As the Formula One (F1) season got under way, mid-March saw US sportswear brand Under Armour leveraged its athlete ambassador partnership with new Haas F1 driver Mick Schumacher through an extension of its ongoing ‘Train What’s Under The Armour’ brand campaign.
Spanning television, digital and social media, the campaign is spearheaded by a hero spot featuring the son of the F1 legend Michael, and continues to highlight #BeUnderTheArmour’s focus on the importance of training the mind equally as hard as the body.
The executions, like previous creative in the series, sees the new Hass team driver sport Under Armour’s apparel and recovery sleepwear and the work aims to drive viewers online to learn more about the UA Performance Academy at performanceacademy.ua.com.
As well as the lead spot, further creative sees the young Schumacher describes his competitive mindset in a single word ‘Hungry’ as well as explaining how he builds mental strength ahead of his F1 debut.
The ‘Train What’s Under The Armour’ brand platform, built around the mental side of sport (a topic which has grown in popularity during the pandemic) kicked off in January 2021 with a film fronted by swimming icon Michael Phelps which was followed a month later by a commercial fronted by fellow UA athlete ambassador and world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua.
Comment:
It was back in April 2019 that Mick Schumacher signed on as an Under Armour endorser (adding to his existing deal with Richard Mille, Deutsche Vermögensberatung, Schuberth, Ravenol and SSI Schaefe).
At that time he was a Formula Two driver who had tested for Ferrari and last season he won the F2 title.
“Under Armour has a lot of experience in collaborating with professional athletes, and a great expertise in creating high-tech apparel and footwear,” said Mick Schumacher when he signed. “This helps me enhance my performance faster and more effectively, especially when it comes to optimizing my fitness and recovery times.”
It seemed like a smart move for Under Armour as Mick Schumacher’s personal profile and social platforms at that time (1.75m total combined social followers) had a bigger audience that the whole of the Formula 2 Championship itself (996k total followers) as well a bigger following that than Kevin Magnussen (1.1m followers) who he replaced at Haas, and larger social profiles when compared to several other current F1 drivers including Sergio Perez, George Russell, Alex Albon and Estaban Ocon.
Interestingly, the biggest single market for his supporter base was Italy (19%) rather than his native Germany (10%).
Nostalgic Ferrari fans perhaps?
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