Under Armour, Andy Murray’s sportswear sponsor Under Armour, teamed up with graphic artist David Boller superhero’ for a design-led campaign leveraging the start of the Aegon Championships which depicts the world number one tennis star as a sports superhero.
Under Armour (Murray’s official sports apparel, footwear and accessories partner) and the Swiss artist (best known for his work for both DC and Marvel) are celebrating Murray’s return to the grass courts of Queen’s Club with the core creative for an ad campaign promoting his superhuman alter ego.
Boller, who has drawn a slew of famous super heroes from Spider-Man and the X-Men, to Batman himself, created a set of images featuring a towering Murray stood beside iconic London landmarks wearing a red, white and blue Under Armour kit specifically created for Queens.
This kit, which will mark a stark contrast with Murray’s all-white Wimbledon attire later in the month, blends a colour scheme influenced by the Union Jack flag with Under Armour’s latest ‘Threadborne’ tech material.
The campaign is led by outdoor executions and sees a giant poster strand run across London during the tournament’s opening week: including a flagship site at Waterloo’s IMAX cinema – Europe’s largest advertising canvas.
The images are also amplified across Under Armour’s digital and social platforms: including Twitter,
There is no greater superpower than the will to win.@andy_murray is ready for Queen's. #IWILL pic.twitter.com/NOF24niNGU
— Under Armour UK (@UnderArmourUK) June 19, 2017
Instagram,
and Facebook.
Plus, the campaign is further supported across Murray’s own social sites: including his Facebook page.
“The drawings are great and I’m pleased that they’ve bulked me up a bit to look more like a superhero! I’m looking forward to getting out on the court and wearing the new kit,” comments Murray.
“I feel really at home on the grass and I’ve always received amazing support whether it’s playing here or at Wimbledon, so I’m hopeful I can have another strong grass court season.”
David Boller, the artist commissioned by Under Armour to bring the creative concept alive, adds: “Andy Murray is simply one of the world’s best athletes. The way he plays the game, the brilliant shot-making combined with his incredible intensity and desire to chase down every ball make him appear superhuman. I wanted my illustration to portray him as the incredible athlete he is, a man who inspires millions and one who is a genuine sporting superhero.”
Activative Comment:
It’s just a shame that the world number one and five times Queen’s Club champion Murray was beaten in his 2017 first round match – the very day the campaign was launched.
Let’s hope the brand and the artist created black and white versions of the campaign creative and the kit so they can run it through to Wimbledon too.
This isn’t Boller’s first commercial campaign: as well as his work within the graphic novel space, he has also created marketing campaign artwork for brands such as Nivea, McDonalds, Porsche and Samsung.
This new campaign follows hot on the heels of Under Armour’s last initiative featuring Murray that saw him team up with French judo superstar Teddy Riner in a photo shoot led initiative atop of Paris’ La Defence to leverage the French Open 2017 (see case study).
Creatively, this approach and style also dovetails neatly with Under Armour’s recent animated activation launching its new Southampton FC home and away kits for the 2017/18 season – which also featured an animated series fronted by cartoon superhero versions of some of the club’s star players (see case study).
As for The Aegon Championships itself, the tournament looks set to continue to go from strength to strength after its broadcaster, the BBC, recently extended its deal for the event up until 2024.
Links:
Under Armour
https://www.facebook.com/UnderArmourUK/
https://www.youtube.com/user/UnderArmourUK
https://twitter.com/UnderArmourUK
https://www.instagram.com/underarmouruk/
Andy Murray
https://twitter.com/andy_murray
