HOKA and Jellyfish have launched a New York campaign in which real runs, rather than pre-produced talent, generate the media content. Throughout September, Strava users contribute miles to one of the city’s five boroughs. Aggregated results then appear on digital out-of-home screens, turning one action into participation, data and changing creative.
How the borough race works
Runners choose Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx or Staten Island and record activity in Strava. Ticker-like executions update miles, pace and other summary measures each week across Times Square, Tribeca, SoHo and Williamsburg. Jellyfish developed the idea and leads creative and media planning.
Paid social recruits participants. Six creators representing the five boroughs document their involvement through a Collectively-led programme, with assets used on TikTok and Meta. The channels form a loop: social drives activity, activity updates DOOH, and the public scoreboard creates new social material.
When data becomes the idea
The numbers are not decorative. A runner can influence the position of their borough and later see the collective result in the city. Borough-level aggregation preserves a sense of contribution without exposing an individual route, although the campaign still needs clear explanations of how activity data is processed and displayed.
What the brand must prove
Miles and registrations are easy to count but do not establish incrementality. Many participants would have run anyway, and committed Strava users may already know HOKA. Useful evaluation would compare control geographies, brand attribution, new participants, search and store visits, and the share of joins that followed exposure to DOOH.
UA Banner has explained why reach needs incremental proof and how a content system outlives one film. HOKA combines both ideas: the content updates continuously, but the business effect requires separate measurement.
UA Banner conclusion
The campaign gives people a simple role: run for a borough and see the result become public. Strava provides the action, DOOH creates civic visibility and creators carry the narrative. It will become a stronger case if HOKA can show additional participation and consideration—not merely total miles.
Sources: Billboard Insider, OOH Today and the Strava challenge. Campaign results were not yet public.
