Brands That Inspire Runners (And Non-Runners)
By ANA staff
Spring is officially here, and for many people that means dusting off running shoes that have been sitting in the closet for months. With the fresh air and sunshine comes marathon season and prime opportunities for brands to connect with runners of all levels. Check out what these five brands have done to inspire consumers’ inner-runner.
Nike Pairs Music with Running Pace
For many runners, listening to music is important for keeping a steady pace. Nike wanted to give all runners music that would help them reach their goals. It partnered with Spotify to create customized playlists based on consumers’ targeted running pace and music preference. The “Pace Station” has been used by millions of runners and has made Nike a top brand on Spotify.
ASICS Creates Authentic Race Day Experience
ASICS wanted to engage a global, national, and local audience at the 2015 TCS NYC Marathon. It created a multi-layered campaign centered on planned, co-created, earned, and real-time content. The company crowdsourced motivational sign sayings for race spectators, leveraged running influencers to share their marathon training experiences, and live-streamed race day stories in all five boroughs of New York City.
Beats by Dre Holds Global Running Party
Beats by Dre wanted to challenge non-regular runners to focus on “teammanship” instead of performance. The company partnered with Apple Music to create a 5k global running party with music at the center. In four major cities across the globe, runners received a complementary pair of PowerBeats2 Wireless earphones and ran at the same time to the same sound.
adidas Educates Runners
adidas realized that awareness for the performance enhancing technology in its shoes was lagging, particularly among high school athletes and millennial consumers. It launched the adidas Boost Experience, a mobile tour allowing runners of all types to test out adidas footwear and interact with the brand through immersive videos and photo booths.
Mizuno Uses Numbers to Motivate
What if everybody ran? This is the question Mizuno — Japanese sports equipment and sportswear company — posed in its campaign targeted at committed runners. On a limited budget, the company leveraged a statistical analysis that quantified the physical, mental, emotional, and economic benefits of running to spread awareness about its products.