Time, distance, calories.

The world measures the benefits of exercise through physical data, but the internal mental impact is less quantified.

ASICS wanted to disrupt the global mental health and movement conversation to inspire millions to move for their mental health, using data-led research and cutting-edge technology to show, rather than tell, how movement affects our minds - by dramatically stopping people in 21 countries exercising to analyse cognitive and emotional metrics.

The findings uncovered exactly how exercise – or a lack thereof - impacts our mental state and successfully cemented ASICS as a vocal advocate of movement’s ability

In early 2022, following two years of pandemic-related restrictions, people’s mental health had never been more disrupted— an estimated 65% saying their mental health had declined since the pandemic in the UK alone (Mind.org.uk, 2021).

With pandemic fatigue rife, ASICS – a brand founded on the idea of ‘Sound Mind:Sound Body’ – understood the importance of keeping the nation and the world motivated to move for their mental health.

But the “exercise is good for you” conversation had become stale and obvious. To get people to move, an unmissable way to make the link between mental health and exercise was needed.

Our objectives:

• Increase top of mind awareness for the connection between physical movement and mental wellbeing

• Inspire people to exercise for their mental health

• Solidify public perception of ASICS as brand supporting mental wellness

To inspire movement, ASICS created the Mind Race, becoming the first sports brand to ask athletes to stop moving - recording and visualising the negative impact of inactivity on their mind. Athletes of all abilities had their mental state tracked across a week of inactivity using custom built AI facial scanning technology and EEG brain activity, turning the focus from racing bodies to racing minds.

The data was interpreted in real time using a custom programme, then their states of mind were translated into an atmospheric data visualisation by a real time visual artist - showing the world, for the first time, what racing minds actually look like.

Our participants included journalists, influencers and even an ex-Olympian giving media a fresh way into the movement and mental wellness conversation. As well as captivating adults with a new insight into their own mind-body connection.

Working with Professor Brendon Stubbs, a leading researcher in movement and the mind, ASICS designed a first-of-its-kind experiment collecting individually submitted data to measure core shifts in mental state, from positivity to confidence to focus - with the aim of deciphering how long it would take to reverse the effects of inactivity.

Over 3 weeks data was gathered using ASICS developed ‘Mind Uplifter’ technology, which combined AI facial scanning data with a series of scientifically designed questions to form a 'State of Mind' score built from 10 cognitive and emotional metrics. We then used real-time feedback on general brain activity, heart rate, breathing, and body movement with the use of EEG headsets at different stages of the experiment; capturing each participant’s scores to track the negative effect that a week without exercise would have on the individual.

The data was processed in real time using a custom programme to receive the EEG data combining built-in 3D to simulate real-world and abstract objects and multi-projector outputs. Working with real time visual artist Ben Heim, we translated the participants’ state of mind recordings before, during, and after the experiment, into atmospheric data visualisations.

Each cognitive and emotional metric was tracked by a different colour with variations in form and speed representing the ‘racing mind’ - the more frantic the visual, the more their mind was racing. The visualisation was fed onto large LED screens displayed to participants in a powerful two-minute documentary film.

The film and stills of athlete’s racing minds were distributed to global news, sports and lifestyle media, along with the full scientific findings. We then made the data gathering tool ‘ASICS Mind Uplifter’ available for the public to track movement’s effects on their own minds.

After just one week without exercise, participants’ confidence levels dropped by 20%; positivity by 16% and overall mental energy levels slumped by 23%. Overall 'State-of-Mind' scores dropped from a high 68 when active to a mediocre 55 out of 100, but the global data showed that only 15.09 minutes of exercise is needed to reverse the effects.

The data findings and film drove 777 pieces of coverage across 61 markets, with the film itself reaching over 100 million people. 70% of audiences who saw the film were motivated to move for their mental wellness.

The campaign directly led to ASICS being in YouGov’s top 10 Brand Movers in April 2022 and prompted a 440% increase in association between ASICS and mental well-being with +22ppt increase in share of mental well-being conversation amongst competitors (Nike, Adidas). People exposed to campaign were 210% more likely to purchase ASICS products than those unexposed.