Vol. 81 ASICS: The exercise experiment 🧠

Over the past decade, mental health has become a common theme in marketing, with brands across industries participating. 

Spotify had the Take a Beat campaign that aimed to bring nature sounds to earbuds everywhere because of the positive impact they can have on mental health. Maybelline had the Brave Together campaign that provides resources for those with anxiety and depression. And McDonald’s removed the smile from their Happy Meal boxes to spark conversation about children’s emotions during Mental Health Awareness Week. 

This topic has a natural fit with sports brands but they often take the same ol’ “Exercise is good for your mental health” angle. So ASICS sought to give that approach a refresh. 

This week, Case Studied explores ASICS how increased brand awareness, reputation, and advocacy by asking athletes to stop exercising.

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The Brief:

ASICS was founded in post-war Japan in 1949 by military veteran Kihachiro Onitsuka. It was originally called Onitsuka Co. but after merging with GTO Co. and JELENK Co. in 1977, the company officially formed ASICS. The new name is an acronym for Anima Sana In Corpe Sano or a Sound Mind, Sound Body. 

In 2022, ASICS was looking to reflect its brand philosophy and shed new light on the conversation about the benefits of exercise. The goal was to increase awareness and inspire people to exercise for their mental health. So they set out to concretely prove the link between mental health and exercise.

The Execution:

The Mind Race centered on a four-phase experiment to quantify the impact that exercise has on mental health. ASICS partnered with Dr. Brendon Stubbs, a physiotherapist who specializes in mental health, to oversee the research. Athletes—including Olympian sprinter Ewan Thomas—and everyday people who exercise regularly were recruited for the campaign and asked to abstain from exercise for one week. 

Participants were monitored by the ASICS  Mind Lifter™ Tool, which combines AI facial scanning data with a series of scientifically designed questions and answers. From there, a Mind Uplift score is deduced, revealing the participants’ mental state across 10 cognitive and emotional metrics. They also used Muse 2 headsets at different stages of the experiment to capture real-time data on general brain activity, heart rate, breathing, and body movement. 

In total, the experiment gathered data from thousands of people across 21 countries. Here’s a look at the results after just one week without exercise: 

• confidence levels dropped by 20%

• positivity fell by 16%

• mental energy dipped by 23%

• ability to cope with stress slumped by 22% 

• overall state of mind scores dropped from a high of 68 to 55 (out of 100)

It wasn’t all negative data, though. The results showed that it takes just 15.09 minutes of exercise to significantly and positively impact a mental state, even after periods of inactivity. 

Once the experiment results were in, ASICS had to bring the results to life. They worked with audio visual artist Ben Heim to translate the participants’ state of mind into a visualization showing before, during, and after the experiment. 

Those visualizations were all pulled into a documentary called the Mind Race film, which shows the athletes’ experience with the experiment (including their reactions to their own results). It was launched globally on paid, owned, and earned channels. ASICS sent the full scientific findings, plus clips and stills from the film to media outlets. 

The brand encouraged people to participate in the campaign themselves by downloading ASICS Mind Uplifter™ Tool, a free mood tracking app that gave users insights into the impact of movement on their minds. Anyone could share their results on social channels under #asicsmindrace. 

The Results:

During The Mind Race campaign, a YouGov study named ASICS one of the Top 10 Biggest Movers in the UK. It cited increases in brand awareness, reputation, quality, and advocacy. 

The campaign sparked 787 pieces of coverage across 77 markets, totalling an estimated 1.8 billion reach. Earned media increased +377% compared to an average week, plus the documentary reached 100 million.

Key Takeaways:

There’s a lot to learn from this ASICS campaign. Here are a few lessons that stand out:

1) Proving over preaching.

With The Mind Race campaign, ASICS didn’t go with the typical (and one could argue overused) storylines about how exercise is good for you. Instead, they used data to tell the story, get real proof points, and get everyday folks in on the campaign themselves. 

To cut through the metaphorical noise on a sensitive or common topic, dig into the statements you’re making with tangible proof points. Consider how your brand can validate claims through studies, pilot programs, or transparent metrics. It may help you stand out and build credibility among audiences.

2) Flip the framing.

Most wellness campaigns focus on the benefits of doing something. But ASICS proved their point by asking participants to stop. This reversal made the impact of the campaign more eye-catching and engaging.

If your message isn’t breaking through, try reframing the story. What happens when your product, service, or value is taken away? The absence can sometimes be more powerful than presence.

3) Make research feel human.

The Mind Race struck the ideal combination of scientific validation in the experiment and emotionally resonant storytelling in the documentary. This match up made the findings both credible and compelling, and helped drive audience engagement. 

Consider balancing out research-heavy campaigns with human-centric stories. Explore the ways you can tie your metrics with meaningful anecdotes, testimonials, or case studies. Numbers and humans are both great at storytelling in their own ways so might as well leverage both, right?

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