Background

2021 remained tough for businesses to say the least. Coupled with Singapore’s ever-evolving Covid-19 policies, the brand wanted to find a way to engage with the public in ways that were meaningful. From our primary research (social listening and commissioned survey among 1,009 Gen Zs and Millennials), we found the “Covid Consciousness” to be very real. We found the state of “Covid Conciousness” among 1 in 2 persons whom participated at least once a week in fitness activities. They displayed traits such as “living in unprecedented sedentary cocoon-lifestyles”, coupled with “declining sport participation”, and were “uninspired and experiencing a strong virtual fatigue”. With the opening of the brand’s largest Sports Performance store, we decided to reframe our thinking from “how do we launch a new store during the pandemic” to “what role should we play to support the local community, and how will this destination bring that purpose to life”.

Describe the creative idea

Our raison d’etre was clear. We wanted to inspire consumers out of the “Covid Consciousness” they were facing and inspire them through sport. Much like sport, music and its videos viscerally moves you. Going as far back as the ancient Greeks to the mega performances at the Super Bowl, music has a symbiotic relationship to the best of what sport offers, and brings out of you. The campaign, HOME OF SPORT (Change starts here), was anchored by influencer-anchored collaborations with the capstone execution to be a “future of Sport” music anthem and video named “Who Could Imagine”. With this anthem, we will anchor the new experience at the store, coupled with hyper-local collaborations to design the space, and co-create products as well as services. In addition, it will propel the integrated marketing programme in place.

Describe the strategy

We were cognizant of tropes that surrounded sports marketing. Messages of empowerment, self-belief, etcetera. While those elements had relevance, we wanted consumers to see sport as more than that. We decided to do things differently and redefined the idea of Sport. We looked at areas we could viscerally create impact among consumers and defined sport in 3 “change pillars”: Feeling, Form and Function. In each pillar, we inspired people to make their own pivots/write their own comeback stories. Anchored by the future of sport anthem, we would execute the integrated programme consisting of executions across PR, Influencers – Earned and Digital Advertising, over 3 change pillars: Feeling – be moved by the ‘future of sport’ anthem, and be inspired by the installations in store depicting the nation’s greatest sporting journeys. Function – make your gear your own with local customization designs. Form - learn, unlearn, relearn your sport.

Describe the execution

The video opens with athletes and lifestyle influencers featured in their ‘neutral’ positions, ready to embark on their sporting journeys. MEAN (Rapper) opens with bars representing “belief”. We see our influencers in action, taking on different sports from circuit training, yoga, strength. Transit to the chorus by Weish (Vocalist/Singer) representing “celebration”, you see the artists in a “wax museum”, inanimate, resting, patiently waiting to break out of their ruts – the calm before the storm. MickeyLeano (R&B Musician) delivers his verse representing “confidence”, and we see the athletes exercising discipline to hone their crafts. In the closing, we see our artists come to life, with images of the athletes looking ready to take on the world. The anthem was loaded on music platforms like Spotify and teased on socials pre-launch (2-weeks before opening). The MV was released on launch day on the store’s LED façade, and loaded onto Youtube after.

Describe the outcome

The program anchored by the anthem helped consumers see sport differently – by engaging with the brand and be inspired to leave write their own comebacks/pivots. We measured these 5 fronts: 1.Anthem acclaim – more than 57,000 Spotify plays and MV views, and was reviewed positively by Singapore’s most prolific music writer, Eddino in “The Straits Times”. 2.Footfall - The integrated programme (PR, Influencers - Earned, Digital Advertising) drove strong footfall to the store which exceeded targets, benchmarked against previous store openings. 3.Organic media value and share through - Through PR and SM syndications, we generated over SGD1.1m in PR value and 2.7m impressions. 4.Social Media traction - Through own SM and paid executions on Facebook and Instagram, content reached more than 2m people on Facebook and Instagram. 5.Consumer impact – the 10 activations impacted more than 1,000 people who attended in-person, or streamed the content online.