Under Armour laces up influencer-hosted IGTV series

Brief:

Under Armour is promoting its Icon line of customized athletic gear with its first long-form episodic video series on IGTV, according to an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer. The "UA Icon Creator Collabs" series combines sneakerhead culture with the art world and highlights street-style trends from influential tastemakers nationwide on Instagram's video-sharing platform.
The series, which is shot in a vertical video format geared for mobile viewing, shows how Under Armour Icon lets people customize a variety of sneakers such as the Curry 5 and HOVR. Influencers Jacques Slade and Jazeri Allen-Lord host the series, which also appears on Google's YouTube.
"UA Icon Creator Collabs" shows artists including Shelby and Sandy, Kenesha Sneed, Tommii Lim, Hyesu Lee and Jen Mussari creating original designs with the customization platform. Under Armour collaborated with social media marketing agency Movement Strategy on the series.

Insight:

Under Armour's video series aims to connect with an audience of teens and young adults who are fans of athletic apparel, but also want to express their individuality with exclusive, customized styles that can't be found in the racks of a typical department store or big-box retailer. Limited-edition drops of new styles have demonstrated their effectiveness at generating excitement for brands, especially on social media platforms where people share selfies of their latest styles.

The Under Armour series also shows the growing importance of IGTV as a marketing platform. Instagram, which already has completely transformed the marketing strategies of fashion and cosmetics brands, launched the long-form video hub this year to compete more directly with YouTube. "UA Icon Creator Collabs" arrives on IGTV as Nike streams "My Crazy Dream," a series that highlights the inspiring stories of everyday athletes, on the platform.

Overall, Instagram has come to dominate the influencer marketing space, with the use of Instagram Stories in influencer campaigns growing 60% in the last quarter. Instagram's Stories, which strings together several images and videos in a single post, is popular among Under Armour's competitor brands. Adidas Originals last month launched its P.O.D. System of sneakers with a music video on Instagram Stories, while rival Nike has used Instagram Stories for its React brand.

In addition to the IGTV series, Under Armour has been active with social media campaigns this year, including a game-show app focused on Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors point guard who has won two NBA championships. The Steph IQ mobile app ran during the NBA playoffs and challenged players to answer basketball-themed questions to win shoes, NBA playoffs tickets and a shared grand prize of $10,000 in Under Armour store credit. The game resembled the popular HQ Trivia app with its real-time gameplay.