Ad of the Day: Reebok Gets 'More Human' Than Ever in Evolving Aspirational Campaign

Are you striving hard toward personal growth, using exercise, physical fitness and intense competition to build your character and shape your life in positive ways? Well, Reebok wants to give you a hand. Today, the Adidas-owned brand kicks off the third year of its global "Be More Human" campaign, stressing physicality and personal connection across TV, print, digital assets and live activations. Like earlier iterations of the work, this latest push from Venables Bell & Partners encourages folks to work up a sweat and make some personal sacrifices en route to being their best selves. And once again, ads position Reebok as the ultimate cheerleader and gear provider to help them succeed. "We're not just talking about fitness for the sake of fitness, or winning and losing," Yan Martin, Reebok's vp of brand management and creative direction, tells Adweek. "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." Martin characterizes the new work as an evolution of the "Be More Human" positioning. The platform launched two years ago by "shining a light on the tough fitness community, the 'fitness freaks'—and letting them know, 'We get you,' " he says. It expanded in 2016 by showing "how fitness, and specifically running, can lead to a richer, better life," Martin adds. "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," he says. That mantra gets a cinematic workout in "Hands," a minute-long spot (above) directed by Bullitt's Diego Contreras in the gritty, quasi-documentary style that has defined "Be More Human" since its inception. "Our lives are shaped by how we move," says a voiceover at one point. "By how hard we push, flip, fly and hang. Our stories are written on our calluses and scars." Indeed, when boxing, rock climbing or pumping iron, your palms and knuckles can get bruised and battered along the way. "We saw hands as the perfect metaphor for the change that happens when you are physical," says Martin. "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." The shots of punching out mirrors seem a bit extreme. (We're a bit surprised the legal department didn't insist on a "Don't try this at home" disclaimer.) Maybe that dude should think with his head instead of his hands. Such behavior presumably won't be advocated by the thousands of trainers in the ReebokOne program who will be available this week in New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Miami and other cities as part of the campaign, offering free workouts—normally priced at $50—in exchange for a handshake. Other key elements include "Stories of Progress," an online collection of inspirational influencer testimonials, and related content at brand events, retailers and Reebok FitHub locations. "Our hands and our shoes say a lot about what we've been through and who we are as people," says Will McGinness, executive creative director at VB&P. "We wanted to embrace that truth." Shoes play into additional "Be More Human" commercials in a big way, taking campaign themes in somewhat new directions. The first ad below tells of a young girl who becomes inspired to follow in her CrossFit mom's footsteps (kicking off high heels to boot!), while the second spot shows a dude escaping the dreariness of Dumpsville by exploring new roads: "We wanted to show how the wear and tear on our shoes is also a sign of our greater change," says Martin. "As our gear become beaten up, we become better." That last statement is debatable. Some of us just develop shin splints. Which in turn makes us irritable and frustrated, so we punch out mirrors and things go from bad to worse. All kidding aside, the cause-and-effect proposition in "Be More Human"—while well conceived and compellingly executed—has always seemed like a bit of a stretch (and borderline exclusionary, cutting couch potatoes entirely out of its sweat-soaked world view). That said, the approach provides the brand with a distinctive, malleable positioning in an crowded marketplace. Plus, it seems to be moving product, as Reebok, long an also-ran, has made gains since the campaign's debut—including, most recently, a 7 percent year-over-year sales increase for the third quarter. "There's a ton of fitness ads out in the world, and even a bunch of other brands that have started to play in the tough fitness genre," Martin says. "For us, we want to show how fitness changes us on the inside. How it affects our relationships. Our legacies. Our minds. In a world that often tries to make us less human, fitness and physicality has this unique power to help us find our best." Ultimately, of course, it's all designed to sell shoes. Still, our gear can become a gym buddy of sorts—or at any rate, come to represent what we might achieve by shrugging off the pain and pushing ourselves a little harder. On some level, perhaps it's heartening to believe Reebok really is on our side, so that maybe, just maybe, we won't have to run the grueling race for self-improvement alone. 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 Junior Editor: Devon Bradbury Assistant 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 Art Production Director: 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

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