The Real Side of Running with Under Armour.
How can a sportswear brand stand out as genuinely different?
When Under Armour came to us in 2018, they were seeking to improve their brand awareness – especially in Berlin. As outsiders to the city, they needed to differentiate themselves from the established competition and cement their reputation as a brand for athletes, not posers. They asked us to create them a campaign targeting runners for distribution in the weeks following the Berlin marathon.
Berlin is a city that’s famous for its no-bullshit attitude. We knew this was something that Under Armour could relate to, so we used it to our advantage. While other sportswear brands were busy creating sugar-coated campaigns that made running look like a beauty pageant, we decided it was time for Under Armour to step up and create something gritty and real.
Inspired by videos showing the true struggle and pain that goes into running a marathon (as well as the joy and relief at crossing the finishing line), we decided the only way to capture real emotion in our campaign was to shoot real people during a real long-distance race.
Luckily for us, Under Armour happens to be the lead sponsor of the SportsScheck half-marathon, which takes place shortly before the official Berlin marathon in September.
The bad news? Our shoot would have to happen just weeks before the campaign went live.
After scouting through Instagram, we found two amateur runners with the looks and fitness levels to be the stars of our campaign. We then set about planning the shoot with our director, the highly acclaimed upcoming star, Stefanie Soho. With two film teams riding bicycle-powered camera dollies, the crew followed our runners on their 13-mile journey right from the starting gun to the finish line – and we gave them an incredibly ambitious time to beat.
Every moment of footage captured that day was packed with raw guts and emotion. And the best part? It was all 100% real.
Once we had our footage, we set about creating the final print and video assets that would be distributed at over 50 outdoor locations across Berlin. While the pictures themselves tell a powerful story, our final campaign added additional copy to help Under Armour deliver an inspiring message that would also work on social media. With the help of paid placement, it gained over 54 million impressions.
From the shoot day to the final launch of all material, this entire campaign was executed in just three weeks. This real-time shoot model allowed us to eliminate excessive, time-consuming production schedules, focusing instead on using our immediate surroundings to create work that was authentic and truly memorable.
It wasn’t always easy, but it was definitely worth it.