Natural skills, family support and physical hard work aren’t the only reasons why Steph Curry is arguably the NBA’s biggest current star.
According to a new marketing campaign from US health giant Kaiser Permanente, his his ability to train his mind (as well as his body) is just as important.
A new spot, ‘Wins & Losses’, was launched on 13 April to leverage to start of the NBA Playoffs and offers fans a chance to see a montage of the highs and lows in the point guard’s life and career.
“My mind is where every challenge I’ve faced is won or lost,” says Curry as the creative’s narrative starts with the Golden State Warriors star and two-time NBA MVP as a kid: he gets knocked down on the court, but pulls himself up and gets back to the hard hoops work.
It then moves through further life scenes, including his dad (Dell Curry) being inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame, before coming up to date with Curry winning the NBA championship trophy.
The spot closes with the line “Train the mind. The body will follow.”
The commercial debuted as a 30-second cut online and then airs across broadcast channels through the NBA playoffs.
A 60-second version of the ad debuted a few days later.
“We want everyone to understand that mental health is part of your overall health, and that even the most athletic or the most successful people need to develop mental resilience to overcome challenges,” says Christine Paige, chief marketing executive of Kaiser Permanente.
“The overall goal of this campaign is to promote mental health and wellness on a national stage.”
The campaign, developed alongside agency Translation, is the latest burst of marketing leveraging Kaiser Permanente’s ongoing athlete endorser relationship with Curry.
The brand and athlete have worked together since 2016.
Comment:
The new work follows Kaiser Permanente’s previous campaign with the hoops star spearheaded by a series of spots called ‘Curry Overcomes’.
This saw the brand post a series of five videos featuring Curry and also describes how he trains his mind.
Kaiser Permanente, the largest integrated health system in the USA, aims to use the initiative fronted by Curry (and featuring other athletes such as fellow NBA star Chris Paul) to end the stigma around openly discussing mental health.
Other sports rights-holders and sponsors who have run notable campaigns aimed at addressing the stigma around mental health include the #HeadsTogether Virgin Money London Marathon initiative (see case study), the Rugby Players Association’s #LiftTheWeight campaign (see case study) and the NRL’s #StateOfMind work (see case study).
Links:
Kaiser Permanente
https://healthy.kaiserpermanente.org/
https://www.facebook.com/kpthrive
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/kpthrive/
https://www.youtube.com/user/kaiserpermanenteorg
Translation, LLC
http://www.translationllc.com/
