ASICS set out to evolve the Blue Jean Mile from a powerful grassroots tribute into a signature brand campaign that authentically embodies its core philosophy of Sound Mind, Sound Body™. ASICS sought to share the powerful story of their athlete Johnny Gregorek, who ran a mile in blue jeans in 2020 to honor his brother’s battle with mental illness. Johnny believed that running a mile in blue jeans would make his brother laugh and thus a perfect tribute to his brother. The goal was to bring this story to life through the lens of Move Your Body, Move Your Mind developing a compelling creative strategy and campaign execution that would elevate ASICS as a leading advocate for mental health within the athletic retail space. The campaign launched May 1, 2025 to align with Mental Health Awareness month. Through the month of May, the campaign encouraged ASICS consumers and others alike to run their own Blue Jean Mile, proving that one mile can change everything
Zeno Group led the campaign development from creative development process to executing the final paid campaign with assets developed by Zeno’s creative team. In close collaboration with ASICS, the team aligned on the central theme “One Mile Can Change Everything” which became the foundation for the campaign’s creative direction. Once the storyboard and the location for the mile-long shoot were confirmed, ASICS leveraged a run club partnership to bring authentic voices into the story. Zeno and ASICS worked with members of the Manhattan Track Club to highlight personal, impactful narratives centered around mental health. These individuals were invited to participate by not only sharing their stories but also being featured in the film, shot at a track in Astoria, NY. During production, Zeno conducted interviews with both the run club members and ASICS’s professional runner Johnny Gregorek, Blue Jean Mile founder. Zeno captured emotional insights and powerful visuals of the group running one mile in blue jeans. Each participant wore custom-designed denim featuring patches and quotes that reflected their personal mental health journeys transforming the jeans into meaningful symbols of resilience. The captured footage was crafted into a 90-second hero film, accompanied by 12-, 15-, and 30-second cutdowns tailored for distribution across Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and Connected TV (CTV). Each version highlighted the mission and emotional impact of the Blue Jean Mile, reinforcing the importance of participation. Across all platforms, the campaign drove strong engagement, with high total video views and engagement rates. The response underscored a clear resonance with audiences and validated ASICS’s meaningful entry into the mental health space, firmly positioning the brand as a credible and empathetic leader in the conversation. ASICS aimed to position itself as a leader in mental health advocacy by amplifying athletes’ stories through authentic, emotionally driven storytelling. What makes this film unique is its ability to take a complex, universal topic and render it deeply personal and accessible. It underscores the message that anyone can struggle, but by coming together, even for one mile, we can turn individual hardship into a shared, empowering experience. One mile can truly change everything.
From a performance standpoint, the campaign exceeded performance benchmarks, and establishing ASICS as a leading voice in mental health. Zeno partnered with a programmatic partner to develop a CTV campaign that also include a brand lift study testing how viewer emotionally felt consuming the content. The study revealed that 72% of exposed viewers recognized ASICS as a supporter of mental health initiatives which was three times the category norm (Kantar footwear benchmark). The messaging resonated deeply with the audience, driving 65% unaided brand recall, more than double the industry average. The final cut downs included a 12s, 15, and 30s film along with images captured at the event. All assets that we developed were used across digital platforms both organically and paid. Additionally, all assets were used by ASICS regional tech reps to drive awareness of local Blue Jean Miles happening across the country. Overall, the campaign achieved 21.6 million impressions, 7.9 million video views, and 13,286 clicks indicating that the campaign demonstrated exceptional reach and performance.
