The challenge

In an increasingly crowded performance footwear category, HOKA needed to reinforce its distinct presence in major urban marketplaces where culture, movement, and daily momentum converge. While the brand already commanded strong loyalty among runners, the challenge was to translate performance credibility into broad, city-scale visibility, reaching both core athletes and urban commuters in moments of real-world motion.

HOKA set out to create an Out-of-Home activation that didn’t just announce the brand, but felt embedded in the rhythm of the city, amplifying awareness while reinforcing HOKA’s association with energy, performance, and community.

The strategy

HOKA partnered with billups to design an OOH approach rooted in impact, scale, and context. The strategy focused on placing the brand where urban audiences naturally move, high-traffic corridors, premium city environments, and culturally relevant neighborhoods, ensuring the message would be encountered as part of everyday urban life.

Rather than dispersing budget across fragmented placements, the campaign leaned into fewer, bolder executions. Large-scale formats were selected to command attention, allowing HOKA’s creative to dominate its surroundings and deliver an unmistakable brand moment.

The objective was clear:

• Drive high-impact awareness
  
• Establish premium city presence
  
• Create visual moments worth sharing, both offline and online
  

The execution

billups activated a network of premium OOH placements across key urban markets, prioritizing large-format walls and high-visibility locations designed for maximum standout. These environments allowed HOKA’s creatives to breathe, turning architecture into canvas and city streets into brand stages.

The hero execution featured a striking mural-style installation that brought HOKA’s performance ethos into the real world. Bold lighting, dynamic athlete imagery, and confident messaging transformed everyday commutes into moments of inspiration, reinforcing movement as both functional and cultural.

By aligning creative scale with location relevance, the campaign ensured consistent exposure throughout the day and night, capturing attention from commuters, runners, and urban explorers alike.

The result

The campaign delivered a highly visible brand moment that strengthened HOKA’s presence in premium city environments and sustained awareness throughout the activation period.

Key outcomes included:

• Strong standout in high-density urban areas
  
• Reinforced brand recognition through repeated exposure
  
• A cohesive visual identity that elevated HOKA’s premium perception in city settings
  
  

The scale and placement of the executions ensured that HOKA wasn’t just seen, it was remembered.