Going the distance: Growth lessons from adidas Running - Luca Stefanutti (adidas Running)

Name: Goodpods
Rating: 4.8 (3721 reviews)

05/14/25 • 29 min

In this episode, we chat with Luca Stefanutti, the Director of Growth at adidas Running, the fitness app formerly known as Runtastic. They touch on the app’s role within the larger brand, key performance metrics, implementing new insights within large teams, and Luca’s point of view on some of today’s hottest app marketing topics, like AI, creatives, and the relationship between incremental and organic traffic.

Questions Luca answered in this episode:

What is Runtastic and what is your role there?
How has your background informed your role today?
What role does adidas Running play in the brand’s larger digital ecosystem?
What key metrics does your team look at when evaluating performance?
Can you tell me about an experiment you ran that had surprising results?
How do you put the insights you gain from experiments into action?
How are you going about personalization in a cookieless, post-IDFA world?
What trends are you watching that you think will shape the future of app marketing?

Timestamp:

0:47 Intro to adidas Running
3:10 Luca’s background
5:20 The role of adidas Running for the larger brand
7:35 Key metrics
10:30 Surprising learnings
13:00 Implementing new insights into action
15:04 Creative strategy for growth & UA
17:30 Personalization in a post-IDFA world
19:48 Thoughts on current app marketing trends
25:58 What to do in Austria for a few days?

Quotes:

(12:30-12:45) “I think the learning here is that you generally have one core value proposition for your app. Don’t forget about it with all the extra features. Just make sure you connect people to the core value.”

(13:45-14:02) “In terms of growth, picking one person from relevant teams to form a cross-functional squad will make sure that all your ideas are developed and spread around.”

Mentioned in this Episode:

Questions Luca answered in this episode:

What is Runtastic and what is your role there?
How has your background informed your role today?
What role does adidas Running play in the brand’s larger digital ecosystem?
What key metrics does your team look at when evaluating performance?
Can you tell me about an experiment you ran that had surprising results?
How do you put the insights you gain from experiments into action?
How are you going about personalization in a cookieless, post-IDFA world?
What trends are you watching that you think will shape the future of app marketing?

Timestamp:

0:47 Intro to adidas Running
3:10 Luca’s background
5:20 The role of adidas Running for the larger brand
7:35 Key metrics
10:30 Surprising learnings
13:00 Implementing new insights into action
15:04 Creative strategy for growth & UA
17:30 Personalization in a post-IDFA world
19:48 Thoughts on current app marketing trends
25:58 What to do in Austria for a few days?

Quotes:

(13:45-14:02) “In terms of growth, picking one person from relevant teams to form a cross-functional squad will make sure that all your ideas are developed and spread around.”

Mentioned in this Episode:

Previous Episode

How Uber unified its marketing strategy - Liam Branaghan (Uber)

In this episode of our Apptivate podcast, we chat with Liam Branaghan, the Performance Marketing and Strategy Lead for Uber. Liam’s teams focus on driving growth for Uber Eats across EMEA, while supporting overall brand and business goals. In this episode, you’ll learn about the evolution of Uber’s regional marketing teams and how they merged into a single global team. You’ll also hear about their work to refine their localization strategies and the balancing act between brand and performance marketing goals.

Questions Liam answered in this episode:

How has your team’s strategy evolved over time?
What were some of the challenges your team faced when transitioning from a regional marketing team to a global one?
Do you have any advice for other marketing leaders facing similar challenges?
How does your team work together to ensure they are nailing the intricacies of different geographies?
How do you approach new and innovative technologies while still focusing on the fundamentals of marketing?
How do you balance long-term brand equity with the need for immediate growth?
What predictions do you have for the mobile marketing industry in the next 3 or 4 years?
How do you stay up-to-date within the industry?
How should brands be thinking about scaling in a privacy-first world?

Timestamp:

0:35 Liam’s role at Uber
1:57 Marketing as one global team
7:55 Nailing the basics: Liam’s POV
11:32 Balancing brand and growth
14:00 AI & critical thinking
16:37 Keeping a varied media diet
18:23 Scaling in a privacy-first world
19:48 What to do in Amsterdam

Quotes:

(3:05-3:13) “This scaling of a global approach (away from an EMEA approach) is really how we saw scaled and created impact on a level that we hadn’t before.”

(12:22-12:41) “We know and see firsthand that there is definitely a close relationship between brand and growth. If brand is doing well, it’s no surprise that we see stronger results as well, and conversion rates and impression levels pick up. But understanding exactly what drives one another and how to optimize that is part of the journey we’re on at the moment.”