As stress levels rise, wellness travel is booming – but it often comes with long flights, hefty price tags, and treatments that don’t always deliver lasting results. On World Mental Health Day, October 2025, ASICS and its newest wellbeing ambassador, Natasha Rothwell, launched its campaign – The Everyday Escape – that will continue through the end of the year as part of ASICS’ ongoing global wellness initiative.
The campaign invited the world to take an Everyday Escape – a simple 15 minute movement break – that is proven to transport you to a happier place and deliver more lasting benefits than a week at a wellness retreat.
“The Everyday Escape campaign was inspired by ASICS’ founding philosophy, Anima Sana In Corpore Sano, a Sound Mind in a Sound Body. The brand wanted to challenge the growing perception that wellness is something you need to travel or spend for, by showing that true wellbeing can be achieved through simple, daily movement. The creative vision focuses on accessibility and authenticity, celebrating 15 minutes of movement as a more powerful, long-lasting, and inclusive path to mental uplift than expensive wellness retreats. The core message is simple yet powerful: you don’t need to go far to leave it all behind, movement is the most accessible escape,” says Nikola Djordjevic, Head of Marketing, ASICS Middle East.
According to Hilton’s 2025 Travel Trends report, demand for wellness holidays is surging in the UAE with nearly half (43 per cent) of the respondents regularly booking wellness or spa experiences as a central part of their travel. Meanwhile, new research by ASICS, surveying people who recently took a wellness holiday, found that people from the UAE travel an average of 2,867km and spend an average of 6,003 AED on their wellness retreats. Yet, these holidays don’t always deliver: seven in ten (71 per cent) said their retreat failed to meet all expectations, and two in three (66 per cent) reported that any wellness benefits faded as soon as they left the retreat or shortly after returning home. For some, the experience even added to their stress levels, with 42 per cent citing cost and 31 per cent saying long travel distances were stress-inducing.
In contrast, ASICS’ research highlights the transformative power of movement on mental wellbeing, showing that just 15 minutes and 9 seconds of exercise can trigger a measurable mental uplift. In a new Everyday Escape trial, overseen by Dr Brendon Stubbs of King’s College London, participants who took a simple daily 15-minute movement break reported a 21 per cent greater uplift in their overall mental state compared to their wellness holiday. In fact, 71 per cent said daily movement was more effective at reducing stress, 65 per cent found it more mood-enhancing and 73 per cent experienced longer-lasting mental wellbeing benefits than after their recent wellness holiday.
To help more people to find their happy place through movement, ASICS enlisted Natasha Rothwell, actor, writer, and wellness advocate, as its Everyday Escape Concierge. Rothwell will share inspiration to help people weave small but meaningful moments of movement into their daily routines, making wellness accessible and affordable for all.
“The Everyday Escape trial (n=17) should be seen as an early proof-of-concept study, reinforced by a global survey of 11,000 people and aligned with external scientific evidence.” Natasha Rothwell.
Taking the message regionally and globally
Across the world, ASICS is encouraging people to take an #EverydayEscape and feel the benefits. People who take a 15-minute movement break are encouraged to share their Everyday Escape and help raise funds for mental wellbeing charities around the world.
In the MENA region, the Everyday Escape campaign was rolled out across ASICS’ owned digital platforms, including Instagram and the brands website, focusing on localised storytelling and social engagement. The activation encouraged the regional community to participate by sharing their own 15-minute movement breaks, driving awareness of ASICS’ Sound Mind, Sound Body philosophy through relatable, everyday moments.
“To ensure regional relevance, ASICS conducted a dedicated UAE study exploring the wellness landscape and the relationship between movement and mental wellbeing. Insights from this research informed the campaign’s messaging, positioning movement as an accessible and effective way for people in the UAE to enhance their mood and mental state within their everyday environments,” says Nikola Djordjevic, Head of Marketing, ASICS Middle East.
Dr Brendon Stubbs, a leading researcher in exercise and mental health from King’s College London, said, “It’s incredible to see the impact 15 minutes of movement can have on mental wellbeing. The Everyday Escape trial shows that small movement breaks can boost mood and reduce stress more effectively than a wellness holiday. All the participants said they’d be continuing to take movement breaks moving forward, and 81 per cent said they’re now prioritising movement for their wellbeing over attending another retreat. A week away may give a short-term boost, but exercise delivers long-term benefits.”
Gary Raucher, Head of Global Marketing for ASICS comments, “At ASICS, we believe that you don’t need to go far to leave it all behind. That’s why we’re inviting everyone to take an Everyday Escape, a simple 15-minute movement break, to take their body and mind to a happier place. At ASICS, we’ve always championed the power of movement, however small, to help people feel better. It’s the reason we were founded and why we’re called ASICS – an acronym for the Latin ‘Anima Sana in Corpore Sano’ or ‘Sound Mind In A Sound Body’. We hope people will join us on World Mental Health Day and take an Everyday Escape, because when you move your body, you move your mind.”
The Everyday Escape campaign was conceptualised by ASICS’ global creative and research teams in collaboration with Dr. Brendon Stubbs of King’s College London. In the Middle East, Empyre Communications supported the PR rollout, adapting the campaign to regional audiences and managing media and influencer engagement.
Beyond the campaign window, its message will remain integrated into ASICS’ communications and community initiatives as part of the brand’s long-term commitment to promoting movement for mental wellbeing.
