After winning the Beats by Dre account following a review launched in March, Anomaly opened up a new Los Angeles office to handle the brand, along with other, unspecified clients. Anomaly released its first work for the client, “Got No Strings,” back in October, which celebrated the wireless aspect of the fashion headphones brand. That same month, we learned that global CMO Omar Johnson was leaving the company at the beginning of November.
In retrospect, “Got No Strings” seems in some ways like something of a prequel to Anomaly’s work for the client, with this latest spot, “Be Heard” probably more indicative of what to expect going forward. That’s not to say there are no similarities. The brand’s reliance on celebrity endorsements isn’t going to go away any time soon (not surprising for a brand built on celebrity), but this time around the appearances are exclusively by athletes. That’s also in keeping with the brand’s approach pre-Anomaly, as former agency R/GA turned to celebrity athletes in its work often, including World Cup spot “The Game Before the Game” and a series of spots starring LeBron James. Serena Williams has also made repeat apperances for the brand, including the in-house “Rise” spot from September, 2015.
Williams and James are back here, along with 21 other athletes, including Cam Newton, Tom Brady, Michael Phelps, Kevin Durant, Alexander Ovechkin and Simone Biles. All of them can be seen beating their chest along to the beat of The White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army” to get pumped up for game time in the opening of the spot. The action then shifts to in-game triumphs before concluding with some shouting and the new tagline, “Be Heard,” which we expect the agency and brand will keep around for awhile.
While “Got No Strings” relied on a Disney classic, this time around Anomaly turned to a relatively more recent tune, albeit one that has firmly established itself as a sports anthem and the brand’s roster of A-list athletes. It seems likely that the agency will employ a similar formula going forward and that “Be Heard” will be a much more long-lived tagline. It’s a fitting one for the brand, which counts its fashion appeal and celebrity endorsements among its strongest selling points. The song selection was a solid one, as well, and we expect the agency to attempt to replicate the approach of finding similarly well-established but not played-out anthems for future efforts.
For reference, here’s the full list of athletes who appear in the spot:
- Cam Newton
- LeBron James
- Serena Williams
- Owen Farrell
- Tom Brady
- Kevin Debruyne
- Kevin Durant
- Anthony Joshua
- Simone Biles
- Nigel Sylvester
- Conor McGregor
- Antoine Griezmann
- Thierry Henry
- Leticia Bufoni
- Antonio Conte
- César Azpilicueta
- Eden Hazard
- Diego Costa
- Cesc Fabregas
- Bastian Schweinsteiger
- Alexander Ovechkin
- Michael Phelps
- Arjen Robben