Under Armour - Game Changer
Award: Wood Pencil
Wood Pencil / Branded Content & Entertainment / Gaming / 2017
Brief:
Under Armour invested heavily in Stephen Curry, who almost overnight became one of basketball’s most popular players and a major cultural phenomenon. Unfortunately, little of the buzz linked back to Under Armour. To protect its investment and take advantage of Curry-mania, we needed to leverage non-traditional thinking and a shoestring budget to link the brand and athlete.
Solution & Cultural Context:
By design, an athlete’s video-game self is capable of putting up more ridiculous numbers than their real-life counterparts—after all, gaming is supposed to be fantastical. But with the way Curry was playing and with the absurd rate at which he was hitting shots, it was evident that something incredible was happening—real-life Curry was actually better than video-game Curry.
Insights:
Our consumers had a voracious appetite for basketball-related content, and gaming played a starring role in their world. More than a mindless activity, it is a way that our target would learn about the game and learn to strategize. This is what they do when they’ve spent time thinking about the game. By capitalizing on their existing behavior instead of forcing our way into it, we could offer them a new experience and give them an active role in the idea.We would own their gaming moment.
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