Lululemon is crisscrossing the United States and Canada this year in its Test Truck—a flashy, chromed-out truck transporting a state-of-the-art treadmill. It’s essentially a mobile product-testing lab for the apparel brand’s running gear, since runners and passersby can jump onto the truck and put its tights and tees to the test.
In the past, Lululemon’s activations have included converting a double-decker bus in London into a meditation studio, but the brand has never tried anything exactly like the More Than Miles tour, which it produced in-house. “We were inspired to get out into our community with the thousands of runners hitting the pavement for the New York City Marathon,” said Sara Webster Wylie about the Test Truck’s launch at the end of 2016. Wylie is Lululemon’s Mid-Atlantic area community strategist for brand and community and the More Than Miles tour manager for North America. “It gets us outside the four walls of our store to be with runners in their space, on their turf,” she said.
The truck will pop up in 22 cities this year. “There are hundreds of run communities across North America that we’d love to meet—the biggest challenge was choosing the tour stops,” Wylie says. In Washington through May 14, the Test Truck’s route included stops everywhere from upscale shopping center Bethesda Row to near Nationals Park and the National Mall, where Lululemon staffers held signs to cheer on joggers during their morning run.
The More Than Miles tour sends out clues as to where it will pop up next in each city, and runners can share their experiences with the hashtag #thetesttruck. “We use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to leak hints and clues about where the Test Truck will be popping up next. It's a bit nostalgic, almost like a scavenger hunt,” Wylie said.
The tour comes with a sweet surprise: Runners get to keep the clothes they try on in the truck.
Whether it’s popping up on a city street or at the Los Angeles and Boston marathons, the Test Truck is reaching runners where they are, and getting Lululemon running clothes into their hands. “The More Than Miles tour has reached thousands of runners and helped us dig in to what it means to celebrate #morethanmiles, our philosophy on the spirit of run,” said Wylie. “We have seen the Test Truck morph into a meet-up spot to connect with other runners, a meeting place for run crews, a cheer station for those long, tough training days, and a mascot on race day. Runners have been happy to see us there and we’re just as excited to connect and expand our collective.”
The Test Truck’s next U.S. stop is Minneapolis, and it will hit San Francisco, Denver, Chicago, and Philadelphia before wrapping up in New York this fall before the New York City Marathon. The tour also has a Canadian leg, with stops in seven cities including Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.
