WE FIND THE EDGE FOR BRANDS TO BE EXTRAORDINARY

We partnered with Nike to launch the new collection for Marcus Rashford. 

Better believe it

When you believe in yourself, incredible things can happen.

Everyone knows Marcus is a nice guy and that he has done amazing things outside of football. However a good image wasn’t going sell is his first ever Nike collection. We needed a concept that brought to life his unwavering sense of self-belief while adding edge to his positioning as an athlete.

The truth is that while Marcus may be an angel off the pitch, he’s a devil on it. He’s a nightmare for defenders. We harnessed that, combined it with how self-belief has made him dangerous and came up with the Better Believe It concept. An integrated campaign  with iconic and devilish energy and a nod to Marcus’s club Manchester United. Proving that no matter who you are or where you’ve come from, never doubt self-belief.

We produced the Visual Centre for holistic campaign, all the film and still assets that went across all Nike social channels, paid digital and retail. To add extra flavour, we got Manchester’s own MC Meekz to VO the film. Hypebeast, Soccerbible and Versus picked up the story. And the results followed – 180% over planned sell-through and demand and 35% above content benchmark on Nike Socials

Better Believe It 

Nike London tasked Ultra with developing creative concepts for their membership services.

Member Unlocks

When nearly every brand have a membership and loyalty plan, it’s difficult to stand out. Even for Nike. We needed to connect the brand’s services to the London community by bringing a fresh take to memberships concepts and how they manifest digitally and physically.

London Unlocked - a series a membership experiences, from invite to experience, tied to Nike services and seasonal stories served through the app and in real life.

The hottest club in London. From training sessions with Chelsea coach Emma Haynes, to product upscaling with Greater Goods, we created a series of unique experiences that put Nike Members at the heart of the brand world, unlocking exclusive access to sport and culture in the city like never before.

Unlocks

To launch the new Gripknit innovation and Phantom GX boot globally, a fresh take was needed to resonate with a new generation of footballer. 

Precision Personified

Nike Phantom GX unlocks new levels of expression

To launch the new Gripknit innovation and Phantom GX boot globally, a fresh take was needed to resonate with a new generation of footballer. We developed a creative strategy that personified the grip and precision technology through a differentiated concept and storytelling mechanic.

We gave the Phantom GX a unique stance by tapping into the creator's mindset and infinite possibilities when a high-precision boot is worn by a midfielder maestro. By showing what ‘More Precision’ unlocks, our concept elevated why this boot is extraordinary beyond the just product innovation and put it into culture where Nike’s audience would see it.

We worked with European champion and England national hero Ella Toone and created a series of content series and photography. Each sequence focusing on a creative expression that comes with a high precision boot – more moves, more drip, more service, more finish. The collective formed a larger narrative and journey that successfully launched boot.
The Phantom GX has been dubbed the Nike's most successful football boot launch to date with retailers selling out of stock within 24hrs.

Phantom GX

Nike tasked Ultra to create for Bebe Vio story and her view on sport and belonging.

New Belonging

Nike

We're made to think sport is for the elite but to belong in sport doesn't take being great, it means taking part.

We developed the concept of New Belonging -  the notion that no matter who you are or what you do, sport belongs to all of us.

We put Paralympic Athlete Bebe Vio at the heart of the concept to juxtapose the old world of sport with the new. We told her story of unifying the two Olympics competitions as a symbol of sport's impact and unifying force.

Nike engaged Ultra to create an interactive England Squad Kit Launch in Nike Town London.

Let There Be Lions

England’s women team win at the Euros changed the world of football. Launching the new men’s national kit for World Cup would take place in very different context than any before it. Our strategy was to develop a concept that enabled anyone to see themselves in this new mens team, no matter what they are.

We came up with the idea, Let there be Lions. An expression of the attitude that surrounds the team, from the future-facing style to the passionate community of supporters. We want this kit launch experience to be in immersive for members as well as travel through live and post-event content.

As a stage for the unveil we build the The Lions mode cube in the heart of Nike Town. Using a mirrored interior we projected custom animations in the cube, creating an infinite display of design inspired by England kits past and present. The Lion’s mindset hosted England’s, Eric Dier, giving Nike members an insight into the team. We transformed the Mercurial cage into the Lion’s Den, an arena for members to show their skill. The Lions Roar allowed everyone to capture the moment through gifs.

Nike engaged Ultra to develop the new Giannis Zoom Freak 3 campaign and connect to Nike By You. 

Freak By You

Nike challenged us to disrupt the EMEA basketball and sneaker culture with the Zoom Freak 3. Without having Giannis himself, we chose to seek out the unique basketball communities that Giannis inspires that broaden the idea of game and identity. Then see how we could activated them through the Nike By You.

We developed Freak By You, a concept that allowed us to bring in basketball communities, like The Gazelles and SBB, and tell their stories to inspire  future ballers to play and reflect their attitude through Nike By You. We worked with each individual involved created their own customisable shoe as well as produce the full campaign.

We collaborated with both the Gazelles and SBB to develop their assets as well as designed and produced a bespoke Nike basketball zine that brought the Freak By you mindset to life in authentic way. SBB’s videos engaged the community and beyond by challenging viewers to a competition to show their uniqueness at scale. Across Instagram and Tik Tok, SBB's videos have over 2million views and counting.

The Gazelle’s vision is an inclusive game, a space where community is everything. The collective empowers ballers from all ages and backgrounds to play united, fail supported and stay unapologetically true to who they are. 

We always say that SBB isn’t just myself or Denz, it’s all of us, it’s a community for all hoopers in the UK. We recognise the community needs to be connected for it to prosper and grow.

If you love the game it will love you back. Even if you don’t reach your original goals it will bless you with something else along the way.

To launch successfully in the US, a mature and crowded connected fitness market, Fiture required a fresh and impactful approach to break through. 

Don't fit in. Fiture.

To launch successfully in the US, a mature and crowded connected fitness market, Fiture required a fresh and impactful approach to break through. We’ve rooted the creative strategy in gymtimidation and cultish tendencies to develop a disruptive and fun brand narrative. This served as a platform for all brand communications, product marketing, CRM and performance marketing content.

We came up with “Don’t Fit In, Fiture,” a unifying brand narrative that enabled the Fiture to speak to what stops people from starting or sustaining their fitness journey in an irreverent, culturally relevant and topical manner. It gave the brand a unique category POV and reason for communicating with its customers.

Off the brand narrative we lead the development and produce the full-funnel content for TV advertising, digital media, performance marketing, site and retail. We worked with all of Fiture’s partners to launched the campaign, which has successfully driven up sales and conversion.

Fitness shouldn't be something you fit into. It can fit you.

Don't Fit In. Fiture

Nike and Ultra partnered to produce a story about Giannis Antetokounmpo's academy in Athens. 

No Hoop Is Too High

When the world sees you only as the uniquely gifted physical athlete you are, how do you inspire beyond what you do on the court.

The Giannis Academy - a place where the basketball is not just about how you shoot or pass the ball. A place where life and the game are the same. A community where we learn from each other and everyone can find belonging, through the game. 

We told the story of Giannis' purpose behind his academy and how it was the perfect place for him to inspire people from anywhere and any background to find belonging, be open minded and reach for their dreams. 

Everyone has their own story, their own life, their own skin colour ... when we're all together, we always learn something new.

Vaha tasked Ultra with developing the brand positioning, brand idea and UK launch campaign.

Move With Meaning

Vaha is a digital fitness mirror that tracks movement in real time to push you further. The brand was well known in Germany but aspired to bust out and become a global brand while entering key markets. First up was the UK.

We created Move With Meaning, a brand platform that became the anchor for all brand creative, trainer and product content. Redefining the possibility of how we move, to enable us to become fitter, faster stronger. No movement wasted. Every movement measured to reach your maximum potential.

An anthem was at the centre of the campaign that described the ‘Vaha feeling’. That feeling of when you move the right way, everything just flows.
Alongside this we created a visual lexicon written by the flow of movement itself that formed the heart of the brand identity.

We partnered with Nike Womens to celebrate Her fitness journey through the lens of Always On. 

Always On

Inspiring movement is an everyday endeavour. Our challenge was to develop a fresh visual approach to editorial and product content that supports Her holistic needs every season. This content needed not only to support her journey and be full funnel and fill the Nike product ecosystem.

No matter what her fitness goal, Nike moves with her. We developed a concept that highlighted the power of every woman to break barriers, exceed limits, and unleash their full potential. As her ‘trusted fitness partner’ the Always On programming tuned her into runs that hit her stride. The content varied across fitness levels to promote and celebrate women from all different walks of life, different voices and talents.

We used on all female team and production crew to create the full suite of content that populated Nike’s ecosystem of content, services, and experiences. From ‘Test By You’ content, using real women to test out Nike’s latest products to off and on platform to Coaches Tips that relay advice to help you optimise your workouts and recoveries.

Ultra created a story that reflects where Alex Morgan finds her inspiration to be one of the best.

Together Faster

To launch Nike Women’s football training apparel, develop a fresh narrative around the training experience built from a core insight; even when you train alone, you never are.

It is said to go fast, you go alone, and to go far you go together. But what if we do both? Together Faster is a reminder that it takes more than ourselves to move the game further – it’s every coach, team mate, friend, family member who push us along the way.

World class US footballer Alex Morgan was at the centre of a narrative that saw her training alone. But with her are the people who inspire and drive her every day on the pitch, to motivate and push her game further. A reminder that progress isn’t made alone, it’s made with those who get you there.

Nike tasked Ultra with developing a Social Media narrative, messaging, and content plan for key sporting moments across athletes and events. 

Sport is Never Done

Being in the moment means getting ahead of them. We worked with Nike to identify key sporting moments across athletes, categories and tournaments ahead of time and developed how the brand should show up in Social, digital platforms and retail in near real time.

Sport Reactive. To capture the essence and energy of each peak sporting moments as they happened, we developed a social narrative. Heroing the athletes and teams pushing the boundaries of their sport. From Barça Femini breaking the record of attendance, to the marathon GOAT Kipchoge completing the fastest ever 6 star finish.

We used a creative toolkit to produce a copy and visual point of view for each story and moment ahead of time. Then worked live in-moment to pick, adapt, retouch and create content and publish across Social, Retail and Apps to raise Nike’s presence in the moment. Using live imagery to create the best possible assets and ensure the content has the highest level of authenticity. These went out across social, physical retail stories and paid media within hours of each live event.

Barça Femení are only getting started. Powered by their desire to advance the game and the community that backs them. 

From NBA icons to today’s first round drafts - Lithuania have carried the tradition of outshining the best and battling till the final buzzer.

Ada the Untoppable. Never Done making them count.

Leading the Lionesses to a show stopping performance in the biggest victory the Women's Euros has ever seen.

Nike tasked Ultra with developing their first-ever athlete story for Emma Meesseman, an athlete like no other.

 New Perspectives

For a new generation and Emma Meesseman, there is no blueprint for 'making it' or what happens to you when you do. 

You don't have to change who you are to change the game. We flipped the perception of what it takes to be a modern athlete while achieving greatness and staying true to yourself.

We told her grassroots story of growing up in Ypres, Belgium, juxtaposed with her on court accolades, eulogised by ESPN commentator Christy Winters-Scott. A ‘Ying and yang’ tale to inspire the next generation that you can fly high, but stay rooted.

YOU DON’T HAVE TO ACT LIKE A CERTAIN PERSON, OR COME FROM A CERTAIN PLACE TO REACH YOUR DREAMS

New Perspectives

Maserati tasked Ultra with developing the creative strategy and campaign for their first electrified vehicle.

Spark The Next

Maserati

The Ghibli Hybrid is Maserati’s first step into an electric future. We needed to reimagine the car launch formula to create impact and reignite the brand with its new audacious mindset.

Hybrid car marketing is well-trodden. We set out to avoid sameness by focussing on the cultural and creative hybrids, who would ignite tomorrow. Those who get behind the wheel of the Ghibli Hybrid and drive the world forward.

'Spark the Next' was our campaign rallying cry to those daring enough to own their future. We shocked the system with teasers that audaciously ignited Maserati Tower. Then launched the car with a film that sparked the attitude with a live digital launch.

Spark The Next﻿

Gymshark tasked Ultra to develop their 2022 brand strategy, narrative and global campaign.

United We Sweat

When the world wants to pull us apart, we pull together.

Gymshark is built by the fitness and conditioning community. But this is a brand that has been unfairly associated with a superficial image of fitness. To many, that is intimidating and we were asked to shift the perception to better reflect their inclusive beliefs and unify their brand point of view. 

United We Sweat – a brand narrative that champions how diversity and unity through fitness and sport enables us to overcome the bullshit the world throws at us. Moving away from beautiful bodies and bulging biceps, by showing how fitness connects us all; no matter how different we are, or what we face.

We were tasked with creating the brand anthem and global campaign that featured protagonists from a spectrum of sport and fitness. Each with their own unique story that proves that alone you can only go so far, together is what takes us further.

We partnered with Nike Running to celebrate 40 years of the Pegasus shoe with an EMEA driven TikTok campaign and experience.

Find your pegasus

Discover your personality with 40 years of an iconic shoe.

To celebrate 40 years of the Pegasus Nike running in EMEA we needed to extend the global The World Runs in Pegasus concept with a locally focused experience and campaign. One that would work for runners and 'non-runners' alike across the various markets.

We came up with Pegsonality, a digitally driven concept that encouraged audiences to identify their running personas through a bespoke TikTok experience and campaign. We used characters to showcase our carefully crafted run types to appeal to every person. Introducing the Pavement Pounding Pro, Inner Peace Pacer and others - these characters became friendly run mascots anyone could relate to. To ultimately ask the question: What’s your personality?

Mixing a retro feel and a female focused POV we engaged the audience via Tik-Tok. Creating a filter launched across EMEA to promote the personalities and reasons you run.
To compliment and drive to the test we engage the viewer by seeing Dora from Ultra Black Running go on a journey of discovery. An AV piece following her usual 5k run, but this time with a variety of surprising faces along the way. 


Pegasus 40

EA tasked Ultra with developing the launch story for the PSG 4th kit in Fifa.

Out Of This World

Don’t launch a kit in our world. Launch it in theirs.

PSG’s 4th kit collection is a unique collaboration with Jordan. This moment in the football calendar needed more than a normal kit launch, it needed a moment that stops players and gamers in their tracks.

Don’t just reveal the kit for the game. Reveal it in the game. Launch the kit in FIFA21 with all the swag and attitude that connects three iconic brands.

Three World’s. Same energy. We created a film fused with an ‘Out of this World’ mindset and cosmic, urban, energy that flows through Parc de Princes and the streets of Paris, in the game and out of it.

Out Of This World 

Nike tasked Ultra with developing a story about sport in lockdown with Ada Hegerberg, using the ball as an invitation back to football.

PLAY WITH LOVE

NIKE

YOU DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE WHO YOU ARE TO CHANGE THE GAME

With the world and football on hold, provide a reminder that the ball is the common language that connects us all. Leverage the new Nike Flight ball as an invitation back to sport.

A love letter to the game that inspires us to come back stronger. It all starts with love and the ball at our feet. No matter what we face, as long as we have the ball at our feet, there’s nothing we can’t overcome.

The World’s most impactful footballer on the planet, Ada Hegerberg, has achieved it all with the ball. Even with her recent injury, the ball is what pushed her through. She writes a letter of inspiration to a young girl who was like her. And gives her a gift, that will help her set the world a light.

When I first fell in love with the ball it was like a light that brought joy and never stopped shining.