Back to School - Dick’s Sporting Goods
In a world of limited attention spans and oversaturated messaging there’s a strong need to breaking through the noise, differentiate your brand and balancing function vs. aspiration or practicality vs. trends. More specifically, in a highly competitive back-to-school sports marketplace it’s challenging to stand out in a crowd while addressing the diverse needs of both parents and student athletes. Under Armour set out to create an engaging campaign to move the needle in partner DICK’s Sporting Goods locations.
Consumer Truth
Motivated student-athletes are striving to excel in both sports and academics. They want products that help them feel prepared, perform their best, and reflect their dedication to their craft and team.
Specifically this young male target is focused on personal improvement, team success, juggling academics, social life, grounded in sport, and they need gear that gives them confidence, offers durability, and provides performance enhancements to achieve peak performance.
Approach
We set out to inspire and engage the audience by sharing authentic, relatable narratives about athletes overcoming challenges, including Baltimore-local Zion Elee, one of the top recruits in the Class of 2026. We positioned product capsules as essential, high-quality, and performance-driven, aligning with the aspirations of student-athletes and their commitment to excellence and aligned with the excitement and preparation of back-to-school season, emphasizing readiness, new beginnings, and ambition.
Marketing - Lexie Hakim, Brian Ebert
Creative - Connor Parrott, Joe Edelman, Alex Steel, Alex Bardoff
Production - Lyla Robinson, Emily Bois, Amanda Jones, Tali Weizman
Director - Cooper Gunn Davis
Executive Producer - Tony Pillow
Production Company - Parallel Studios
Post House - Apollo Post House
Photographer - Nolis Anderson
Stylists - Cam Brown, Chad Molique
Sports Marketing - Trevin Jaggars
Digital - Travis Young, Elena Howland, Andy Liberman
Talent - Zion Elee, James Branch, Carter Dailey, Jireh Edwards, Madox Fackel, Landri Smit, Brooke Bowman, and Coach Messay
Ops: Chris Bowerbank
and many many more who brought this project to life
