Inspired by ‘Watership Down’ and narrated by the NFL star’s mother, the latest Droga5 commercial for Under Armour leverages the new NFL 2016/17 season
A slightly different and unusual commercial, when compared to previous Under Armour ads, NFL activity and sportswear marketing, the latest spot starring the Carolina Panthers quarterback continues the brand’s recent #ItComesFromBelow strand.
Overplayed with narration by Cam’s mother Jackie Newton, who quotes from the famous 1972 rabbit tragedy novel by Richard Adams, the creative sees Newton running through dark forests as if being chased: tearing by trees and plowing ahead at full pelt.
The idea behind the spot is that it ‘metaphorically addresses the NFL star’s obstacle-filled path to greatness’.
First posted on Under Armour’s YouTube channel on 7 September
the initiative was then amplified on under Armour’s other social channels like Twitter,
The journey is about always pushing forward. Ask @CameronNewton, Prince With 1000 Enemies. #ItComesFromBelow #IWILL pic.twitter.com/dh3qRW5km9
— Under Armour (@UnderArmour) September 7, 2016
as well as the player’s own personal social sites,
No 1 will outwork me. That is the heart of my story. My UA Family is helping me tell it again. #ItComesFromBelow pic.twitter.com/VhGnsAaOK2
— Cameron Newton (@CameronNewton) September 7, 2016
with all assets carrying the campaign’s #ItComesFromBelow hashtag.
The commercial aims to act as Under Armour’s inspirational lead-in to the new NFL season and it is a key plank in the brand’s current footwear focus.
Developed by regular Under Armour creative agency Droga5, the director was Aoife McArdle, the producer Laurie Boccaccio and the DoP was Steve Annis.
Editing was handled by Final Cut, post production by BlackSmith, sound design by Factory UK and mix by Sound Lounge.
Comment
Watership Down and the NFL may seem like an ill-fitting alliance, and the commercial also includes some intriguing stylistic choices.
But part of this might be explained by Newton’s heavy personal involvement in the project.
‘We almost called him a creative director with this spot,’ explains Under Armour’s senior vice president and global brand development boss Adrienne Lofton.
‘He chose his wardrobe,’ he added.
The idea was initially developed by two creative leads at Droga (Alex Nowakand Felix Richter),’ adds Lofton.
‘It’s all about these rabbits breaking out from their tribe in order to bring their crew to safety. They experienced all of these temptations and perils along the way, but kept their heads down until they got to a place of safety. We wanted to tell this story around footwork, and footwear, as you see in the spot, but we wanted to tell it differently,” she added. “We took him off the field, we took the ball out of his hands, and we created this metaphorical environment that is about crushing through your challenges. Those trees represent barriers he’s broken through every step of the way through his career.’
This new season NFL spot continues the brand’s #ItComesFromBelow marketing strand which has already included its March, pre-Olympic Rio training spot in March starring Michael Phelps – which which this ad clearly has several subtle parallels such as the gloomy cinematography, a touch of the surreal and a story about a superstar sportsman working to make amends (for Phelps’ London and for Newton a Super Bowl defeat) – (see case study)
and July’s Bryce Harper fronted ‘baseball is a numbers game, but no number sounds as good as the crack of a bat’ ad.
The former (Phelps) has already notched up 11m YouTube views (as well as a Cannes Lions Grand Prix in film craft) and latter has already passed the 3m mark,
While Under Armour leverages the new NFL season with this eclectic hero spot focusing on just one of its super star NFL brand endorsers rival adidas’ new season campaign features a roster of its athlete ambassadors led by the NFL’s Von Miller and Aaron Rogers (see case study).
In addition to Under Armour’s strategy of promoting its brand and products by sponsorship deals with leagues and events, professional and college teams and ambassador agreements with star athletes like Newton, it also markets via product placements (previous alliances have ranged from Oliver Stone’s ‘Any Given Sunday’ movie, Tv series like ‘The Challenge’, ‘The Replacements’, ‘The Wire’, ‘House Of Cards’ and Marvel movies (such as the Avengers, Iron Man and Captain America series).
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