Under Armour launched its latest brand campaign, ‘Will Finds A Way’, on 19 April with a focus on championing ‘the hardest worker in the room’ and promoting a new line of training gear.
Fronted by endorser Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and featuring a team of eight brand athlete endorsers, the launch phase of this year-long initiative aims to take viewers on a ‘heart pounding journey through what they’ve had to overcome using their pure strength of will’.
The work, which is rolling out globally with a specific focus on the US, Europe and China, and as it evolves it will feature hundreds of pieces of content that have been created for Under Armour’s digital and social platforms.
The campaign set-up sees The Rock champion the next generation of athletes and demonstrates the power of will, of dedication and of resilience through his personal story and all the athletes’ won journeys to align each with the brand’s own DNA.
The underlying message is that Under Armour continues its tradition and commitment to providing consumers with the world’s leading and most innovative performance products with its new line of Train gear released along with this campaign.
The campaign debuted when The Rock announced its launch on his personal Instagram feed as he challenged followers to answer the question: ‘How Are You Going To Get Here?’.
The multi-platform campaign is led by a hero spot, featuring The Rock, which aims to unify, motivate and inspire.
It sees Johnson retell his own personal story – pitched as a determined fight back from a dream-ending injury – before he introduces the unique ways each of the featured athletes have willed themselves to greatness by overcoming social anxiety, or escaping turmoil and war and battling the constraints of physical disability.
The lead video is supported by a set of seven individual athlete focused, 90-second films featuring:
World Champion sprinter Natasha Hastings
Olympic swimmer Yusra Mardini
NBA point guard Dennis Smith Jr.
Actress and Taekwondo champion Zoe Zhang
World Champion Judoka Teddy Riner
Stuntwoman Jessie Graff
Triathlete Johnny Agar
State Boxing & Gymnastics champion Javon “Wanna” Walton
The creative assets all aim to drive viewers to click through to its various platforms and experience the full ‘Will Finds A Way’ campaign.
Thus pushing them towards not only seeing the other individual pieces of athlete content, but also to shop the brand’s new Spring/Summer 2018 Training Collection at www.underarmour.com/will-finds-a-way and also to download the UA Shop App on the App Store or Google Pla store.
The lead spot’s narrative arc sees Johnson use own his life as an example to this testament, sharing examples of beating all odds and becoming the person he is today by being the hardest worker in the room. Indeed, Johnson’s successful acting career emerged after his pro football dreams of an NFL career ended through injury.
“Over the years, I’ve failed hard and had my dreams crushed, which inevitably put my back up against the wall. Through that struggle on my way back up, I’ve learned there’s one undeniable constant to success, and that’s to always be the hardest worker in the room,” said Johnson.
“Our Under Armour ‘Will Finds A Way’ campaign celebrates the power ‘will’ has to overcome the odds and achieve the unthinkable. I’m honored to work alongside some of the most hard-working everyday women and men (and kids) for this campaign, all of which have risen to greatness through unwavering will, determination and being the hardest worker in the room.”
The campaign was developed in harness with the brand’s usual creative agency Droga5 and the spots were directed by award-winning directors The Malloy brothers and Nathalie Canguilhem of Superprime.
“Under Armour is passionate about driving with a performance lens in all that we do, spreading our core belief that training, along with mental fortitude, and sheer conviction, are the ultimate keys to success,” said Adrienne Lofton, Senior Vice President, Global Brand Management, Under Armour.
“The Under Armour team proudly refers to Dwayne Johnson as the ‘Motivator of the Masses’ and together we bring this campaign to the world in celebration of our fused belief that with the right amount of WILL power, all athletes – including the UA athletes featured alongside him in this campaign – can find their way to the top. WILL defies expectations, beats all odds and propels greatness, and through our ‘Will Finds A Way’ campaign we are challenging the world to push beyond their physical and mental boundaries to manifest the best in themselves and those around them.”
Comment:
This positions The Rock as the ‘motivator of the masses’ and the power of the super star influencer is again evident in the early results of this campaign.
The Rock’s campaign launch post on his Instagram feed generated 2.8m views in the first three days.
This is far, far ahead of the 277k views of the hero spot on Under Armour’s own YouTube channel over the same period.
The quick pace of the narrative and the urgent visual style dovetail with Under Armour’s familiar creative approach and create a series of energetic and motivational films.
Links:
Under Armour
https://www.youtube.com/user/underarmour
https://twitter.com/UnderArmour
#WillFindsAWay
@UnderArmour
https://www.instagram.com/underarmour
Droga5
