Client Challenge:

Champs Sports had lost touch with its target audience: male high school athletes. Their tagline proudly proclaimed “We Know Game,” but there was a disconnect with what game meant to this audience now. The brief was a request for a complete brand repositioning across the board.

Strategy:

Our focus was set on redefining one word: Game. During our ethnographic research, we realized students loved being an athlete but that wasn’t the only thing that defined them. We also recognized competitors were overly focused on the grind and grit on the field. No one was showing how “game” translated to who these students were off the field.

Creative:

The strategy opened the doors to let the creative team step into broader cultural conversations to make bolder statements that looked like nothing in the category. The launch film focused on summer. We leaned into the freedom of summer break: no class in the morning and no after school practice. The night was theirs for the taking. You can watch the launch film below.

Result:

The strategy became a runway for Champs to speak all things game. A holiday campaign featuring artists like Rae Sremmurd to premiere their latest single, a custom store built directly inside DJ Khaled’s South Beach music studio, and even new staff outfits and store playlists for retail. Sales increased but so did the cultural cache for Champs Sports.