Predictive Targeting Lifts ASICS Brand Preference 45%.

+45%

Brand preference, 9 points above phase 1

+18%

Ad recall, 5 points above phase 1

90%

Video completion rate

ASICS wanted to connect running with mental wellbeing across Europe. In a sportswear market where everybody is saying something similar, the campaign won on timing and audience precision rather than volume, and a third-party study proved it.

Watch the story

Inside the Running Moves Your Mind campaign.

“The team top-tier client support, optimising our creative and leveraging data-driven targeting to maximise impact.”

Almeri Solomon, Senior Paid Media Specialist, ASICS EMEA

The challenge

Reaching the right runner at the right moment

ASICS set out to inspire runners across Europe with Running Moves Your Mind, a campaign built to strengthen brand preference and reinforce the link between running and mental wellbeing.

In a crowded sportswear market, timing and relevance were everything. The target was casual runners aged 25 to 54, and the ambition was to connect during culturally charged moments such as the Berlin Marathon and World Mental Health Day. The campaign had to move people emotionally and shift hard brand KPIs at the same time.

The strategy

Four stages, from audience discovery to independent verification

Working with ASICS and Publicis, the activation ran as a four-part strategy designed to make the message cut through rather than simply appear. The casual running audience, defined as people who run at least once a month, was identified by combining survey responses with behavioural signals. High-impact formats including Animated Skins and Carousel units were then optimised using Neurons AI heatmaps and perception analysis before the spend went out. Delivery was synchronised with high-interest cultural moments, and the whole thing was validated by an independent brand lift study.

1
Discover the casual running audience
2
Optimise creative before spending
3
Activate on cultural moments
4
Verify independently

" Partnering with Dailymotion Business delivered outstanding results, achieving significant brand lift and exceptional viewability metrics, while optimizing our creative and leveraging data-driven targeting to maximize impact. They proved to be a trusted and effective media partner. "

Almeri SALOMON, Senior Paid Media Specialist

The results

Ahead of market benchmarks on every measure that mattered

Brand preference rose 45%, nine points above phase one of the campaign, and ad recall rose 18%, five points above phase one. The phase comparison is the important detail: this was not measured against a standing start but against ASICS’ own previous activity. Delivery quality supported the outcome, with 90% video completion, 87% viewability against non-exposed audiences and a 0.91% click-through rate. All of it exceeded German market benchmarks. The independent study went further and attributed the largest share of the brand preference lift to this activation specifically.

+45%

Brand preference, 9 points above phase 1

+18%

Ad recall, 5 points above phase 1

90%

Video completion rate

87%

Viewability versus non-exposed audience

Why this matters for sportswear brands

ASICS shows what happens when audience precision and cultural timing are treated as one decision rather than two.

Define the audience by behaviour, not category

People who run at least once a month is a far more useful definition than sports enthusiasts.

Test the creative before you spend

Optimising formats against attention data ahead of launch is cheaper than optimising in flight.

Compare against your own last campaign

Measuring against phase one is more honest, and more useful, than measuring against zero.

Key Takeaways

Sync to the moments the audience already cares about
The Berlin Marathon and World Mental Health Day did work no targeting parameter could.
Combine stated and observed data
Survey responses plus behavioural signals produced a sharper audience than either alone.

Pre-test creative against attention
Heatmaps and perception analysis shaped the units before launch.
Let a third party call it
Independent verification is what makes a 45% claim credible.