Serena Williams celebrates her off-court passion for dance in a new blended brand and product campaign for Berlei Sport that leverages heightened interest in the player around the Australian Open.
While the lead creative showcasing a playful and expressive side to Williams’ personality, the campaign simultaneously offers the viewers an intimate insight into her opinions and feelings about the importance of women investing in and focusing on themselves.
The campaign, developed in partnership with content agency Emotive and Parlour Creative, is built around a series of digital content pieces, digital outdoor and a PR-led, experiential launch event.
In the penthouse of a Melbourne hotel on the Thursday before the tournament began, a brand media event saw Williams lead a group of women (media professionals and influencers) in a 20-minute dance routine (with assistance from a Sydney Dance Company teacher0.
The moves were inspired by the video assets in the Berlei campaign.
The ‘hero’ spot in the series, ‘Do It For Yourself’, sees Serena alone in a studio dancing with abandon to The Donnas’ cover of Billy Idol’s iconic 80’s track ‘Dancing with Myself’.
This brand video was launched on 11 January, the opening day off the 2017 Australian Open when interest in Williams peeks as she takes to the court for the first grand slam of the season.
This central spot is supported by a behind-the-scenes video,
as well as a set of shorter, product-specific spots such as those promoting the brand’s sports bras range.
This product online video series includes ‘Electrify’ (for Berlei’s high impact support factor 3 underwire bra)
and ‘Shift’ (for Berlie’s extreme impact support factor 4 underwire bra),
and ‘Full Support’.
The campaign is further supported by a series of so called ‘social short’ spots such as ‘Believe In Yourself’,
and ‘Be Strong For Yourself’.
The initiative also spans social media strands running on the brand’s own Instagram,
and Facebook pages.
The campaign also utilises Williams’ own social channels – including amplifying the campaign to her 7.5 million Twitter followers.
It’s so important to have passions in your life that are just for you. What do you do for you? #DoItForYourself #BerleiAustralia @berleiUSA pic.twitter.com/wZx88s6Owp
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) January 12, 2017
‘”Do It For Yourself” is really about focusing on ourselves as women. Celebrating our female strength, power and beauty. We need to take time for ourselves, invest in ourselves, and be strong,’ says Williams in the campaign press release.
While Berlie marketing director Zoe Hayes adds: ‘Our partnership with Serena goes well beyond her love of our bras. We have shared beliefs and this campaign beautifully encapsulates that – we encourage all women to fuel their fire through self-investment.’
‘The choice of content first for the campaign allowed us to delve into the richness and beauty that sits behind this idea, rather than being restricted by a 30 second spot,’ continues Hayes.
‘Berlei is a progressive brand that understands the value of creating content for their audience that is both entertaining and emotional,’ explains agency Emotive’s CEO Simon Joyce.
‘Platform intentionality is key, with each of the seven pieces of content featuring Serena tailored to the respective social platforms, and working in harmony to drive a ‘content to commerce’ result.’
Jo Swan and Tiara Valder of Parlour Creative add: ‘Serena has danced on Berlei shoots for years, off camera, so we knew it was something she genuinely did for herself. Dancing at its best is a celebration of self. It was that we wanted to capture in this content – both the essence of Serena and Berlei, a brand that honours and supports women. We also knew she was a big fan of 80’s music. The Donna’s take of Billy Idol’s famous song was the perfect fit.’
Comment:
Williams has been an ambassador for Berlei since 2003 and the tennis star first discovered the brand in 2000 when her mother, Oracene Price, was shopping in Melbourne while Serena and sister Venus Williams were competing in that year’s Australian Open.
Indeed, the star says that ever since then, Berlei has been the only bra she wears for training, competition (and for dancing).
The authenticity of the campaign is further enhanced by Williams’ genuine dance back story
Williams took up numerous forms of dancing a few years back as an antidote to her tough tennis training regime.
‘I was tired of working out and I realised dance was fun … and I realised it was really difficult. And I thought this is harder than tennis,” Williams explains.
‘Once you start it becomes a passion. I love being tested and … I’m not the best but I’m the hardest worker. Sometimes, we as women don’t take time out for ourselves, and we’re always doing so many things. But it’s so important to take that moment and do something that you actually love.’
This might be a lesser known sports brand, but this Berlie campaign has already notched up 500,000 YouTube views alone.
Links:
Berlie
https://www.youtube.com/user/BerleiAustralia
https://www.berlei.com.au/berlei-sport
https://www.facebook.com/berlei
https://www.instagram.com/berleiaus/
Emotive
Parlour Creative
