Physical Activity Case Studies
ASICS: Desk Break
Insight
The world is becoming increasingly sedentary, and research shows that the hours spent working at desks are affecting our mental health. ASICS’ 2024 Global State of Mind study, which surveyed 26,000 participants, found a clear link between sedentary behaviour and mental wellbeing, with scores dropping as inactivity increased. After just four hours of continuous desk time, workers’ stress levels rose by 18%.
Approach
The campaign featured a viral Public Service Announcement starring actor Brian Cox as the world’s scariest boss. In the one- minute film, Cox highlighted the silent threat to our mental health: the desk we sit at every day. The film concluded with ASICS inviting people to take a desk break during the workday and participate in the month-long Desk Break challenge on its Runkeeper app.
The campaign also led ASICS to create workplace policy guides and even revise its own employee contracts to officially recognise the 15-minute movement break as a workplace right.
Impact
- The Desk Break PSA generated over 50 million views globally.
- It led to over one million documented desk breaks in October 2024 alone.
- With over 1,400 articles published, the campaign sparked global media coverage.
Decathlon: Paris 2024
Insight
Such reach comes with a responsibility — to inspire enthusiasm for sport and physical activity. France has been deeply affected by the physical inactivity crisis, so it’s only fitting that this historic sporting event be used to encourage movement across the country.
Approach
Additionally, Decathlon introduced a special capsule collection, “Paris 2024 x Decathlon”, giving people of all ages, especially French youth, the opportunity to take their first steps into sport while embodying the Olympic values.
Impact
- More than 200,000 visitors experienced the Decathlon Playground during the Games.
- Over one million eco-designed items were distributed to volunteers.
- The campaign achieved over 1 billion social media impressions, with over 50% coming from youth audiences.
- Sales of Paris 2024 licensed products increased by 40%, with flagship stores experiencing a 28% rise in traffic.
PUMA: Let There Be Sport
Insight
In India, sport has long been seen as extra-curricular — limited to Physical Training periods in schools and listed as a hobby on resumes. As a result, India, like much of the world, faces challenges in promoting physical activity, with most adults and children not meeting their activity requirements.
Approach
From digital initiatives and influencer partnerships to in-store activations across India, PUMA sparked conversations at every touchpoint. Strategic partnerships with a fitness app (NOISE) and a ride-sharing platform (Rapido) incentivised people to get active, encouraging participation in fitness challenges, and making it easier to access gyms and sports facilities.
As part of the campaign, several inspiring sports stories flooded social media, with people shouting out how close friends had motivated them to embrace sports and fitness.
Impact
- Approximately 500 million people were reached by the campaign.
- Over 200,000 participants engaged in digital fitness challenges through NOISE.
- Rapido facilitated over 28,000 trips to gyms and sports facilities.
- The campaign generated extensive organic media coverage with over 300 articles.
New Balance: Run Your Way
Insight
Despite the best efforts of community groups and brands to diversify running, there seems to be a dominant subset of runners who define what’s considered “normal”, creating stereotypes around running culture that appear unattainable for many — especially those who are inactive.
Approach
The result was a captivating campaign film that has garnered over 24 million views on YouTube to date, inspiring people of all shapes and sizes to challenge running stereotypes. As part of Run Your Way, New Balance also participated in events and activations worldwide, including the New York and London marathons, as well as community runs.
Impact
- From 2023 to 2024, the campaign generated 7.1 billion total impressions worldwide.
- The brand’s association with Run Your Way grew by 33% over the last year, highlighting its broad reach and impact.
- New Balance’s follower growth rate for @newbalancerunning on Instagram has grown by 34% in the same period.
adidas: The Ridiculous Run
The Ridiculous Run highlighted women’s safety concerns while running. Centred around a campaign film that deliberately exaggerates the measures women often take to feel secure, the initiative included coach training, a partnership with White Ribbon to educate men on allyship and enhancements to the adidas running app, such as live location sharing, to improve runner safety.
On: Dream Together Paris 2024
As part of its Dream Together Paris 2024 campaign, On harnessed the Olympic platform to inspire movement, celebrate adaptive athletes, amplify underrepresented stories, and empower communities through a series of events, panel discussions, and in-store storytelling.
adidas: Breaking Barriers
Insight
Despite the inspirational achievements of women in sport, participation in physical activity remains a challenge: young women across Europe are more than twice as likely (33%) as young men (15%) to never play sports. These gender inequalities extend beyond the playing field; women are also underrepresented in coaching and leadership roles, with women holding only 22% of top positions within national EU sports federations.
Approach
Additionally, adidas created the Breaking Barriers Academy, a free online training programme offering a range of activities, insights from athletes and coaches, and a toolkit for anyone aiming to create more inclusive sports environments.
Impact
- The campaign engaged 67,490 women, girls and non-binary participants in 2023 alone — equivalent to 6,135 full 11-a-side football teams.
- 100+ adidas employees actively mentor Champions, embedding gender equity into both corporate and community structures.
Nike: Team Go Girls
Insight
Around the world, young girls still face more challenges to getting — and staying — active. In France, for example, fewer than 15% of kids (ages 10 and under) and 11.5% of adolescents (ages 11 to 14) meet the recommended amount of daily physical activity (60 minutes of moderate intensity activity).
Approach
Launched in 2023 in collaboration with France’s National Sports Agency, Agence nationale du sport (ANS), Team Go Girls engaged over 1,250 young girls in these Parisian neighbourhoods, encouraging regular movement through three key strategies — digital activity-based challenges on the Team Go Girls App, weekly sports sessions with local associations, and a play-based pedagogical toolkit for Physical Education created by Play International.
Impact
- Over 10% of the 7- to 14-year-old girls in the targeted communities — 70% of whom were previously inactive — joined Team Go Girls.
- Four new municipalities have joined the movement, with 40 more cities across France interested in adopting the programme.
On x KLABU: A Partnership In Motion
Insight
For over 120 million displaced people worldwide, physical activity is often seen as a privilege. Fleeing conflicts or human rights violations, 61% of asylum seekers experience severe mental distress. The strain of forced displacement also affects the body, as refugees face numerous barriers to physical activity.
Approach
Together, On and KLABU are building sustainable sports clubhouses in refugee camps, selecting each location based on urgency, local sports preferences, geographic placement and the desire of both the local community and UNHCR for this level of support.
Each clubhouse’s programming, staffing and visual identity — including crests and jerseys — are created in collaboration with the local refugee communities.
The first clubhouse in their partnership was built in 2024 in Mauritania’s M’bera refugee camp, home to nearly 100,000 Malian refugees.
Impact
- Over 10,000 refugees directly participated in clubhouse activities, with over 1,000 being provided with On sporting gear.
- The clubhouse has created sustainable employment for 10 refugee staff members.
- On has committed to expand the initiative with two additional clubhouses by 2026, supported by a €600,000 financial investment and additional product donations.
Shimano: Türkiye Cycling Initiatives
Insight
Cycling safely goes beyond simply wearing a helmet. Without support from people we can trust, we risk creating a generation unaware of the freedom cycling offers. This was particularly evident in Türkiye, where cycling participation has historically been low, especially among women and children.
Approach
Their approach to supporting local cycling organisations is threefold: offering training programmes to enhance cycling skills, providing bicycles equipped with Shimano components and supplying the necessary cycling gear and maintenance tools. In addition to these partnerships, Shimano launched social media campaigns and organised events, all aimed at changing the narrative around who gets to cycle in Türkiye.
Impact
- Over three years, 3,200 people were trained by Pedalanka Bicycle School.
- Zeytinburnu Bike Club reached 42 schools and 5,200 students, with 30 students adopting cycling as a daily mode of transport.
- The İstek Vakfı School Club introduced cycling at four campuses, engaging 1,400 students.
- A Shimano-sponsored nationwide art competition centred around children’s cycling safety garnered 2.9 million social media impressions.
Speedo: Swim United
Insight
Swimming is a unique sport — an all-in-one fitness activity that can also be the difference between life and death. Despite its life-saving potential, many children lack access to basic swimming education. Only 42% of children from lower socio-economic backgrounds can swim proficiently by age 11, compared to 86% of their more affluent peers.
Approach
Speedo, a subsidiary of the Pentland Group, is committed to ensuring every child has equal access to swimming. To achieve this, they launched Swim United, a programme designed to provide swimming lessons to underserved communities through pop-up pools. The initiative also partners with political figures and Olympic athletes. In collaboration with Swim England, Speedo identified the communities with the greatest need for swimming education and brought the pools and expert talent directly to local schools.
Impact
- In just three weeks in 2023, 3,000 children across London schools participated in Swim United.
- Before the initiative, fewer than one in five participants (17.7%) could swim 25 meters. By the end, that number rose to nearly three in five (57.5%).
- The initiative generated 393 million media impressions, reaching 19 million parents, more than half of whom were from ethnically diverse backgrounds.
- The programme featured visits from five Olympic athletes and the UK’s Sports and Schools Ministers.
Under Armour: Project Rampart
Insight
We all know that sport can transform lives. Historically, though, young people in Baltimore haven’t had equal access to athletic opportunities, due to systemic disinvestment in public transportation, recreational spaces, and afterschool activities. As a result, a generation has seen its athletic potential go untapped, with the physical activity rate of middle school students in Baltimore dropping from 43% to 30% between 2016 and 2021.
Approach
In 2022, Under Armour funded a landscape analysis of middle school sports and in 2023 assisted Baltimore City Public Schools in the expansion of a district-led afterschool sports model that included 21 sports offerings from both district and community partners.
As with all of Under Armour’s impact work, they lead with a community voice and listen to those who need their support the most. Because of the success of this blueprint in Baltimore, Under Armour has committed to continuing their investment in the same manner in Oakland alongside Curry Brand, and expand into Washington DC. Together with these communities, they will ensure that every child gets the chance to play sports and reach their greatest potential.
Impact
- Athletes demonstrated significant academic improvement, with graduation rates of 92.6% vs. 76% for non-athletes.
- Attendance rates improved (86.3% vs. 75.1%), and athlete GPAs were nearly one full point higher (2.94 vs. 2.09).
- The middle school sports model led to a 104% increase in student participation.
- Before the 2024-2025 school year, Under Armour hosted back-to- school events that offered 725 free physical exams, distributed over 300 sports bras and provided 2,000 free meals.
Brooks: Future Run
With Future Run, Brooks invests in youth running through school team grants, community partnerships, sports gear and mentorship for coaches. With a $10M commitment over five years, the initiative aims to expand access to running and reach one million young runners.
Cycleurope: School Classics
School Classics is a collaboration between industries, associations and academic institutions in Sweden that integrates running, cycling, swimming and skiing/skating into the school day. Since 2015, the programme has reached over 250,000 children and continues to engage students from all backgrounds.
Specialized: Outride
Created by Specialized’s Founder Mike Sinyard, Outride is a non-profit that provides research, school programmes, grants, and resources to underserved communities. Partnering with nearly 400 schools and over 250 community organisations, Outride reaches over 50,000 young people every year.
Columbia: Collegiate Outdoor Programme
By supplying outdoor gear and equipment to the recreation programmes of 16 US universities, Columbia helps reduce barriers like cost, storage and accessibility, encouraging students to engage in outdoor activities and adventure.
SFIA: PHIT Act
The PHIT Act aims to make staying active more affordable by allowing people to use pre-tax funds for fitness expenses, cutting costs by 25-45%. By working with Congress, the initiative strives to break down financial barriers to getting active.
Elite International: Village Super League (VSL) Revitalisation Project
VSL nurtures community in rural China through grassroots football. By supplying equipment, funding teams and opening local shops, Elite supports the football festival that attracts millions of visitors, builds community cohesion, cultural pride and boosts local economies through tourism and industry participation.
Orbea: Orbea Foundation
As a 200-year-old employee-owned bicycle company that manufactures locally, community connection is in Orbea’s DNA. So they dedicate 10% of their profits to impact projects, such as 10 cycling schools and 22 trail building projects, fostering cycling enthusiasm and accessibility within the community.
PeopleForBikes: Final Mile
By combining advocacy with public communication, Final Mile works to accelerate the building of cycling infrastructure in five select U.S. cities. With over 300 miles completed so far and 400 more on track for 2025, Final Mile paves the way for healthier, more mobile communities.
Shimano: Trail Born
Shimano’s Trail Born Fund is a 10-year, $10M initiative aimed at developing and sustaining mountain bike trails worldwide. Working with advocacy associations and municipalities, Trail Born directly improves access to safe trails for millions of bikers around the globe.
Arena: Inklusiv Gewinnt
Supported by Arena, the Inklusiv Gewinnt festival in Leipzig, Germany, brought together Olympic and Paralympic athletes for friendly competitions, promoting disability inclusion in sports.
Yonex: Legends’ Vision
Yonex’s Legends’ Vision unites badminton legends to inspire and grow the sport. Since 2015, it has helped people discover their joy for badminton, supported junior development and fostered community connections through events, coaching and partnerships with local federations around the world.
ASICS: Movement for Mind
Insight
Movement has long been recognised for its positive impact on mental wellbeing, yet for countless workplaces worldwide, sitting at desks remains the norm. Office-based workers are among the most sedentary groups, spending approximately 73% of their workday and 66% of their waking hours sitting. These sedentary behaviours increase the likelihood of health issues such as cancer and depression.
Approach
From the outset, ASICS wanted something different: a clinically proven solution to physical inactivity in the workplace. The result was ASICS Movement for Mind, an eight-week guided audio programme combining movement with scientifically backed mental wellbeing techniques, such as mindfulness, breathwork, and connection with nature. In partnership with Dr. Brendon Stubbs of King’s College London, ASICS conducted one of the largest randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of its kind to measure the programme’s effectiveness.
Impact
- Participants who completed the programme saw a 3.35-point increase in mental wellbeing on the Warwick-Edinburgh scale.
- 70% of participants became more physically active after completing the programme.
- ASICS expanded the programme into an 18-month study with nearly 3,000 participants, during which mental wellbeing scores for this group continued to show improvement.
SRAM: Wellness Programme
Insight
Not only are office workers at risk of physical inactivity, but they also run the risk of not being able to deal with any non-communicable diseases (NCDs) that come as a result of it. Global healthcare costs are expected to increase by over 10% in 2025 alone, placing even more pressure on the pockets of countless office workers worldwide.
Approach
Launched in 2023, SRAM’s internal wellness programme was tailored to the needs of its 800 US employees and their varying levels of physical inactivity. Understanding the financial pressures its employees faced, SRAM decided to cover the cost of regular health screenings to help detect and prevent NCDs. The programme also made holistic wellbeing a priority beyond the medical room; wellness challenges were introduced for all employees, with participation rewarded through lifestyle spending accounts that could be used outside of work.
Impact
- The campaign oversaw the completion of 1,900 preventive care and wellness activities in 2023.
- This number jumped 45% in 2024, to 2,800.
- Participation rates in the programme were notably high, especially among women, with 70% engaging compared to 50% of men.
Decathlon: Human Fundamentals
Decathlon embeds sport into its Human Fundamentals, making physical activity a core part of workplace culture and management. From team meetings that include sports to local initiatives and a dedicated Health & Vitality programme, movement is woven into daily work life.
PeopleForBikes: Bike Perks
Bike Perks brings PeopleForBikes’ mission to life: getting more people biking more often. Through monthly ride challenges covering all cycling types (exercise, transportation, leisure), financial incentives, and activities like yoga or walking, the initiative embeds an active lifestyle into the company’s culture while supporting the cycling industry it serves.
Rollerblade (Tecnica Group): Rollerblade Experience
Tecnica Group promotes movement at work through the Rollerblade Experience — free inline skating lessons, complete with instructors and equipment, offered to employees at their headquarters. Designed to overcome the challenge of learning, the programme makes skating more accessible and encourages it as both exercise and fun.
Arena: Modest Swimwear Collection
Insight
Traditional swimwear often overlooks these needs, leading many to avoid pools entirely.
Approach
The initiative began by gathering feedback from women worldwide about modest fashion. What started as a religious tradition has evolved into a global trend, blending cultural influences and offering a conscious way to express femininity.
With this insight, Arena designed a collection that caters to women from all cultural backgrounds, ensuring each piece met both modesty requirements and performance standards. Thanks to this collaborative effort, swimming has found a new, increasingly diverse audience.
Impact
- Modest items and sun protection represent the largest share of sales within Arena’s water sports category in the Middle East.
- Net sales grew 128% in 2024 compared to the previous year.
Elite International: Trainology
Insight
However, maintaining that level of performance is easier when you have access to the best tools available — tools that are often out of reach for the general public, primarily due to their cost.
As a result, there’s a significant performance gap between those who tailor their physical activity through science and those who rely on guesswork.
Approach
What’s most impressive isn’t just the smart technology, but Elite’s commitment to making it accessible to those who need it most. Trainology brought the product line to various schools in China, leading to a significant increase in participation rates.
Impact
- Over nine million students across 3,000 schools in China used Trainology products in 2024.
- Schools reported measurable improvements within six months: strength increased by 2-5%, speed by 8% and agility by 10%.
Nike: Body Confident Sport
Insight
Data shows girls enter sports later and drop out earlier – at twice the rate of boys — with low body confidence as the leading cause. Through its own research, Nike also discovered that most coaches are not properly trained on how to coach girls. To address this knowledge gap and keep girls playing so they can reach their full potential in the game and in life, Nike partnered with Dove, the world’s largest provider of self-esteem and body confidence education, to create Body Confident Sport. This first-of-its-kind, evidence-based set of coaching tools aims to boost body confidence, body image, and self- esteem in 11- to 17-year-old girls.
Approach
The tools were designed with input from girls and coaches in six countries (France, India, Japan, Mexico, the UK and the US) and are now available in seven languages on a free-to-use website (www.bodyconfidentsport.com).
Impact
- As of February 2025, 3,800 coaches have completed the three Body Confident Coaching modules.
- The website has received 185,000 page views and is available in seven languages.
- In 2024, 115,000 coaches used the platform, with over 12,000 trained digitally or in-person through partnerships with international sports organisations.
adidas: Bra Revolution
Recognising that 90% of women wear the wrong sports bra size — leading to pain, reduced performance and long-term ligament damage — adidas overhauled its collection with 43 new styles in 72 sizes, designed to better support all body types and workouts.
Canterbury (Pentland Group): Navy Shorts
Launched with the Ireland Women’s Rugby team, the Navy Shorts initiative replaced traditionally white Rugby shorts with navy ones to alleviate period anxiety for female players. Inspired by direct player feedback, the initiative included design, distribution and a trade-in programme, promoting inclusivity in women’s rugby and encouraging participation at all levels.
Arena: Custom Racing Suits
Arena offers a free customisation service for swimmers with disabilities, providing tailored adjustments like modified closures and fabric placement to enhance comfort, functionality and performance. By working closely with swimmers to meet their individual needs, the service champions inclusivity and empowers athletes on all levels to excel.
Decathlon: Adaptive Sportswear
Specifically designed for people with reduced mobility, temporary constraints or permanent disabilities, Decathlon’s adaptive sportswear range features items that focus on autonomy and adjustability.
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