Asics has renewed its association with the Tata Mumbai Marathon, continuing as the Official Sports Goods Partner for a 17th consecutive year.

The brand unveiled its exclusive marathon-focused merchandise ahead of the 2026 edition, in an event held in Mumbai.

Ahead of the launch of the merchandise, we caught up with Saurabh Sharma, director - marketing, Asics India, to discuss the partnership with Tata Mumbai Marathon, the role of running clubs in the brand's long-term vision, and more…

Edited excerpts:

What is Asics India’s long-term brand vision as the fitness and athleisure landscape evolves rapidly in the country?

Our brand vision is to become the number one in running and the number one brand in the premium segment. The price point of the shoes that we're selling in the market are over INR 15,000 majorly. That's the sort of vision we have.

We are dividing our roadmap into various categories. Running is our bread and butter. We are trying to focus on a lot of athletes and a lot of runners in the country and so we are sponsoring these big events. Thanks to Tata Mumbai Marathon for giving us a platform to be close to all the runners in the country, showcase our brand in a bigger and real way, and showcase our technology also to all the runners.

In terms of the partnership with Tata Mumbai Marathon, it's ongoing for 17 years now. What makes it the ideal fit? How has this partnership evolved over the years?

It has given us a platform to be close to runners, which was after the launch. Before the launch (of Asics in the Indian market), we were doing a lot of interactions with consumers in the country. We were trying to understand the requirements of the Indian market and go back to Japan and give them feedback and launch the brand in a bigger and better way, so that we have better penetration. Over the years, the Tata Mumbai Marathon association has evolved a lot. Now, we have started launching the Asics running marathon merchandise. We have marathon shoes as well.

With the kind of love that people are showing around the Tata Mumbai Marathon, they are more interested to buy merchandise which has Mumbai Marathon logos. Asics and the Mumbai Marathon are coming together to show the merchandise and give it to consumers to run the marathon in it. That's fabulous.

How do brand partnerships (marathons, sporting events, and athletes) amplify Asics' brand value? What are the key metrics you use to evaluate the success of sponsorships and community-driven initiatives?

The sponsorship is further divided into various aspects. Our strategy is marathon events and running clubs. We have around 11 running clubs currently. We are trying to push towards 15 running clubs in the country. We also have athletes that we are sponsoring who are hitting podiums wearing Asics products.

Tata Mumbai Marathon is not the only event that we sponsor. We've divided India into four regions: East, West, North, and South. We are focusing a lot on Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. We have the New Delhi Marathon, Tata Mumbai Marathon, TCS World 10K Bangalore, and Hyderabad Marathon in our kitty. That is how we are catering to the audience with running community clubs that we have. We're also catering to new runners who want to pick up running. We're training them every Tuesday and Saturday to become runners in the future and become marathoners gradually.

As for the KPIs, the entire association that we're trying to do is to showcase our brand in a bigger and better way. We are very confident about the technology that we have. Ours is the only brand that has the ‘Foot ID’ technology, where we make you run on the treadmill inside the store and give you a physical report. We explain the report on the screen, that this is the landing pattern, and this is how you transition. That’s the overall journey that we showcase to the consumers, and then we offer them a shoe. People find it comfortable because it suits their running patterns. That is our KPI - having more and more people coming down to the Asics store to participate in this strategy, involve in the offerings that we have, and gradually purchase the shoe that is best for them and suits their running pattern.

Are these running clubs limited only to metros, or are you expanding to Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities?

When we started our operations in the country, we started with Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. But now we have our amplification happening in tier 2 and tier 3 cities as well. There are a few locations that we identified. For the Asics Running club, we are available in Pune, Hyderabad, Kochi, Jaipur, and Ahmedabad. We are seeing a lot of penetration in these cities, and a lot of runners are coming from tier two cities.

How do you segment Indian consumers - professional athletes, amateur runners, fitness enthusiasts, lifestyle buyers- and tailor messaging to each group?

Our communication is very specific around the product. We are very confident about the products that we offer. We have products which are for beginners, so we segment the entire beginners population into a certain product that we have. We have Metaspeed, Metaspeed Sky, and Metaspeed Ray, which retail for INR 25,000 rupees, and are for serious marathoners who are running and hitting the podium. We also have intermediate runners who are running marathons. We also have another segment to offer them according to their own requirements.

Which product categories or innovations are driving Asics' growth in India?

We have different technologies and different products. For example, for speed running and serious runners, we have shoes which have carbon plating - they are bouncy, which gives them a very strong feel when you're running on the road and increases the personal best and the running capabilities also. Apart from that, we also have Nimbus and Kayanos, which are the talk of the town. Nimbus has amazing cushioning. Every shoe has a different technology quality or requirement and needs.

What role do athlete-influencers, running communities, and micro-creators play in Asics' marketing mix?

It is very important nowadays. People who are performing on the road are your advocates. Gone are those days where people only used to talk about celebrities and big influencers. Now, consumers are very smart - they look at normal people and what is helping them to perform. When they see communities, the regular people who are amongst them, who started running with them but have gone to another level, they are more inclined towards listening to what they speak about the product. It is an  important tool of marketing that we are seeing right now, which is helping us gather a lot of consumers in the market.

In a highly competitive market, how does Asics set itself apart from both global giants and emerging Indian sports brands?

Technology. Every product has a different technology. One differentiator is the Foot ID. If you go to the other brands, they'll offer you shoes like that. Every shoe and every range that you see at Asics has a different communication, depending on cushioning, stability, overpronation, or underpronation. We have shoes according to the pronation type, which is not available with any other brand. A great differentiator for us is helping consumers pick the right shoe according to their running pattern.

What about brand ambassadors? We've seen the likes of Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah on the roster. Who are your other athletes?

I don't want to give any names right now, but from January onwards, a lot of athletes are joining Asics as brand ambassadors. We are in talks with a few cricketers. We are present across tennis, badminton, squash, and hockey. One will find a lot of athletes talking about Asics and using the product, and advocating about the brand to the larger audience. Apart from that, we're also trying to figure out people from Bollywood who can give us a larger outreach for our Sports Style (SPS) category. It’s a fashion category that we have, which is basically the fashion sneakers.