Tuesday, October 8, 2013

How Under Armour's Campaign Reaches Audience Through Social Media

Here are the numbers......

At this moment on Facebook, Under Armour has 52,186 people talking about them on Facebook as well as 2,514,598 "likes" for their Facebook Page. @UAWomen has 33,945 followers on Twitter, while @UnderArmour has 249,812 followers on Twitter. In a matter of weeks or even days, with the current campaigns on Social Media, do you believe we will see these numbers continue to increase?

There are high hopes for Social Media and the use of Digital Platforms today. It is the new and cheap way to reach out to mass targeted audiences. Users and fans can join in on conversations with others through these platforms. The great thing is, with the right minds, content, and strategy, it works!! I am going to take a dive into a couple of campaign's launched by Under Armour that show an example of a sports brand utilizing social media and other digital platforms.

How this can be relative to those interested in the creation of advertising campaigns.....

The official page of the #IWILL campaign is a driver that provides an incentive for the viewer to engage in the campaign and enter the free giveaway contest. Viewers can choose to share an #IWILL photo or written declaration to be featured on the webpage and enter to win the UA giveaway. When submitting a post you must provide an email address to finalize the submission. Here you can enter the give away. After submitting you are able to click to view more submissions by others or click to visit the #IWILL UA Twitter or Facebook pages.  Twitter and Facebook aren't the only platforms involved. TV spots, You Tube, and Instagram are used as well. They even created smaller campaigns to kick off the NFL season.
To say the least, I think Under Armour is providing a great opportunity for users to more fully involve themselves with the brand. They are doing it all right by providing an incentive, sense of community, responsiveness, and involvement in promoting its brand, all while increasing engagement, brand awareness and collecting consumer data in the meantime. The best part is, because its all digital, its able to go GLOBAL. (cue in your happy dance)

Power In Pink: The Focus

Under Armour is using Social Media to reach target audiences. One featured campaign is the #WhatsBeautiful Campaign targeting women on Twitter. This ad campaign begins a month before the brand's new collection StudioLux Noir reaches stores. Under Armour has realized that the potential for sales under women's athletic apparel alone has increased, as this is a growing segment in their business. Under Armour is hoping for a high level of feedback in its campaign that engages with @UAWomen, #IWill and #WhatsBeautiful on Twitter. It runs contests, offers inspiring quotes and promotes online sales. (The Real Time Report). Below is a tweet by @UAWomen that is recognizing and congratulating the winners of it's 2013 Power In Pink Campaign to celebrate women who use fitness and exercise in their fight against breast cancer. The Power In Pink campaign features stories of women who are fighting or have fought breast cancer, which offers inspiring quotes. It also has a selection of athletic apparel dedicated to help show support in the battle against breast cancer. Also, at the bottom of the Power In Pink feature page on the Under Armour Website are a number of organizations that Under Armour supports.

On September 29th Under Armour posted a Facebook post featuring Wide Receiver Randall Cobb wearing Under Armour's Alter Ego apparel that is available for purchase online.

This post, as well as many others, provides direct access to view and purchase UA's products online.

 #IWILL Campaign: The Brands Recent Global Powerhouse 

This year Under Armour kicked off it's biggest global ad campaign yet. It was ten years ago that Under Armour built its brand around the slogan "protect this house". CEO Kevin Plank is ready to begin the next chapter of its growth with its biggest and first global advertising campaign to date. (AdvertisingAge).
In February, Under Armour launched the campaign with this attention grabbing one minute pitch on the new technology:

A Word or Two From A Professional Influencer

Russel Scibetti of  the business of sports online offered insights on the "I Will" campaign in an interview with  Sports Marketing Now ( Look further on the You Tube Video Sports Marketing Now). He says:

 "The slogan "I will" is a really good combination. It really fits into the fitness lifestyle element of I will take care of myself I will achieve I will succeed. I think its a nice slogan to build around as a key part to the campaign. Choices of athletes is pretty bold. They are going very young with the 3 or 4 anchor athletes that are part of this campaign. Its a risk the athlete wont pan out the way you expect them to......It does fit with the technology focus and the way they are trying to drive new emerging athletic apparel so I am pretty impressed by it. The young athlete presents a little bit of risk, as compared to "we will protect this house" which was such an anchor for them, so established and resonated so its good to see them going in a new direction."

(Tennis athlete Sloane Stephens and professional baseball outfielder Bryce Harper as well as Canelo Alvarez, Julio Jones, Cam Newton, Arian Foster are of those involved.)

The Athletes:

The athletes that anchor with UA's campaign get some spotlight for themselves as they help UA achieve their brand's highest potential.




Check out more business sports insights by Russel Scibetti on his website http://www.thebusinessofsports.com/.

More Stuff...

Click for direct access to the Official #IWILL Campaign Website.

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