Asics turns research into the creative
Asics' ‘Human Nature’ puts public health research front and centre of its latest ad.
Research is usually something that supports an ad, but for Asics, the creative work is built around it.
While extolling the virtues of exercise is nothing new in sportswear campaigns, it's rarely this literal.
In ‘Human Nature’, created by Golin Ketchum and narrated by Sigourney Weaver, the sportswear brand treats the human species like they’re part of a wildlife documentary.
The film observes people in their natural habitat to draw attention to how far we’ve come from forests, rivers and foraging. Exercise being the missing ingredient, of course.
The data behind the idea
The campaign draws upon research involving 34,000 people across 31 countries. Key findings include:
- People reported spending 86% of waking hours not moving
- 53% failed to meet recommended activity guidelines
- Nearly one in four respondents were classified as "Endangered" for movement, exercising less than 30 minutes per week
- By 2035, Asics projects that 2.3 billion adults across surveyed markets could be classified as At Risk or Endangered
- Asics transforms these insights into a new framework called the ‘Movement Conservation Status’, categorising people as Active, At Risk or Endangered.
The creative device
The inversion here is where the magic lies, with Asics subverting the nature documentary genre to promote caring for humans rather than animals.
Sigourney Weaver's involvement is a smart choice too, given her association with science, nature, and all things cinematic.
The ad follows Asics’ predictably unpredictable creative bent.
The brand threw aside elite athleticism a while back as it focused more on mental health intervention and appealing to regular folk.
Its surreal take on leisure time did away with any pretences that we’re all Michael Jordans deep down, while its dog-themed ad was a cute curveball.
Campaigns such as ‘The Desk Break’ and ‘Mind's Best Friend’ similarly didn’t take themselves too seriously, instead focusing on the relationship between movement and wellbeing.
‘Human Nature’ expands that territory in true public-health conservation style.
Gary Raucher, Asics global head of marketing, said: "Today, as modern life quietly designs movement out of everyday life, we hope to inspire people everywhere to move for just 15 minutes." Golin Ketchum CCO Al Wood added: "We're born to move, but modern convenience culture is making us increasingly sedentary."
Modern health marketing is no stranger to reframing a familiar problem through an unfamiliar lens, but making stats emotional is the real win here.
Credits
Brand: Asics
Agency: Golin Ketchum
Narrator: Sigourney Weaver
Production Company: Knucklehead
Director: Rob Leggatt
Media: Le Pub
Digital: Born05
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