THE CHALLENGE
ASICS is a highly respected sports performance brand known for its superior products, innovation and leadership in running.
But it had struggled to strike an emotional chord with amateur and professional athletes. “We needed to find a 180 angle”, says Al Moseley, president and chief creative officer of 180 Amsterdam, “an angle that spoke to both the hearts and minds of athletes.”
THE SOLUTION
After immersing ourselves in the lives of athletes, a simple picture emerged. What they found most motivating was their own self-improvement and their biggest competition was actually themselves. The startling fact that only 30% of first time marathon runners make it to the start line is evidence of this.
Continual improvement is in ASICS’ DNA. In 1949, when Kihachiro Onitsuka started the company, he took his first basketball shoe to a high school team and was told rather bluntly that it wasn’t good enough.
But Ontisuka didn’t give up. He spent days and nights making prototypes, until one fateful evening he was served octopus for dinner. Noticing its suction cups, the thought of applying the same system to his shoes came to him. After months of improvements, he produced a shoe that enabled the team to win the championship.
“To persevere, one needs to be creative, ambitious, aggressive and passionate. Struggle, in the face of difficulties, will make a person stronger.”, said Onitsuka. ASICS and athletes of all levels share this attitude of constant self-improvement, we just needed to amplify it.
We did so through ‘Better Your Best’. Led by a global television commercial, this creative platform has carved out a distinctive and highly emotive positioning for ASICS across TV, press, outdoor, in-store, online, social and activation.
ASICS SpeedCam – To connect runners to the brand at marathons around the world, we took those LED speed signs that tell you off when you drive too fast and reverse engineered them to encourage runners to speed up. Speeding tickets handed out on the day drove runners to nearby stores for a retail promotion.
MYASICS APP – While most online training programmes focus solely on physical plans, we know that the mind needs help too. The MYASICS app on Facebook rallies your social network; allowing friends to support and motivate you. It also includes an advent calendar of inspirational content to keep you on track to ‘Better Your Best’.
CONTENT – A series of content films about the extraordinary dedication and motivation of everyday athletes like Vincent O’Neill; a rhino-suited marathon runner.
THE RESULTS
This work has helped ASICS establish a clear point of difference that connects with both the heart and mind of the everyday athlete. Whilst the competition continues to embrace ‘the swagger’ of sports and fund big sports celebrity endorsements, ASICS embraces ‘the sweat’ with a story that really matters.
We’re proud to have helped drive the highest-ever brand awareness level for ASICS Europe and to position it as the fastest growing brand for women’s running in the first quarter of 2013. “This is an indication of the positive effect of our female-orientated global advertising campaign,” says Alistair Campbell, CEO of ASICS.
180
Tel: +31 20 4222 180
Email: Talk-To-Us@180amsterdam.com
Web: www.180amsterdam.com
Twitter: @180thinking[1] [2] [3]
References
- ^ Talk-To-Us@180amsterdam.com (www.thedrum.com)
- ^ www.180amsterdam.com (www.180amsterdam.com)
- ^ @180thinking (www.twitter.com)
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