Pretty nice camerawork on this new Crispin Porter + Bogusky spot for Under Armour's UA Spine running shoes—a commercial that's not recommended viewing for anyone susceptible to motion sickness. (The music sets the mood for brain-wooziness, too.) The ad features Tom Brady, Cam Newton and Kemba Walker and emphasizes how crucial running is for any athlete in any sport. The shoes are pretty cool, too. Most notably, they have something called a "spine cage," which features a cored-out chassis and the removal of all unnecessary material, resulting in one of the lightest, most flexible running shoes available, weighing 9.7 oz.

At first glance, there seems to be no lack of work-related publications for the modern man. But take away the lists of enormous companies (or their enormously wealthy CEOs) and entrepreneurial fairy tales, and there’s not a lot of pragmatic content. So says Esquire, which is hoping to fill the gap with a new supplement, Esquire, Working.

“There’s no place where our readers spend more time than at work,” said Esquire editor in chief David Granger. “But very few publications actually deal with the realities of work—the nuts and bolts of having a job, excelling at a job and looking good at a job.”

The 56-page spinoff (a one-off, so far), which is packaged with the October issue and distributed on its own to grad schools, covers a lot of those nuts and bolts, from workplace style (whether you’re a top exec at a bank or temping for a creative firm) to networking advice and all-around tips (coffee vs. Adderall for a late night at the office). For the requisite CEO ranking, Esquire picked the 30 “Most inspiring CEOs,” a list that includes Chipotle’s Steve Ells and Under Armour’s Kevin Plank.

The advertisers skew luxury and include three new to the brand: Tissot, Ghurka and Agave Denim. Said Granger: “I guess they’re praying that our readers will be successful enough to afford their stuff.” 

Under Armour, a sporting goods company that has traditionally been more successful selling to men, has launched a multifaceted fall campaign in what the brand is calling its biggest female-focused initiative yet. It’s running static and rich-media ads on Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, MTV.com and women’s lifestyle site Fitsugar.com. The video portion of the ad buys will utilize 15- and 30-second spots that depict females in sometimes grueling training activities.

The campaign’s tagline entails language of a decidedly self-determined essence: “No Matter What, Sweat Every Day. I WILL.” That copy will be represented across the brand’s digital ads and TV spots, which will be seen on Bravo, E!, VH1 and Nickelodeon during the next few months.

The “Sweat Every Day” campaign also involves a dedicated “What’s Beautiful” microsite and mobile app that let women document and share their daily workouts. Those features are being pushed via Facebook posts to the brand’s nearly two million fans on the social site.

“Across all mediums, not just Facebook, [we’re targeting] athletic females who believe in regularly working out,” Adrienne Lofton Shaw, senior director of women’s marketing at the Baltimore-based company, said in an email. “The program as a whole is social by design and built to engage our audience.”

Overall, the campaign reflects efforts during the past two years by Under Armour to gain share of the women’s fitness market from the likes of Nike, Asics and New Balance. The brand first attempted marketing to women a decade ago, but the effort was short-lived.

Crispin Porter+Bogusky, a creative agency for Under Armour since last fall, and Philadelphia shop Red Tettemer + Partners are leading the current initiative.

Where are the checks and balances? A few weeks ago when PC maker Acer hired Red Peak Group to overhaul the Taiwanese company’s global marketing efforts, it also appointed a Red Peak founder, Michael Birkin, as CMO. What makes this move highly unusual is that Birkin will retain a formal role at Red Peak as its chairman—a duality of roles that raises conflict-of-interest questions about compensation, creative and operational issues affecting the marketer in its relationship with the ad agency.

A rep for Red Peak declined to make Birkin available for comment.

It’s not the first time a client-side executive has had ties to, or a financial interest in, the agency working on its business. Last March, Interpublic sold William Morris Endeavor to an entity fronted by Mark Dowley, the agency’s former CEO, who a month earlier joined WME client Under Armour in a top marketing post. A month later, Under Armour shifted Dowley into an “advisory” role. Dowley, who did not return calls, is no longer with the company, nor is the account at WME.

In another instance, Jim Holbrook, a Post Foods marketer, joined the company last October, after serving as CEO at EMAK, the parent of Chicago agency Upshot. Shortly after Holbrook went to Post, Upshot landed assignments for Post’s largest brand, Honey Bunches of Oats, and for Grape Nuts. EMAK no longer exists; Holbrook sits on Upshot’s board although it’s unclear if he has a financial stake. Upshot CEO Brian Kristofek said the agency is treated like any other Post shop and does not receive preferential treatment or payment.

Some observers doubt marketers can remain objective in such situations. “There is an inherent conflict of interest and an appearance of impropriety that is as bad as if it actually exists,” said one agency consultant. Others argue these arrangements, if made public, can be dealt with to avoid such problems.

“As long as there is transparency, it shouldn’t be a conflict,” said Rick Kurnit, a law partner at Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, N.Y. In negotiating compensation, for instance, another executive at the client or in procurement could handle those details, he said.

In the case of Birkin, Kurnit wonders if prospective Red Peak clients would be put off knowing the agency’s chief strategist is now working as a global marketer for a company in a time zone that’s 12 hours ahead of New York.

Which raises the question: Why bring an advertising exec in-house if a marketer gets that talent through hiring his agency?

Ron Urbach, chairman of N.Y. law firm Davis & Gilbert, said there could be value in having that individual’s internal influence in achieving business objectives as well as in external marketing communications. Coupling that marketer responsibility with executional insights could lead to better-coordinated results, he added.

Leon Sandcastle isn't real, but that doesn't mean he's not going places. In fact, the imaginary Hall of Fame cornerback, played by Deion Sanders in Grey New York's amusing Super Bowl spot for the NFL Network, just signed an endorsement deal with Under Armour. There's even real photos from the fake signing. (Although of course, you hardly have to be a real person to have real marketing value.)

"A talent like Leon doesn't come around very often," says Matt Mirchin, senior vice president of global brand and sports marketing at Under Armour. "Leon is the type of athlete we can't pass up because he plays the game with the experience of someone twice his age, and his trademark Afro and moustache look great on a graphic T-shirt."

"There is a ton of buzz on Sandcastle," adds NFL Network's Mike Mayock.

What does Sandcastle himself say? "I, for one, know my partnership with Under Armour is a match as good as peanut butter and jelly. The only company in the entire world who could keep up with Leon on and off the field is Under Armour. We're both ready for the Prime-Time, baby."

All this is leading up to the 2013 NFL Draft, to be broadcast on the NFL Network on April 25. Sandcastle is expected to be the No. 1 overall pick at the draft, according to NFL insiders who should not be believed. But in all seriousness, Sarah M. Swanson, vice president of marketing for NFL Network, says: "Leon's deal with Under Armour is the latest extension of the positive buzz and viral nature of this ad campaign … it's been a tremendous vehicle across all platforms for our partners to engage with the millions of NFL fans following the Combine and Draft on NFL Network."

E-commerce players have long relied on willowy models and high-end studios for their product photos, taking a page from glossy print catalogs.

But e-retailers are increasingly switching out those slick product pics for snapshots of regular folks endorsing brands on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. The move allows marketers to create a vibe that’s more Main Street than SoHo.

“Instead of someone who is 5-feet 11-inches and perfect, it’s somebody who looks more like you,” noted Liz Eswein, co-founder of social marketing startup The Mobile Media Lab.

Urban Outfitters, Rebecca Minkoff, Under Armour, Beauty.com and Dessy.com are beta-testing a platform from Curalate called Fanreel, which helps brands manage hashtagged photos on social channels and post them to their e-commerce properties (consumers must sign off on copyrighted material). After selecting a user-generated photo, brands can also link the image—appearing on, say, Instagram—to their e-commerce product pages.

In the last few weeks, Dessy.com has seen an engagement rate of 30 percent for the Web gallery—stacked with more than 50 bridal events—that it has dedicated to the user-generated content (UGC).

In the coming weeks, Urban Outfitters plans to take it up a notch. “We’ll put the photos on our product pages,” said Moira Gregonis, senior marketing manager at Urban Outfitters. “Social-generated images are creeping up on all of our marketing channels. That’s where our customers are.”

Fanreel also offers analytics that intrigue Gregonis, whose brand counts 912,000 Instagram followers. “With all we are doing on Instagram, we sometimes wonder what we’re getting back,” she explained. “For the first time, we can collect metrics that show people hashtagging photos of this product or that product.”

Other fashion retailers, such as NastyGal and Dannijo, are adorning their sites with consumer-snapped photos while utilizing Olapic’s software.

“The user-generated content we pull [with the software] increases conversion rates,” said Mary Mentz, e-commerce strategist for Dannijo. “Our customers are six times more likely to purchase with [the social pictures] on our product pages.”

It’s no coincidence that each of the aforementioned players caters to social-addicted teens and twentysomethings. But social images may not be just for brands focusing on young demos.

For instance, Mini Cooper is redesigning its site, which will be lovingly bedecked with social-generated photos, with an assist from digital firms Beam Interactive and Widen, which specialize in storing UGC.

“It’s great to have real-life photos,” said Michael Gilday, Beam’s multimedia lead for Mini Cooper. “It’s like a gold mine.”

But even with early results showing big promise, whether social images are a sales bonanza for batches of e-commerce players probably remains to be seen.

“I was skeptical at first,” said Alan Dessy, CEO of Dessy.com. “But it’s good content that lets customers see our products in their future.”

Under Armour has hired Droga5 to lead creative work on its products for women, a key area of focus for the brand.

“We have worked hard to evolve and elevate our relationship with the female consumer,” said Leanne Fremar, svp and executive creative director of women’s products at Under Armour, in a statement. “We are incredibly excited about the perspective and talent Droga5 can lend as we broaden our reach in this space.”

Overall, Under Armour spent $13 million across media in 2012, according to Kantar. It spent $9 million in the first half of 2013, double the $4.5 million it spent in the first half of last year.

“Under Armour is one of world’s fastest-growing brands,” said Sarah Thompson, CEO of Droga5, New York, in a statement. “They’ve built a soaring business on an incredibly strong brand DNA and have ambitious global growth plans.”

Droga5's first work for Under Armour will launch in 2014. The agency is also expected to help the brand's in-house creative team—which has historically handled the majority of its advertising—on other aspects of its business.

The win coincides with Droga5's divorce from longtime client Puma, which is now searching for a new lead agency.

Under Armour considered pitches from three other agencies for the women's business, and works with a number of shops on a project basis. Crispin Porter + Bogusky has created basketball and women's wear campaigns for the brand in the past, but split with the client last fall. Red Tettemer O'Connell + Partners remains a roster shop focusing largely on digital efforts. This year, Under Armour has also worked with Fallon, Humble, and Hush.

Oracle is buying digital marketing software company Responsys for around $1.5 billion, or $27 a share in cash. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2014.

Responsys has Under Armour, Verizon Wireless, Lego and StubHub among its numerous clients. The San Bruno, Calif.-based vendor has successfully transitioned in recent years from offering software-based email services into the realms of mobile, social and display advertising.

Oracle's purchase comes exactly one year to the day when it bought marketing software provider Eloqua for $871 million. Also in 2012, the Redwood City, Calif.-based giant purchased social apps firm Involver, social media management vendor Vitrue and social intelligence company Collective Intellect.

Indeed, tech behemoths have been swallowing up well-established-but-smaller firms in the last couple of years. As just one other example, Salesforce purchased email and social media marketing firm ExactTarget in June after picking up Facebook marketing domino Buddy Media (May 2012) and data shop Radian6 (March 2011).

According to marketing firm Steiner Sports, there are seven Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks that—out of the few dozen in history—stand out as brand endorsers. Check out the list below, including each of the QB's credentials, and vote for the jock whom you think has made the best salesman.

Steiner Sports provided the lion's share of research for the topic, though Adweek contributed some tidbits in the following case-by-case descriptions.

Terry Bradshaw is the four-time Super Bowl winner for the Pittsburgh Steelers who has parlayed his playing days into a memorable broadcasting career. His brand sponsorships from both roles include Everready (player), Lectric Shave (player), IMG Worldwide (broadcaster) and Nutrisystem (broadcaster).

Joe "Willie" Namath won an epic Super Bowl III (upsetting the heavily favored Baltimore Colts) for the New York Jets. This dude effectively took the American Sports Hero created by Babe Ruth and updated the idea with layers of 1960s and '70s chic. His list of brands is fairly impressive: Brut; Noxema; La-Z-Boy; Dingo shoes; Hamilton Beach popcorn poppers; Hanes Beautymist pantyhose; Budweiser; and Nobody Beats the Wiz.

Peyton Manning is 37 years old and probably only getting started as a brands guy. After all, he just had a record-setting season and is readying to attempt to win his second Super Bowl next weekend for the Denver Broncos. He's repped for Papa John's, Buick, Gatorade and DirecTV. And if he triumphs on Feb. 2, maybe he'll endorse going to Omaha instead of Disney World in post-game interviews. (That's not actually likely.)

Tom Brady is also entering the latter part of his playing career but already has three big-game rings in his back pocket. His sponsorship deals have included Under Armour, Visa, Movado watches, Stetson and UGG shoes. As long as Brady keeps on being Brady (i.e. winning) with supermodel Gisele Bundchen at his side, spokesperson opps will continue to present themselves to the New England Patriots legend.

Aaron Rodgers has made his mark as a spokesperson with his "discount double-check" spots for State Farm Insurance. But the easy-going 30-year-old Green Bay QB—who has one Super Bowl title with plenty of gas left in the tank—could be a TV commercial mainstay for the next decade or two, while building on his brand roster of Nike, Pizza Hut, IndependenceFirst and Operation Dream. (The latter pair are nonprofits, so the endorsements are likely pro bono).

Steve Young, who had the uneviable task of following up Joe Montana's four Super Bowl wins for the Niners, impressively went on to get three rings of his own. While Montana has been relatively quiet since retiring from the game, to loosely quote Hollywood great Robert Evans, Young stayed in the picture as an ESPN broadcaster. His rewards have been deals with Power Bar (player), Advil (player), Gatorade (player), Visa (player), Van Huesen (broadcaster), Tyco (broadcaster), Toyota (broadcaster) and Burger King (broadcaster).

Brett Favre won Super Bowl XXXI in 1997 with the Green Bay Packers and has endorsed a bevy of brands, most notably Wrangler, while also pitching MasterCard, Prilosec and Nike.

The media have already made much of the fact that Super Bowl XLVIII will be the first in game history to be played outdoors in a cold-weather city (specifically, in the roofless MetLife Stadium). And it's no coincidence that the apparel brands with NFL partnerships are ready with a plethora of performance gear. After all, if Sunday's weather truly sucks, that's a touchdown for the marketing department, right? "The weather generates more buzz," conceded Under Armour's marketing vp Steve Sommers. "That's good because it gives us an opportunity to talk about our latest ColdGear technology." Added marketing svp Rob Goldberg of Tommy Bahama, which is selling ultra-warm NFL pullovers: "If the game looks miserable, I don't know if that'll be a plus—but it's going to be interesting to watch." Put it this way, he added, "This wouldn't be something we'd sell if the game were in Arizona." Below, a peek at the goods aimed at shivering fans everywhere.

Nike
From the Pro Combat Hyperwarm Max Shield Hood to a goose down game jacket with a titanium coating, the biggest collection of insulating goods belongs to Nike (which did not respond to a request for comment). “Nike has done a magnificent job of positioning itself this way,” said Hayes Roth, CMO of brand consulting firm Landor Associates. “I’m sure that whenever they figured out the Super Bowl was going to be outdoors, some farsighted person said, ‘We need to get into the winter clothing business.’”

Under Armour
Already the NFL’s official supplier of gloves and footwear, Under Armour is preparing its own big show to coincide with the big game. Its “immersive brand experience” will take over part of New York’s Grand Central Terminal to tout the latest goods. Those include ColdGear (a fabric that uses infrared coating to recycle body heat) and the NFL Combine Authentic Collection, performance gear developed for the annual Scouting Combine, the hell week where NFL coaches size up aspiring college players.

Tommy Bahama
Given the fact that Bahama is half the name and the logo is a marlin, this brand isn’t exactly famous for cold weather gear. Nevertheless, its new NFL team jackets and pullovers are made from an Italian wool and nylon blend that is both lightweight and insulating. So far, all the talk of a cold weather Super Bowl has been good to Tommy Bahama, whose performance line isn’t only a completely new business venture, but it’s also 93 percent sold out.

The brand performing best on the VideoWatch/VidIQ YouTube brand chart this week is Pepsi MAX, which took the top two spots with extreme acts of driving and running.

The brand's No. 1 video netted a whopping 9.66 million views, thanks to a follow-up spot to last year's enormous viral hit "Test Drive," in which Jeff Gordon, in disguise, took a car salesman for the most terrifying ride of his life. Travis Okulski of Jalopnik was among those who claimed that the stunt had been faked, and thus, the unwitting auto blogger found himself starring in Test Drive 2. 

In "Human Loop the Loop," the No. 2 brand video this week (5.77 million views), British former gymnast Damien Walters accomplishes what any man or woman can probably do with a bit too much caffeine. 

Also making the charts this week are two PlayStation spots, big cats (GoPro) and little cats (Three), and CoverGirl's inspirational #GirlsCan empowerment message. Check out the full VideoWatch/VidIQ ratings here:

NOTE: Adweek’s VideoWatch Chart, powered by VidIQ, reveals the Top 10 Branded Web Videos on YouTube every week. The chart tracks more than just pure views, as VidIQ incorporates sharing data from Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, among other data sources in an effort to measure true engagement. Every video is also ranked with VidIQ’s proprietary Score which helps judge the likelihood of a video being promoted in YouTube Related Videos, Search and Recommended Videos.

While it’s anyone’s guess as to which team will cut down the nets in AT&T Stadium on April 7, the consensus favorite on the apparel front is Nike.

Last season, Nike and its Jordan subsidiary sponsored more than three-quarters (76 percent) of the 68 teams in the NCAA Men’s Div. I Basketball Championship, topping rival adidas by a 52-to-13 margin. And while the numbers are down this year, the Selection Sunday brackets suggest that the Swoosh will run the floor again in North Texas.

Forty-three of the college hoops teams that qualified for the tourney are sporting the Nike logo on their unis and sneakers, while Albany and North Carolina rock the Jordan brand. Adidas outfits 18 teams, Russell is splashed on the jerseys and shorts of three clubs, and upstart Under Armour backs two teams.

Moreover, the No. 1 seeds are Florida, Virginia, Arizona and Wichita State—all four of which are Nike loyalists.

The most lucrative apparel contract belongs to Michigan, which receives $2.2 million per year in gear from adidas, along with $3.8 million in cash. That’s three times what projected top seed Florida earns from its Nike contract; the Gators get a $2.1 million equipment and apparel allowance and no cash. (Financial details were furnished by former NBA TV president Ed Dessner in a January report filed on behalf of the plaintiffs in the Ed O’Bannon lawsuit against the NCAA.)

March Madness tips off on Tuesday, March 18, on truTV.

The Adobe-SAP deal announced today will likely have significant advertising, mobile marketing ramifications and customer relationship management for their brand clients. Adobe serves names such as Hyatt, Comcast and Scottrade, while SAP customers include Nissan, Under Armour and Edmunds Optics, per their websites.

Most observers see the partnership as a shot across the bow at software competitors Salesforce, Oracle and IBM. At the same time, Melissa Webster, IDC analyst, suggests that there's work to be done if Adobe and SAP want to create the ultimate marketing cloud.

"They still need to partner with the advertising/digital agencies to create personalized, engaging customer experiences for brands," she contended. "I think this new partnership will make it a lot easier for the advertising/marketing agencies to work with Adobe technologies in SAP accounts, as they won't need to worry about the systems integration piece. They can focus on their core capabilities and value proposition to deliver cutting-edge experiences across channels."

Webster said IBM and Oracle offer similar suites of services, while Salesforce "is also in the hunt." 

Ovum analyst Gerry Brown said that "this agreement leverages an existing strong relationship which significantly enhances the position of both Adobe and SAP in the digital marketing arena."

Wunderman is also a partner in Adobe-SAP relationship. Gurval Caer, an innovation and marketing chief at the agency, added, "Clients benefit with more precise audience planning, more engaging creative, and a better understanding of marketing performance, from media to sales."

Adobe's been building its online ad business for months. Here are key components to what the San Jose, Calif.-based tech brand will share with SAP, per the companies.

• Adobe Marketing Cloud includes a Master Marketing Profile element that lets creatives and techies share assets;
• A mobile app platform that allows developers to employ Adobe's PhoneGap system to build customer-facing apps while marketers can manage the entire app experience with so-called drag-and-drop functionality;
• A service that lets marketers gauge mobile app download campaign performance;
• Apple iBeacon support for measurement and targeting of app users close to stadiums and retail stores.
• Support for push notifications;
• A web experience manager kit;
• A feature dubbed Adobe Target Premium that's designed to target relevant content and cross-sell recommendations.

Under Armour is shifting creatively from brawny footballers to ballerinas.

Pivoting from its usual focus on men's athletic apparel, UA CEO Kevin Plank announced the brand's biggest-ever women's ad campaign in New York on Thursday.

The first spot stars ballerina Misty Copeland. She'll be the face of UA's new "I Will What I Want" campaign, along with more famous female athletes: Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, tennis player Sloane Stephens and soccer star Kelley O'Hara.

Droga5 is creating the TV, print and digital campaign. Copeland's moving 60-second spot shows her warming up while the voice of a young girl recites rejection letters she received over the years. "You have the wrong body for ballet. And at 13, you are too old to be considered," says the voice.

Then we see Copeland fly through the air with athletic moves that are part ballet, part Olympic gymnastics. Despite the rejections, the spot notes that Copleand eventually became a soloist for the American Ballet Theatre. The spot broke Thursday night and will air on ABC, ESPN, MTV and E!



The global campaign takes aim not just at female athletes but "athletic females," said Plank, an ex-college football player who launched UA from his grandmother's basement in 1996.

These consumers are "looking to wear UA, and participate with it, beyond the pitch, the court or the field," said Plank. "She's looking to wear us to the gym. Or she's thinking about going to the gym and doesn't make it. But she still looks great all day."

Focusing on a relatively unknown ballerina instead of a famous pro athlete is a "disruptive choice," admitted Heidi Sandreuter, UA's vp of women's marketing. But the move shows the "evolution" of the type of athletes UA wants to sponsor. "It speaks to how we're trying to incorporate more women into the fold," she said.

David Droga, founder and creative chairman of Droga5, said the rejection notice recited in the spot is not an actual letter but a "compilation" of negative feedback that Copeland overcame.

"It wasn't creative license to create fake hurdles," he said. "As she said on stage, these are all things that were said to her."

CREDITS
Client: Under Armour
Agency: Droga5

By car or by boat, brands are trying out new vehicles this week to drive consumers down the path to purchase.

Only one of them is actually selling an automobile—German compact-car maker Smart. Insurance company Centraal Beheer makes a slapstick ad about a self-driving car. And in a new spot for Carl's Jr., cars play a supporting role to the beef-guzzling hotties who wash them. 

Headed in a different direction this week is Under Armour, which jumps on the female empowerment movement with the story of Misty Copeland, a ballerina who broke the mold. And we also have Jude Law putting on a suave show for Johnnie Walker.

Take a look at our picks for the week's best ads, and help us decide which spot was tops. And if your favorite isn't here, tell us in the comments.

UPDATE: Congrats to this week's winner, Johnnie Walker!

Gisele Bündchen kicks butt in a new ad breaking today for Under Armour's "I Will What I Want" campaign by Droga5.

The supermodel and wife of NFL quarterback Tom Brady (a fellow UA athletic endorser) also shows off her kung fu and yoga abilities at iwillwhatiwant.com/gisele, which will stream real-time comments from social media.

Leanne Fremar, executive creative director for UA's women's brand, gave Adweek a sneak preview of the 60-second film, which rolls out Thursday on YouTube. Look for the raw, real video to go viral—much like the previous one with Misty Copeland, which has been watched nearly 6 million times.



Forget designer gowns. This is the Brazilian supermodel like you've never seen her before. With her fists wrapped like a boxer, she's athletic, fierce and formidable. She throws powerful roundhouse kicks and punches at a heavy bag. She looks like she's training for the UFC, not Fashion Week.

As Gisele works up a sweat, we see real-life insults from social media critics questioning why UA would sign her. "Stick to modeling sweetie," reads one. "Protect this blouse," says another." But others are supportive as Gisele tunes out the noise—and keeps punching. "She's a mother and an inspiration," reads one.

"I appreciate her taking a risk, and allowing us to show her in a different light," said Fremar.

"We wanted to show a new side of Gisele—the unguarded, raw, real and brave side that shows what it's like living in the public eye," said Droga5 creative director John McKelvey. "To the world, most people have only seen her in a context of beauty and polish. But when we came to Gisele with the idea, she embraced the truth of the concept and its potential to be a positive message. The campaign shows all the contradicting opinions she is constantly exposed to and the focus and determination it takes to tune out the noise and will what she wants."

Carlos Silva, president of golf lifestyle cable network Back9Network, said signing Bünchen is a smart way for UA to stand out. Much like UA is taking an unconventional approach with model and ballerina endorsers, Back9Network is focusing on golf lifestyles rather than PGA Tour pros.

"It's very similar to how we're approaching the mass market following the game of golf," Silva said.

CREDITS
Client: Under Armour
Campaign: "I Will What I Want"
Film and Interactive Experience: Gisele | Will Beats Noise
Launch Date: Sept. 4, 2014

Agency: Droga5, New York
Creative Chairman: David Droga
Chief Creative Officer: Ted Royer
Creative Directors: John McKelvey, Hannes Ciatti
Copywriter: Felix Richter
Art Director: Alexander Nowak
Chief Creation Officer: Sally-­Ann Dale
Head of Broadcast Production: Ben Davies
Executive Broadcast Producer: Matt Nowak
Associate Broadcast Producer: Goldie Robbens
Executive Interactive Producer: Justin Durazzo
Associate Interactive Producer: Ian Graetzer
User Experience Director: Daniel Perlin
Senior User Experience Designer: Lily Cho
Head of Design: Rich Greco
Digital Designer: Devin Croda
Executive Director of Technology: David Justus
Technology Lead: Joachim Do
Group Brand Strategy Director: Donny Jensen
Brand Strategy Director: Zach Foster
Digital Strategist: Candice Chen
Communications Strategy Director: Alex Kniess
Group Account Director: Julian Cheevers
Account Director: Lauren Smith
Account Manager: Scott Sullivan

Client: Under Armour
Senior Vice President, Women’s Executive Creative Director: Leanne Fremar
Vice President, Women’s Marketing: Heidi Sandreuter
Women’s Brand Manager: Kameryn Stanhouse
Guidance Counsel: Meredith Chase

Broadcast Production Company: Smuggler
Director: Jaron Albertin
Director of Photography: Andrij Parekh
Partners: Patrick Milling Smith, Brian Carmody
Executive Producer: Allison Kunzman
Producer: Andy Coverdale

Editing: Work Editorial
Editor: Ben Jordan
Assistant Editor: Trevor Myers
Executive Producer: Erica Thompson
Producer: Sari Resnick

Postproduction: The Mill
Head of Production: Sean Costelloe
Head of Computer Graphics: Vince Baertsoen
Producer: Alex Fitzgerald
Colorist: Fergus McCall
Flame: Aron Baxter

Interactive Production Company: Active Theory
Executive Producer: Nick Mountford
Technical Director: Michael Anthony
Creative Technologist, Designer: Andy Thelander
Interactive Developer: Rachel Smith

Sound
Broadcast: Heard City
Interactive: Plan8

Quality Assurance: Hook QA

Specs
Who Principals Shannon Slusher (l.), CEO, and Darryl Cilli, CCO
What Agency focused on sports, lifestyle and higher-education projects
Where Philadelphia

When 160over90’s founders opened their shop in 2001, they knew right away this wasn’t going to be one of those let’s-smash-our-names-together agencies, given that the result would have been Cilli Slusher—which conjures up an image of county-fair Slurpees. Rather, the independent agency’s name is tied to something more human: elevated blood pressure. “Why would anyone come to us for just TV spots? They want human reaction,” explained chief creative officer Darryl Cilli. Using teenage consumer insights gleaned from its core higher-education clients, 160over90 has added marketers like American Eagle Outfitters, Under Armour, Nike and the Miami Dolphins pro football franchise. A labor of love is the hometown team Philadelphia Eagles: An online film the agency released featuring a John Legend and the Roots soundtrack got more than 1 million views in just two days.

Advertising has long been accused of perpetuating stereotypes, but now the trend seems to be shifting as more brands see the social and financial benefits of celebrating strong women.

Messages of self-confidence, inner beauty, gender equity and unapologetic ambition have proven to be viral hits for brands like Dove,Pantene,Under Armour and more.

Shifting the spotlight off the product and instead illuminating society's image of women has been a hit with consumers, as illustrated by a recent survey that found 52 percent of female shoppers had bought a product specifically because they liked how its ads portrayed women. Dove recently noted that since launching its Campaign for Real Beauty, sales had risen from $2.5 billion to $4 billion.

So at today's #AdweekChat, a weekly one-hour Twitter conversation about trends in marketing and media, we'll be discussing how advertisers are working to elevate women and what impacts this approach is having on the overall industry.

The chat is open to all, and we hope you'll drop by to join the discussion.

How to take part in #AdweekChat:

1. Make sure you're following Adweek on Twitter.
2. Log in to Twitter around 2 p.m. ET (11 a.m. PT) today.
3. Watch for questions being posted by @Adweek and jump in with your own responses. Use the #AdweekChat hashtag in each post to ensure you'll be part of the conversation.

Hope to see you then!

New York Giants receiver Victor Cruz was sobbing after suffering a season-ending knee injury against the Philadelphia Eagles Oct. 12. But Cruz wasn’t the only one feeling the pain as Gap Factory’s carefully choreographed PR strategy to unveil his global holiday campaign immediately fell apart. ABC’s Good Morning America dropped a Cruz segment planned for early this week. The debacle illustrates how athletic endorsers can be risky business.

An athlete on crutches can’t show up for production shoots where they’re expected to perform athletic feats, noted sports marketer David Schwab of Octagon. They also can’t inspire fans to buy products if they’re away from the spotlight doing rehab.

Cruz’s agent, Carlos Fleming of IMG, said injuries can sometimes work to a sponsor’s advantage since the athletes have more time for personal/press appearances. But he acknowledged some sponsors have “minimum play” clauses that allow them to wriggle out of payment if an athlete is injured.

Here’s some athletes whose injuries tore up marketing plans:

Vonn: Harry How/Getty Images; Cruz: Jim Mcisaac/Getty Images

Tony Ambroza and the Maker Movement arrived at the Dearborn, Mich., offices of Carhartt about the same time four years ago. With stints at Nike and Under Armour under his belt, Ambroza decided to welcome young craftsmakers, artisans and Brooklyn hipsters to the Carhartt brand, known for sturdy canvas work clothes. The svp of marketing--the brand's top marketing post--obviously relates to makers "with blue-collar DNA" who create things with their hands instead of an app.

At the same time, Carhartt, with $600 million in revenue, has to keep close to its core consumers--carpenters, electricians and tradesmen. It's a delicate balance for Ambroza, taking him on a marketing road trip across the Midwest last month that ended at the Great American Beer Festival in Denver. We rang him up to see how it's going.

Carhartt is called "an unlikely fashion darling." How does a brand go from outfitting plumbers to dressing ironic hipsters?
Hipsters seem to like what we stand for and that they can't find our clothes at mass-market retailers. But we intentionally don't seek them out. My approach is to market to the few to reach the many. Of course it's great to be embraced by people who buy our clothes for daily wear, and we added some close-to-the-body fits in our lineup for that audience. 

Jacket: Alan Davidson; Ambroza: Dan Lobraco

With Carhartt being a Detroit-area institution, you're getting a ground-level view of the changes in Motor City. Any surprises?
Detroit has become a magnet for the creative class from the millennial generation. I'm most amazed at the powerful sense of community among these young entrepreneurs and craftsmakers. They don't keep their work secret; they always seem to be on the lookout for how they can help each other.

As part of your summer road trip, you launched a beer with New Holland Brewery. What's the connection between craft beer and canvas jackets?
We support craft beer because it embodies the craft movement--the resurgence of goods that are handmade with care. Lots of diverse people are doing cool things like growing organic food and building furniture. These are not their jobs, but their passions, and they look at you like you're crazy if you ask what they would rather be doing. While it sounds romantic, in reality these makers have to work unbelievably hard, and many know our products. Then there is our core market of construction workers and other tradesmen. Our branded smooth-drinking beer is a way to introduce them to something more flavorful than the Budweiser or Pabst Blue Ribbon that they are used to.

Who made a big impression on you from the tour?
Two come to mind. One was a scientist who left his job, started a hog and cattle ranch and loves it. The other is a man who has taken as his life's work to teach military veterans how to play and repair guitars. For them it's not all about email and text messaging.

Are you a white-collar professional with blue-collar DNA? Is that what led you here after working at Under Armour?
Yes, as a kid I spent summers bailing hay, and later I worked construction jobs to pay for college. Now I'm very much a weekend warrior when it comes to working on my land. We have four wooded acres outside of Ann Arbor, and I do all the outdoors work myself.<