Venables Bell & Partners launched the latest iteration of in the ongoing “Be More Human” campaign it launched for Reebok two years ago, centered around a broadcast spot entitled “Hands.”
The anthem ad follows in its predecessors footsteps in celebrating exercise as a means of personal betterment. Like its predecessors, and unlike the campaigns of most competitors, the spot avoids big celebrity cameos in an attempt to relate better to everyday athletes.
The approach, which also calls to mind the morbidity of last April’s “25,915 Days” can be summed up in the opening line, “Between our first breath and our last, our lives are shaped by how we move.”
“This is about the transformation that happens when we move—physically, mentally and socially. So that gives us a lot of areas to play in, and a lot to respond to within culture and the current mind-set of the world,” Reebok vice president, brand management and creative direction Yan Martin explained to Adweek.
While the campaign’s earliest efforts sought to appeal in particular to the tough fitness crowd (think CrossFit), the new effort seeks a broader audience.
“This year, we wanted to open up the aperture to even more types of fitness and people, but with the same message that physicality unlocks a better version of yourself,” Martin added.
“We saw hands as the perfect metaphor for the change that happens when you are physical. Because as we push and pull and fight, our hands collect calluses, and blisters and scars. They’re almost like journals in this way. But as our hands, and bodies, change, we also change on the inside. Becoming braver and kinder and more connected.”
“Our hands and our shoes say a lot about what we’ve been through and who we are as people,” added VB&P executive creative director Will McGinness. “We wanted to embrace that truth.”
Other spots in the campaign, “Mom” and “Slide” focus more specifically on how “Your shoes tell your story.”
Credits:
—TV/Broadcast
Client: Reebok
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Founder/Chairman: Paul Venables
Executive Creative Director: Will McGinness
Creative Director: Tom Scharpf
Art Director: Aisha Hakim
Copywriter: Jimmy Burton
Head of Strategy: Michael Davidson
Group Strategy Director: Jodi Shelley
Senior Brand Strategist: Jake Bayham
Group Communication Strategy Director: Gavin Jones
Director of Integrated Production: Craig Allen
Executive Producer: Peter Blitzer
Assistant Producer: Julia Oetker-Kast
Production Company: Bullitt
Director: Diego Contreras
Director of Photography: Guillermo Garza
Executive Producer: Luke Ricci
Producer: Jon Dawes
Editorial Company: Whitehouse Post
Editorial Executive Producer: Joni Williams
Editorial Producer: Leah Carnahan
Editor: Sam Gunn
Jr. Editor: Devon Bradbury
Asst Editor: Brad Dupuie
Visual Effects: Carbon VFX
Executive Producer: Matthew McManus
Producer: Devon Irete
Flame Artist: Pete Mayor
Flame Assistant: Jim Gomez
Sound Design: 740 Sound Songs for Film & T.V.
Music: Hands – RIVVRS, “Walk In The Wild”; Slide – Rafferty, “Apple Pie”; Mom – Marmoset, “Huntley”
Mix: One Union
Mixer: Joaby Deal
Executive Producer: Lauren Mask
Color: CO3
Colorist: Tom Poole
Color Producer: Clare Movshon
Group Brand Director: Michael Chase
Brand Director: Nicole Spinelli
Brand Supervisor: Julia Connelly
Brand Manager: Lindsie Levinson
Assistant Brand Manager: Ursula Reichle
Senior Project Manager: Katrina Strich
Director of Business Affairs: Quynh-An Phan
Business Affairs/Talent Manager: Sametta Gbilia
Senior Traffic Manager: Jermelia Holling
Assistant Traffic/Business Affairs Manager: Malcolm Konner
—Static
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Founder/Chairman: Paul Venables
Executive Creative Director: Will McGinness
Creative Director: Tom Scharpf
Design Director: Cris Logan
Art Director: Byron Del Rosario
Designer: Paul Rice
Copywriter: Jimmy Burton
Head of Strategy: Michael Davidson
Group Strategy Director: Jodi Shelley
Senior Brand Strategist: Jake Bayham
Director Art Production: Jacqueline Fodor
Photographer: Jake Stangel (agent: Giant Artists)
Retouching: Portus Imaging
Retouching/Prepress: Pacific Digital Image
Mechanicals: Williams Lea Tag
Group Brand Director: Michael Chase
Brand Director: Nicole Spinelli
Brand Supervisor: Julia Connelly
Brand Manager: Lindsie Levinson
Project Manager: Hannah Oliff
—Digital
Agency: Venables Bell & Partners
Founder/Chairman: Paul Venables
Executive Creative Director: Will McGinness
Creative Director: Tom Scharpf
Art Directors: Byron del Rosario, Aisha Hakim
Copywriters: Jimmy Burton, Jake Reilly
Design Director: Cris Logan
Designer: Paul Rice
Head of Strategy: Michael Davidson
Group Strategy Director: Jodi Shelley
Senior Brand Strategist: Jake Bayham
Director of Digital Strategy & Analytics: Jeff Burger
Senior Digital Producer: Sarah Betts
Director of Experience Design: Jeff Teicher
Social Content Producer: Kimberly Lewis
Social Content Production Generalist: Alexis Hazelwood
Group Brand Director: Michael Chase
Brand Directors: Nicole Spinelli, Kammie Sulaiman
Brand Supervisor: Julia Connelly
Assistant Brand Manager: Ursula Reichle
Project Managers: Katrina Strich, Hannah Oliff
Development and Rollout: DigitasLBi Malmö
Client Partner: Rikard Paulsson
Production Manager: Anna Rolfsson
Project Manager: Sarah Söderlind
Technical Lead: Anders Guldstrand
Creative Developer: Oscar Johansson
Interface Developers: Tommy Ahlbäck, Björn Söderqvist
System Developer: Philip Eliasson
System Developer & Rollout Manager: Robert Katra