Under Armour’s ‘Rule Yourelf’ platform continues with a campaign – It’s What You Do In The Dark, That Puts You In The Light – showcasing the strength and dedication of the USA Women’s Gymnastics Team.
Led by a central 90-second spot, developed with agency Droga5, the creative focuses on the tough, talented and seriously strong women: depicting female gymnasts in a dramatically different light.
The narrative follows the team members training – from early mornings to late evenings – as they prepare for Rio 2016.
Sacrifice and dedication are key themes: after all, most of these girls are younger than 18-years-old and yet instead of having fun with their friends they are honing their skills.
The campaign tagline is: ‘It’s what you do in the dark that puts you in the light. #RuleYourself #IWILL’.
This is one of the first Olympic team campaigns to launch in the USA, with the spot first posted on the Under Armour YouTube channel in February 2016.
The ad is set to a soundtrack by Mantagi/M.I.A and has been created for Under Armour CMO Kip Fulks by a Droga5 NY team led by CCO Ted Royer, ECD David Droga, GCD Tim Gordon, CDs Alexander Nowak and Felix Richter, plus copywriters Toby Treyer-Evans and Laurie Howell, art directors Toby Treyer-Evans and Laurie Howell, design director Cynthia Ratasbouth, chief creation officer Sally-Ann Dale, head of broadcast production Ben Davies, executive producer Adam Perloff, head of interactive production Niklas Lindstrom, head of art production Cliff Lewis, senior art producer Julia Menassa, senior print producer Alyssa Dolman, retouching studio manager Michelle Leedy, retouchers John Ciambriello and Peter Gibson, designers Jennifer Lally and Tessa Modi, head of communications strategy Colleen Leddy, global chief strategy officer Jonny Bauer, head of strategy Chet Gulland, group strategy director Harry Roman, brand strategist Candice Chen, senior communications strategist Hillary Heath, group account director Julian Cheevers, account director Brian D’Entremont and account manager Jordan Cappadocia.
The production company was Epoch Films and the director Martin de Thurah, with Kasper Tuxen as DOP and Melissa Culligan as the executive producer Melissa Culligan and producer Michaela Johnson.
Editorial was handled by Stitch/Cartel, post production was by Blacksmith, sound design by String and Tins / Q Department.
‘As a company built by athletes, we truly understand an athlete’s never-ending quest to reach greatness, and we want to showcase and honour their sacrifices,’ explains Under Armour SVP of global brand marketing Adrienne Lofton.
‘By providing this peek behind the curtain of our athletes’ lives, we hope to inspire young athletes all over the world to push beyond their perceived limitations in order to achieve their ultimate goals. We truly believe it’s what athletes do in the dark, when no one is watching, that ultimately puts them in the spotlight they deserve.’
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The campaign, both in creative approach, messaging and tone, is fits neatly with previous ‘Rule Yourself’ work – Under Armour’s biggest global marketing push to date and a platform that stretches from the likes of Misty Copeland (see case study), to Netherlands and Man Utd footballer Memphis Depay (see case study), Golfer Jordan Spieth (see case study) and NBA star Stephen Curry (see case study).
It is reported that it will be followed by a further Olympic related spot fronted by US swimming super star Michael Phelps (see case study).
This high energy interplay spot continues the agency’s ongoing creative excellence for the client, this Under Armour spot has notched up impressive engagement numbers too.
Thus was it boasts 3,003,336 YouTube views and 186,865 social shares
The longer term objective of ‘Rule Yourself’ is to build a block of 200+ pieces of content to go deep behind the scenes of the training regimens of Under Armour’s key athlete ambassadors.
As well as inviting consumers to share their own training rituals on social media while using “#ruleyourself.
‘It’s not always the sexiest conversation you can have with a young athlete, but it is the most important” says UA’s Lofton.
‘So our challenge and our brief to ourselves is how do we make this sticky enough and important enough to reseed the meaning hard work in a young athlete’s mind.’
The project also sees Under Armour switch its media mix from 70% TV and 30% digital to 50%-50%.
Links
Under Armour USA Gymnastics Web:
https://www.underarmour.com/en-us/usa-gymnastics
Under Armour Website:
Under Armour YouTube:
Under Armour Twitter:
https://twitter.com/underarmour
@UnderArmour
Under Armour Instagram:
http://instagram.com/underarmour/
Under Armour ‘Record’ Website:
Droga5 NY
