Under Armour Rolls Out Latest "Rule Yourself" Spot, Featuring U.S. Women's Gymnasts

Under Armour yesterday rolled out its latest iteration of the "Rule Yourself" campaign, and a new spot "shows just how talented and insanely strong" members of the U.S. women's gymnastics team are, according to Katie Richards of ADWEEK. The 90-second spot "follows team members as they train in the early hours of the morning and late at night, all in preparation" for the Rio Games. Droga5, N.Y., created the spot, which is "similar to previous work for the 'Rule Yourself' campaign," which has featured ballerina Misty Copeland and Warriors G Stephen Curry. Another ad set to roll out this week features EPL club Manchester United F Memphis Depay, and the "campaign will culminate in March with a short film" starring U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps (ADWEEK.com 2/23). AD AGE's E.J. Schultz noted the campaign will include "more than 200 pieces of content to go deeper behind the scenes of the training regiments" of UA endorsers. The new global push will also "call on consumers to describe their own training rituals on social media using '#ruleyourself.'" UA has "arrangements with its star athletes to call out specific user tweets," and the campaign will appear "in more than 40 countries, giving it a broader international reach than any previous Under Armour campaign." The company has media partners that include ESPN, NBC, ABC, MTV, Turner, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Complex and Popsugar (ADAGE.com 2/23). 

GOING DIGITAL: BUSINESS INSIDER's Lara O'Reilly reported UA will "reduce its TV spend as part of the overall media mix as it shifts more ad dollars to digital." UA Senior VP/Global Brand Marketing Adrienne Lofton said that the "split between digital ads and TV ads is around 50/50." It "used to be 70/30." Lofton added that this shift "was based on research about the consumption habit of its target consumer: An 18-year-old aspiring big athlete who largely consumes media on a 'second screen.'" Lofton said, "In days past you could just run TV and really cover the bases for the consumer. The reality (now) is that the consumer is consuming around 3,000 messages a day." O'Reilly noted an additional goal for UA is to "raise unaided and aided brand awareness, so TV will still remain part of the mix." Lofton: "We've got to deliver 24/7 everywhere the (target consumer) is" (BUSINESSINSIDER.com, 2/23).