Uniqlo
Roger Federer Positioning Brand Plan
When Roger Federer ended his two decade association with Nike to partner with Uniqlo, many fans were surprised. Uniqlo, world renowned for their classic and affordable basics, was not exactly top of mind when you thought of athletic wear. Uniqlo now had one of the world’s most recognizable sports stars at their disposal - a $300 million investment. In many ways signing an athlete of this magnitude was uncharted territory. Uniqlo engaged Levity to create the internal positioning for Roger Federer which would drive the strategy, creative, and architecture for this 10 year partnership.
As Levity, I conducted thorough and thoughtful research in regards to Roger’s current positioning in the sports world as well as his fandom. One of the most pivotal discoveries was the appreciation of Roger not just as a tennis star, but as a cultural icon (in ways too intense for the Cargo, give a call though). Additionally, it was important to recognize one of the driving forces in Roger’s partnership with Uniqlo lie in their desire to work with him post-retirement-this partnership wasn’t just about tennis, it was about Roger. It was about Brand Roger’s growth and presence in Greater China and Japan and Uniqlo’s growth and presence in Western Europe and the States that are United. This mindset led us to the idea symbiosis between Roger & Lifewear - clothing designed to make everyone’s life better. It is simple, high-quality, everyday clothing with a practical sense of beauty—ingenious in detail, thought through with life’s needs in mind and always evolving. This theme of evolution plays out in the strategy of embracing change-just as Roger’s career and life are changing, we then let the notion of change drive the positioning. Change - quite literally changing clothes, changing the conventional wisdom that Uniqlo is not a sports company, and changing the world by opening the conversation and letting the outsdide in.
The Work
In additional to US Open tactical ideas of in-store and in-app meet and greets and Q&A’s aimed at driving traffic, we developed expose “Open Up” concept - an uncensored, behind the scenes, visual, auditory, immersive and never before seen look at the partnering up of a global fashion brand and a global sport icon, The Masterclassman
Levity Creative
Colin Leary
Uniqlo Client:
Shu Hung
Index
I spent 4 years at Y&R New York, moved to Amsterdam, The Netherlands to lead the Nike account at W+K Amsterdam. Joined Nike in 2007 and spent 10 years in brand & creative leadership positions at WHQ, EHQ, and Brazil. Eyeing a creative gap in the Ad industry as well as an emerging trend of big business consultancies moving in on the Ad & Media game, I founded Levity Creative in early 2018. Levity is a cross-disciplinary, international, brand & creative consultancy scaling to the challenge.