Utilizing Wearable Tech Like Strava For Sports Marketing

Getting Creative with Technology

Anthony Hoyte / bicycling.com

Wearable fitness technology brand Strava has reached a great milestone this past year in the fitness market. The number of activities recorded by Strava rose by 38% in 2021, indicating that this collected fitness market will continue to grow and grow as pandemic restrictions are easing up across the globe.

Exercise application Strava, recorded 37 million activity uploads per week in 2021, resulting in over 1.8 billion activities being recorded across the year. Now, Strava adds two million new users each month, with its users running, walking, and cycling a combined 20.9 billion km (that’s the equivalent distance to the moon 50,000 times).

Strava gained massive popularity during 2020 as COVID spread across the world and forced people to remain at home due to the closure of group fitness activities and fitness centers. But the pandemic did not disrupt people’s fitness lives even throughout 2021 as people continued to stay active and record their activities.

In 2021, users collectively ran 3.8 billion km, cycled 16 billion km, and walked 1.1 billion km. However, it’s not only the activity stats we care about but it’s the idea of collective fitness. During the pandemic, in order to keep the competitive edge and the value of community and fitness, more than 189,000 fitness clubs were created through Strava in addition to an increase in challenges and social interactions on the Strava app.

Now it may just seem like a bunch of people running and cycling and walking and then recording it on an app but to us here at white whale mktg it’s much more than that.

The opportunities are endless. With these billions of recorded activities, it appears that the world of fitness is growing more and more each day. With group sports being canceled for close to 18 months worldwide, the people turned to individual sports but in a collective community.

This may present an opportunity for many brands to get involved and join the fitness mania through Strava. Companies like Adidas can partner with Strava on products or apps to increase their brand awareness and even help people get healthier.

Maybe once restrictions ease across the world we will see Strava x London Marathon event marketing to bring people together for one common goal: health and fitness.

Published: December 10, 2021 - Issue 17 of The Sport Marketeer