cruz’s irreverent style, blending lo-fi charm with fan-focused detail. The concept was simple: tiny bike, tiny trail, big energy.

Bringing it to life

With a small remote team, we shot and edited the entire campaign ourselves—building every element of the garden-sized set and weaving in plenty of Easter eggs just for the diehards. The result was a film that delivered on the brand’s promise to get creative, while quietly rewriting the rules for what a product launch could look like. Alongside the hero YouTube film, we also created vertical assets optimised for social platforms.