Under Armour (UA) broke into SE Asia in 2015 but as a relatively unknown brand in the region, they had a lot of work to do to build a loyal fanbase and differentiate their brand purpose next to global competitors like Nike and Adidas.
In 2016, the goal was to inspire everyday athletes and build brand awareness so we created a platform called Test of Will, where athletes from any discipline of training and every level of experience could challenge themselves on a level playing field, to perform at their best. Test of Will was a live competition that traveled through shopping malls in Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia, enticing thousands of people to take part in the 4-minute challenge for max reps in a series of simple exercises.
Each year, Test of Will grew in notoriety and popularity, extending to Indonesia and Brunei from 2017 and seeing over 13,000 total participants by the end of 2019. The format was always the same but the exercises changed, the sets got slicker, the venues got bigger, we added an on-site retail area and incorporated product education into the strategy, and used learnings from each year to bring the training core spirit and brand DNA even closer to the target audience.
We also created and secured sponsorship opportunities with relevant regional partners including Subaru, Sanctband, Again Faster, and Optimum Nutrition, to inject more investment into the campaign that would enhance the overall athlete experience, helping us to deliver against more commercial and product-focused targets.
To date, Test of Will has achieved a total campaign reach of 120million and has won multiple awards including GOLD at the Marketing Events Awards 2017 in the category of Best Event (Sports), BRONZE at the Marketing Events Awards 2018 in the category of Best Event (Sports), and BRONZE at the Marketing Events Awards 2020 in the category of Best Consumer Event (Sports & Fitness).
“Thank you again for another awesome year of TOW!” Yvonne Tey, Marketing Director
“Thanks to the team again for the assistance to ensure the successful execution of TOW in all of the participating countries.” Hidayat Teo, Senior Marketing Executive
