client
Under Armour Global
Baltimore, USA

project
Campaign

disciplines
Strategy / Ideation / Live-Action Production / Editorial Original Music Creation / Branding and Design / Visual Effects and Finishing

task

When we began collaborating with the teams from Under Armour, Project Rock and Seven Bucks Marketing for “Step In — The Project Is Calling,” there were several objectives we’d need to hit with one powerful, effective campaign. First and foremost, the goal was to foster and excite the community at every touchpoint; we sought to ignite a powerful call into the Project Rock universe.

 

At the same time, we aimed to launch three new product collections throughout the season with grammar that would ladder back to our deeper message. And lastly, with Project Rock (an endorsed brand within Under Armour), our work would need to strengthen and deepen consideration and connection with the Project Rock brand name. In short, every one of our 19 films and down funnel applications would need to fire on all cylinders to motivate and inspire our athlete-audience.

process

Co-creation is DOMO’s calling card and developing the overarching creative territory that would drive an entire season of Project Rock product launches was an exercise in just that. Executive Creative Director and Director André Stringer explains, “Project Rock is the brand of a cultural icon. Dwayne Johnson’s words carry weight; he holds a unique power to bring people together, to set ablaze a cultural movement. This campaign is more than a series of product launches — it’s a generative platform that brings together Under Armour, Project Rock, Dwayne Johnson, and their communities into cohesion, unlocking boldness, creativity, power, and possibility. To bring this to life, DOMO liaised between the internal and external partners involved to allow deep collaboration to drive our work.”

The process began with an in-depth research phase where we teased out the principles of past Project Rock campaigns in order to find that common thread. We used this exploration to develop new brand pillars which would drive our campaign as well as orient the work moving forward. We uncovered how Project Rock is deeply connected to Under Armour and how it sharpens core UA brand pillars specific to its consumer.

Using this distillation and new brand clarity, the DOMO team got to work brainstorming how these new Project Rock brand pillars would inform our Fall/Winter 23 work. Part of what sets Project Rock apart within the UA world is its unique tie to one of the most influential men in the world, Dwayne Johnson. We looked to the brand’s audience on social for cues with how they interact with Johnson, and found countless comments thanking Johnson for inspiring them to be their best selves and sharing wins or moments they are proud of. This relationship between the audience of Johnson as a huge motivator in their lives was already brewing online, but it needed to be harnessed.

 

Creative Lead Ginger Boyd notes, “grounding our campaign in the concept of recognition, or turning this existing relationship into a two-way street where your hero calls you in directly and recognizes the work you’ve been putting in, was integral to every element of our campaign. Allowing the man himself to call athletes into the community directly was the missing piece that would ratchet up the intensity and efficacy of our work and the Project Rock brand as a whole.” This bold and brazen invitation was a novel strategic direction for Project Rock, but a disruptive new approach was exactly what was needed to breathe new life into how the brand communicates and connects with the community.

“Step in—the project is calling.” This is the driving force of the FW23 season, unifying 3 product collections and 41 films with a singular call to action. DOMO’s overarching direction also carried through to inform strategy for the full multiplatform execution, from the work of Under Armour’s social and retail agencies (shoutout to the WAS and Cinco teams!), to additional films created by the Seven Bucks Marketing team, to the stills strategy, experiential marketing, and more. The result is a singular, powerful message that rings true across every consumer interaction, invites new faces to join the Project Rock community, and forges deep connection between athletes and the brand. Our campaign inspires confidence, motivating new consumers to bet on themselves and take that next step on their journey. By being the brand that shakes shit up and opens up a growth mindset for someone, Project Rock becomes integral to their journey toward confidence. They feel connected on a deeper level, and are primed to consider Project Rock products as fundamental to their journey.