Adidas is widening its mobile scope by adding the Runtastic application to its repertoire, a move that will likely put it in competition with Nike in the GPS fitness tracking sector.

Adidas? Runtastic purchase, which is reportedly coming in at $239 million, will enable the brand to make further strides in offering a plethora of fitness-tracking functions on mobile. Competitor Nike is also aiming to target workout enthusiasts by implementing its Nike+ app into various wearables and streaming platforms, meaning that Adidas must raise the bar by providing even more features to its fans.

?Our Group purpose and objective is to inspire and enable people to harness the power of sport in their lives,? said a spokeswoman for Adidas, Portland, OR. ?Digital technologies are providing new capabilities and insights that help athletes of all levels take control of their sporting destiny ? whether it be improving performance, sharing experiences, or creating their own great social moments of sport.

?Runtastic is a world class asset with a large, enthusiastic and rapidly growing user base. This investment will add considerable value on our journey to define and innovate world class sports experiences, further grow our combined highly engaged and active athlete user base, and leverage the power of our broad product portfolio.?

Digital companionship
Many runners and fitness aficionados are downloading mobile apps to help track their daily exercise and offer suggestions for additional blood-pumping activities. This means athletic brands are clamoring to team up with third-party marketers to offer branded content during fitness experiences, and also provide rewards to consumers who reach their workout goals.

Runtastic maintains a suite of apps for activities including mountain biking, running, push-ups and sleep tracking. While Adidas has not commented on how exactly it plans to integrate Runtastic into its services, it may very well tap these functions to offer them on a broader scale to all of its customers.

?Runtastic will continue to provide the products and services its users love without interruption,? Adidas? spokeswoman said. ?The team will continue to operate in Austria, which is close to our global headquarters.

?Runtastic will be run as a separate entity with current management highly focused on delivering their ambitious plan, as well as contributing to the overall direction of the Group?s multi-faceted digital strategy. Over time we will determine the best path to ensure Runtastic users and adidas miCoach users continue to enjoy great experience, services and products.?

Runtastic claims it will remain its own app for the time being, although both companies will work together to build a unique product portfolio.

This is not the first time Adidas has tapped a cross-marketing opportunity to further its mobile reach.

This past May, Adidas leveraged runners? bond with music by partnering with Spotify to launch adidas go, an app that uses the Apple iPhone?s accelerometer to instantly match a runner?s favorite music to his or her workout (see story).

The wearable angle
Runtastic has also forayed into the hardware realm by developing its proprietary GPS watch, a fitness tracker called Orbit and a heart rate monitor.

This could potentially mean that Adidas is hoping to make a stronger move among wearables, especially as its rival, footwear and apparel giant Nike, has already made its mark in the field.

In March, Dutch navigation manufacturer TomTom furthered its partnership with Nike by integrating the Nike+ app into its Multi-Sport GPS Sport Watches (see story).

?With the Runtastic app now being a part of the Adidas portfolio, consumers will be able to engage with the brand on a deeper personal engagement and also help Adidas sell to them at a more concentrated level,? said Marci Troutman, CEO of Siteminis, Atlanta. ?A few great things about Runtastic are the GPS and the in-app purchasing capabilities. 

?The app functions well on mobile devices and wearables such as the Apple Watch.?

Both brands have realized that mobile is a logical extension of their services, as it enables customers to receive content anywhere while on-the-go and also provides more relevancy.

Another smart way to leverage Runtastic would be to implement its fitness tracking into an Adidas app and allow users to collect rewards points for each personal goal they hit. These rewards could then be exchanged for Adidas merchandise.

Footwear brand New Balance stepped into customer loyalty through a new partnership with the RunKeeper app to reward users based on their fitness activity (see story). 

Users receive 500 points upon downloading RunKeeper, and can also receive more points for activities such as attending New Balance events, following the brand?s social media pages, saving favorite items to a Wish List and working out using the app.

?Adidas should ensure that it pushes this product implementation to its consumers as a complete fitness lifestyle choice,? Ms. Troutman said. ?Adidas can definitely be that choice with this type of addition.?

Final Take
Alex Samuely is an editorial assistant on Mobile Marketer, New York