The ASICS Blackout Track acts as the global platform for the launch of the Gel Kayano 25 running shoe and brings together ASICS athletes, brand ambassadors and key global media from around the world to test them in the most extraordinary environment.

It was developed in collaboration with sports scientists and top coaches to remove all distractions and encourage runners to truly focus on synchronising the mind and body. We created the world’s first running track to train the mind – a custom-built 150 metre course that is cloaked in darkness with no technology, no music, no scenery, no comforts and no finish line.

The overall project and track design has been in development for more than six months, to help assist with pace judgement and has been successfully used by Japanese marathon runners.

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ASICS is an acronym for the Latin, 'a sound mind in a sound body' and the brand understands the importance of a sound mind during any sport or endurance trial. To maximise on this Japanese heritage and brand belief, we wanted to focus on delivering that sound mind: testing and strengthening it to deliver great results to the target audience.

We wanted to start an emotionally relatable conversation on long distance running, in order to highlight that running is a mental sport.

We built the world’s first runner’s track to train the mind. Together with sports scientists, we constructed an indoor track with no distractions: pink noise speakers created an audio vacuum, no tech,, no scenery, no starting-line and no finish line.

To build on our Japanese heritage and brand belief – ASICS is an acronym for a sound mind in a sound body – we wanted to highlight that running is a mental sport and to start an emotionally relatable conversation on long distance running..

The aim of the audio heard by participants is to cancel out the world around them and lock their focus purely on running. We used science to achieve this: using pink noise that is almost unheard but affects the mental state of the listener.

It is not music, it does not have distracting lyrics or instruments. It is a wall of sound that envelopes the track, enclosing the runner in a ‘sound blanket’ designed to eliminate all distractions. We had to approach the sound design in a very unique way, challenging the instinct to make sounds that are designed to guide, or excite the listener, or evoke an emotional response.

The 60 custom sound plinths had a 360 degree sound matrix system that covered the runner with sound wherever they were on the track, and at whatever speed they were running. We calculated the dispersion angle of each speaker to create a smooth transition between every sound source, making a fully immersive audio field. With the top half of the runner always covered in an audio bubble, absolutely no external sounds could be heard, not even the sound of their own footsteps were noticeable.

Blackout Track was ASICS’ most successful shoe launch of all time.

- Sales Increase: 125% (Target =10% )

- Earned Reach: 2.2 Billion (Target = 150 Million)

- Runkeeper Blackout Edition App: 170,000 Downloads

We achieved earned reach of 2.2 billion and often – as in Sky News live – ASICS’ brand promise of a Sound Mind in a Sound Body was highlighted.

Coverage was highly brand relevant for ASICS, as well as big in numerics.

The results of the experiment were released a couple of weeks after the live event itself, proving that the mind accounts for 5% of performance on tracks. To make sure anyone in the world could try a blackout run, we introduced a Blackout Edition in Runkeeper, turning off music and notifications. The track was the heart of the whole campaign, powerful enough to drive advertising in store, on digital platforms, and on social channels.