A few weeks ago I stated that Under Armour had a unique opportunity for storytelling and I was frustrated that the brand continues to overlook “niche out” in building narratives that will engage a base that hasn’t really looked to UA as an option. It appears that someone in the marketing department heard me and delivered a trailer that is inspiring and it connects. The story of the Nigerian Bobsled team was going to be usurped by Nike and their promotion of Nigerian “Skeleton” racer Simidele Adeagbo. Under Armour hasn’t placed this trailer in the right place to maximize the power of the short video, as my first goal would have been to tweet at Black Twitter, or to share the post with the newly minted “Black” owned Essence magazine. Eventually someone at UA will pay the man, meaning me. I know you’re reading and at least you are listening… now go out and don’t just drop the video, promote the trailer and then follow up with a splash page, takeover of the site for a week and feature some Nigerian models in your campaign and start learning how to reach that part of the market that doesn’t think UA when it comes to sports and fitness. There is real opportunity there and with a documentary the long standing opportunity for branding whether the Nigerian team wins or not is incredible.
