The week before the new NBA season tip-off, Under Armour rolls out its latest basketball campaign fronted by current MVP Steph Curry wearing his latest UA signature shoe the ‘CurryTwo’.
Led by a spearhead spot, the campaign is built around the question of how long it takes to change the game of basketball (the answer is not decades, years, days, or hours, but….seconds).
Following in the footsteps of its predecessor campaign for the Curry One in February (see case study), the campaign again stars Golden State guard Steph Curry and Hollywood actor Jamie Foxx and features exploding fireworks and evocative, grainy dark visuals
Whilst Curry rewrites the NBA record book with his lightening fast 3-point shot (at 0.4-seconds it is the quickest ever recorded), Fox offers a poetic narration about how his speed of shot has changed the game.
This evocative, epic ad was developed by regular UA creative agency Droga5, helmed by director Henry-Alex Rubin, with post production by Framestore, music by Venn Arts and sound by Audio Post.
The Droga team included copywriter Craig Gerringer, art director Conner Tobiason, while account director was Brian D’Entremont and the account manager Josh Freeland.
The spot specifically promotes Under Armour’s ‘Iron Sharpens Iron’ Curry Two – the first colourway of Curry’s second signature shoe (for sale from 24 October).
Launched on 20 October, just days before the first game of the new season, the ad carries the hashtag #LightTheGameUp and drives consumers to Under Armour’s digital purchasing platform at www.undrarmr.co/CurryTwo.
‘Stephen is a generational talent, and through hard work and self-belief he’s doing things on a basketball court that is impacting how the game is played, coached and seen by fans throughout the world,’ comments UA global brand and sports marketing VP Peter Murray.
‘This new story, featuring Stephen in the new Curry Two, showcases his dynamic skill set, which is inspiring a new generation of basketball players to challenge the foundation of the game and lead the new era of basketball.’
Comment
The specific Steph Curry shoe spot follows a few weeks after Under Amour’s brand-led, training-focused campaign featured hundreds of CGI versions of Curry – along with other leading UA athlete ambassadors (see case study).
But if you’ve got the reigning NBA MVP as an endorser and the new basektaball season is just a few days away, then you need to use him.
Curry, along with Jordan Speith, Memphis Depay and Misty Copeland, spearhead UA’s set of young, and full of fresh attitude athlete ambassador stable that it used to front the fresh strategy and positioning that has taken it to the sportswear category’s number two player.
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