Under Armour speaks to female achievement in content-rich global campaign

Dive Brief:

Under Armour has launched "Unlike Any," a content-heavy global campaign that celebrates the achievement of female athletes and the brand's women ambassadors, per a company press release. The campaign puts a spotlight on its collaboration with a number of spoken word artists, poets and rappers including Saul Williams, Aja Monet and Kojey Radical.
Designed with the help of agency Droga5, Unlike Any rolls out with a suite of films directed by Georgia Hudson of Agile Films and a total of more than 200 pieces of content created for Under Armour's digital and social media channels, including Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat, Refinery29, Well + Good and Soundcloud. There will also be a pop-up activation at Chelsea Market in New York City today, July 20.
The content celebrates a group of Under Armour athletes including American Ballet Theatre principal ballerina Misty Copeland, long distance runner and Harlem Run Crew founder Alison Désir, world champion sprinter Natasha Hastings, professional stuntwoman Jessie Graff, Chinese taekwondo champion and actress Zoe Zhang (Lanxin Zhang) and world champion alpine skier Lindsey Vonn.

Dive Insight:

Last February, Under Armour said it was switching up its marketing mix from a 70-30 split between TV and digital advertising to an even 50-50 based on research on how to reach its target audience — an 18-year-old aspiring athlete who consumes media primarily on mobile devices. More than a year after the announcement of that initiative, Unlike Any speaks to the athletic apparel brand's commitment to building more robust and personalized digital marketing, with a content-rich, platform-spanning global push aimed at attracting more women customers.

While female brand ambassadors like Misty Copeland have been central in Under Armour's messaging for awhile now via successful campaigns like "I Will What I Want," women make up a perhaps surprisingly small part of its actual business. Women's apparel represents a $1 billion piece of Under Armour's $4.8 billion revenue, according to Ad Age, and Unlike Any is a clear effort to create a more even playing field by drawing in a larger female audience, especially as the brand recently weathered its first quarterly earnings loss.

Under Armour has also faced a spate of controversies this year, including CEO Kevin Plank taking flak from ambassadors including Copeland and Steph Curry for comments construed as supporting President Donald Trump, along with being sued by an investor in February for misrepresenting sales growth and, just last week, getting taken to court by competitor Lululemon over sports bra designs.