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UNDER ARMOUR
How does a brand rebuild its relationship with the city it calls home? A city that’s developed an entrenched sense of cynicism. For us, the answer wasn’t charity. It was humility. To really connect with the people of Baltimore, Under Armour had to first ask for their help.
Challenge:
The brand's reputation was severely damaged by the CEO's controversial personal connections and inflammatory social media posts. This negative publicity overshadowed the company's genuine efforts to address important community issues. To salvage the brand's image, we had to shift the public's focus away from the CEO's scandals and back to the company's positive contributions.
Solution:
Our efforts started at home, in Baltimore.
Under Armour launched #WEWILL, a marketing campaign to highlight their local effort to solicitate volunteerism, honoring local “heroes” and better promoting its own efforts to improve its home city.
The #WEWILL initiative is a variation of the #IWILL tagline that the company had built equity in already, reflecting a shift in emphasis to team and unity vs. the individual.
Post launch, #WEWILL became a strategic shift for the company - a global platform they rallied.
Results:
The brands efforts didn’t go unnoticed and we saw an increase in positive brand sentiment.
The program supported renovating the James McHenry Elementary Middle School and Westport Academy. The brand also opened recreational centers, renovated firehouse fitness centers, refurbished gyms and field spaces for kids, and distributed 5,000 backpacks to students to begin this school year.
The program became additive to the brand and was further extended beyond Baltimore.
Baltimore launch.
We launched with an employee town-hall meeting unveiling www.wewill.city. A site where Baltimoreans can enter their zip codes and sign up for volunteer projects such as mentoring or school or neighborhood cleanup in their area.
The initiative was announced more broadly during the Ravens season-opening game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The ad depicts neighborhoods and street scenes within Baltimore - including glimpses of local photographer Devin Allen, former NBA star Muggsy Bogues and other Baltimoreans driving awareness of the initiative.
A platform was born.
#WEWILL was then further elevated beyond Baltimore and rolled out nationally.
Proving a good idea can start with even the smallest initiative.