Built to reach runners: How a T-Mobile audience helped drive a 142% lift in brand consideration

The race beyond recognition

Being one of the most recognized names in sports has never been the hard part for this global athletic brand. Its shoes appear on sidewalks, in gym bags and along running routes in every major city. But when their new performance running shoe entered a category full of credible competitors, being a household name could only get them so far. 

To turn their head start into the shoe runners wanted to lace up next, the brand partnered with Vistar Media on a digital out-of-home (DOOH) campaign powered by a custom T-Mobile audience of confirmed runners. Built from first-party carrier data, the audience offered a level of precision unavailable on any other DOOH platform.

Audience targeting that kept pace

The campaign’s competitive edge started with the audience. Through Vistar, the brand activated the custom segment to reach confirmed runners with greater precision.

Rather than casting a wide net around general fitness enthusiasts, the audience was built from engagement with apps such as Strava and MapMyRun. These signals helped identify people already logging routes, tracking mileage and chasing their personal best. 

That distinction moved the campaign beyond people who simply showed an interest in running and toward those already putting in the miles. By focusing on consumers already invested in running, the brand had a stronger chance of earning a place in their rotation.

Running the right routes

The campaign was activated across billboards and urban panels along popular exercise routes in Los Angeles and New York, reaching the runners audience as they logged miles. Mid-run, the message landed when pace, performance and footwear were already front and center.

Proximity targeting added another layer, with placements near the brand’s retail locations and competitors’ storefronts. This kept the shoe visible as runners moved from consideration toward a purchase decision.

Pivoting without breaking stride

The campaign was designed to reach runners in relevant real-world moments. But when a major winter storm brought New York to a standstill on launch day, staying the course would have meant serving impressions to largely empty streets. Instead, the team paused the New York activation and redirected budget to Los Angeles until conditions improved. 

Programmatic DOOH made that pivot possible, giving the brand the flexibility to shift budget by market as conditions changed and keep impressions focused where runners could still be reached.

A pace that paid off

By reaching confirmed runners when performance and footwear were already top of mind, the campaign helped turn widespread recognition into meaningful interest in the new shoe. A brand lift study confirmed the impact, showing strong gains across consideration, perception and purchase intent:

• 142% lift in brand consideration
• 95% lift in overall opinion
• 24% lift in message association
• 32% lift in purchase intent

That momentum was clear in the way runners responded. Nearly two in five exposed consumers selected the featured shoe as the one they would consider most, while three in five said they were likely to purchase from the brand within the next six months. Nearly seven in ten also associated the brand with running.

Together, the results showed how the precision of T-Mobile carrier data, paired with real-world relevance, helped turn the brand’s head start into a new shoe firmly in the running.