How Brands Are Using Sport and Wellness Experiences to Build Community

That distinction runs through a growing set of sport and wellness experiences from fashion and lifestyle brands. This summer, PUFF joined Barry’s at Nikki Beach Marbella, adidas brought members together for a Dubai workout, and lululemon made movement classes part of its Harajuku pop-up.

Lacoste’s Bali padel club points to a more permanent version of the idea. These brands are not simply finding more places to sell products. They are choosing where and how people will meet around an activity. For founders, the strategic question is which kind of community experience the brand can credibly sustain. 1.

Join a community that already gathers PUFF’s Marbella activation is the clearest entry-level model. As hydration sponsor for Barry’s classes at Nikki Beach, the drinkware brand put its product into the hands of people doing an activity where water is naturally useful.

Participants received a co-branded tumbler, and a retail booth offered engraving. The commercial opportunity was there, but the class supplied the reason to gather. PUFF × Barry’s at Nikki Beach Marbella. Photo: ByNau Marbella, courtesy of PUFF × Barry’s. That is the advantage of a partnership: the host already has an…