In the ‘90s, Starbucks was known as a place to sit and linger over a cup of coffee. Now, the coffee giant is encouraging its customers to take their coffee to go as part of their exercise routines. In May, Starbucks announced a nationwide partnership with fitness app Strava, asking participants to walk 22 minutes a day for at least 10 days for a chance to win a Starbucks-branded weighted vest made in collaboration with designer Kahlana Barfield Brown.
“When we think about just the broad context of wellness, which is obviously extended beyond prototypical fitness brands, we wanted to partner with a brand that had a similar brand ethos and a community focus and really focused on humans,” said Brian Smith, senior director of brand marketing for North American coffee partnership for Starbucks, regarding the Strava challenge, which serves to promote Starbucks’ ready-to-drink coffee protein beverages. “The No. 2 sport on [Strava] is walking, which is very much a democratized, inclusive form of wellness. It makes a lot of sense for Starbucks to insert into those wellness moments.”
Such a partnership is reflective not just of how Starbucks has had to update its offerings from classic java to wellness-adjacent products like protein cold foam, but also of how brands are experimenting with new mediums like Reddit, Substack and IRL pop-ups to engage consumers — better yet if those marketing activations feature activities that fit into consumers’ increasingly fitness-oriented lifestyles. Strava, the San Francisco-based fitness tracker that filed for an IPO in January, is attempting to answer the call.
“There’s an intersection of fashion and fitness. There’s an intersection of wellness and fitness and beauty all coming together,” said Jennifer Starr, North America director of Strava for Business. “The way we think about it on the Strava for Business side is that these aren’t distinct swim lanes. … People love fashion, they love running. Those two things can live together.”
Indeed, sports and fitness integrations are no longer limited to endemic brands like Nike or Gatorade as certain wellness products have become a status symbol on par with a designer bag. In May, high-end health food chain Erewhon announced a partnership with Swiss sneaker brand On. That same month, protein bar maker David found prime placement for its new protein ice cream when Bella Hadid was photographed eating the frozen treat on her yacht in the South of France.
Strava was founded in 2009 and has since grown to more than 180 million users around the globe tracking activities ranging from running to yoga and weight-lifting. But like with many successful apps, there’s a social component to the platform. Users can post their workouts on the platform to receive “kudos” from fellow athletes. Strava achieved a $2.2 billion valuation in 2025.
But as running in particular has evolved from a simple workout to everything from a dating opportunity to a fashion statement, Strava has looked beyond traditional fitness brands for sponsored partnerships. Strava’s partnerships have run the gamut from a pet-friendly challenge with Iams to an airline-miles integration with Virgin Atlantic and a “Movember” run with L’Oréal. Starr said the app is gearing up for a partnership with a men’s grooming brand later in the year.
Like Starbucks’ partnership, those activations typically tempt users with a tangible reward in exchange for participating in a given challenge. Strava’s Virgin partnership invited users to track their running miles for a chance to win airline miles, with close to 40,000 users participating in the challenge. Such strategies are a useful way for brands to get around Gen Z’s predilection for blocking or skipping ads. According to GEEIQ’s The State of Brands in Virtual Worlds 2026 report, 72% of Gen Zers use an ad blocker.
“[Gen Z] is a generation that is digitally native, that was home and young during Covid, and is tired of it. And so, to create human connection is so important,” said Starr. “Those impressions on social [media] continue to be important, but they are increasingly not the only way [to reach Gen Z].”
Lifestyle-oriented brand partnerships can also offer a conduit to reach Gen Z women, which Starr called Strava’s fastest-growing demographic. Many wellness brands are attempting to reach that same demographic with products that position protein and workouts as part of a larger beauty routine. On Starbucks’ Q2 2026 earnings call, CFO Catherine R. Smith stated that the chain’s cold foam sales were up more than 40% in the U.S., boosted by the introduction of protein-laced cold foam in September.
But while Strava offers a conduit for brands to tap into contemporary trends like wellness culture and IRL activations, much of the appeal of the app is the same as classic social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook: the public flex. In January, beauty brand Tower 28 posted an Instagram graphic mimicking the running stats users typically post on their Strava accounts. Strava’s official Instagram account liked and commented on the post.
