Reebok launched a new, fully integrated marketing campaign – The Sport of Fitness Has Arrived.  At the center of the campaign is CrossFit, the strength and conditioning program. With the campaign, Reebok said it is “aiming to change the way people perceive, define and experience fitness, and ultimately show the world that fitness can deliver everything they love about sport.”

At the center of the campaign is CrossFit, the strength and conditioning program.  Through the methodology of CrossFit, one of the fastest growing fitness movements in the world, the campaign will unveil a sport that is about community, competition and camaraderie – and delivers amazing results.

“There is a shift happening today in the fitness world that is born from the idea that fitness can be a sport – with all the elements that we love about traditional sports. CrossFit is leading this shift,” said Reebok President Uli Becker. “At Reebok, we believe that fitness can be as exciting and engaging as any sport. In 2012, we are helping deliver this message to the world in a compelling, powerful way.”

“More and more people are coming together to experience fitness in a community environment, with shared goals, shared experiences, and a certain level of competition,” said Reebok Chief Marketing Officer Matt O'Toole. “This campaign taps into this trend. It shows that fitness can be experienced in a supportive, engaging and dynamic way.”

Continued O'Toole, “What is so great about CrossFit's brand of fitness, among other things, is that what makes it a sport is what makes it sustainable.  You are part of a community, bound to a group of people who share your experiences – the same way you are part of team in traditional sports. It's a big part of what keeps people coming back.”

“The Sport of Fitness Has Arrived”

The campaign, which was created by New York agency mcgarrybowen, is a multi-channel campaign that will communicate this provocative idea through TV, print, digital and OOH media, as well as consumer events and activations.

The campaign kicked off with a TV advertisement during this Sunday's NFL Divisional Playoff on FOX between the New York Giants and Green Bay Packers.  

The advertisement begins with a number of shipping containers leaving Reebok World Headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts by truck – and being transported around the world by ship, rail and helicopter. In cities across the globe, including Seoul, Moscow and Barcelona, people stop and stare as the containers – painted red with a white delta in the center – pass by. At the climax of the spot, one of the containers lands and a young man opens the door. Through the door the man witnesses people doing CrossFit.  The TV spot can be viewed at:  http://reesha.re/TSOFHA

The advertisement will be supported with digital media, including a YouTube takeover; guerrilla marketing; and experiential and consumer activations. Reebok will also bring shipping containers, which serve as mobile CrossFit gyms complete with equipment for a 15 person WOD (Workout of the Day), to city centers around the world, encouraging people to experience “The Sport of Fitness” for the first time – and also demonstrating that CrossFit is something that can be done anytime, at any place.

Following the launch of the campaign, Reebok will continue to demonstrate how “The Sport of Fitness Has Arrived” through creative executions for its key fitness products such as RealFlex and ZigTech. These elements, which include TV, print, digital and OOH media, continue the story of the launch spot highlighting the key usage for each of the products.

The athletes featured in the launch spot, as well as the RealFlex and ZigTech creative, include some of the top CrossFit athletes from around the world, including the Fittest Man on Earth, Rich Froning, and the Fittest Woman on Earth, Annie Thorisdottir, who won their respective divisions in the 2011 Reebok CrossFit Games held at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.

In addition, athletes such as NFL stars Chad Ochocinco and Roddy White, MLB All-Star pitcher Justin Verlander, NBA star John Wall, F1 driver Lewis Hamilton, and cricketers MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir are also featured in executions of the campaign.

O'Toole said, “We believe that fitness can change the world for the better. But, for many people, fitness is a chore and something they do because they have to, not because they want to.  The goal of the campaign is to change this mindset entirely by highlighting how CrossFit can take something that is hard and add elements of sport while fostering camaraderie and community.”

While the campaign is a look at the present and future of fitness, it also takes Reebok back to its roots as a fitness brand.  In the 1980's, Reebok was a major catalyst in the growth of the fitness movement and made it appealing for women to get fit. Through products such as the Freestyle, and programming such as Step Reebok, Reebok led a new fitness movement that carried the brand to unprecedented growth.

Becker said, “Reebok has a heritage of empowering people to get fit – it's part of the brand's DNA. We've been at the forefront of a fitness movement before, and we are doing the same thing today.”

The Reebok and CrossFit Partnership

The partnership between Reebok and CrossFit, which was forged in 2010, is a natural collaboration between two companies that are committed to empowering people around the world to be fit for life.

O'Toole said, “Today, more than ever, people are making fitness a part of their life. Reebok and CrossFit aim to stay at the forefront of this trend by promoting a more engaging brand of fitness. Together, Reebok and CrossFit will change fitness, and help make people physically, mentally and socially fit for life.”

Reebok opened its first Reebok CrossFit box, Reebok CrossFit One, for employees at its global headquarters in Canton, Mass., in September, 2010 and by doing so became a part of CrossFit's worldwide network of affiliated gyms. Today, more than 400 employees a week complete WODs at Reebok CrossFit One. Globally, nearly 1000 Reebok employees are Crossfitters.  Also, nearly 100 employees have completed the CrossFit Level 1 trainer course.

Becker said, “We introduced CrossFit here at Reebok a little more than a year ago, and it's changed our company in a profound way.  With this campaign, we want to let everyone around the world experience the transformation that we have – as individuals and as a company.”

With this long-term partnership, Reebok has embraced the CrossFit community as well.  Reebok will continue to support CrossFit's fitness program and the CrossFit community through a number of initiatives and activities including sponsoring The 2012 Reebok CrossFit Games, Reebok CrossFit box openings and a footwear and apparel collection. The first co-branded footwear and apparel collection debuted in fall 2011, and is sold online at http://shopcrossfitreebok.com/

About CrossFit
CrossFit, Inc. is the world's foremost developer of functional fitness programming and a leading accredited certificate issuer for physical training professionals worldwide. Founded by Greg and Lauren Glassman, CrossFit is the principal strength and conditioning program for hundreds of accomplished and professional athletes and hundreds of thousands of individuals seeking to achieve elite fitness.

CrossFit offers specialty certificate courses and programs, including the CrossFit Kids program; publishes the CrossFit Journal; and created and operates the CrossFit Games, an annual event which seeks to find and crown the Fittest on Earth. There are currently more than 3,000 affiliated gyms in the global CrossFit training network.  For more information, visit www.crossfit.com, http://www.facebook.com/crossfithq or http://www.youtube.com/user/CrossFitHQ.  CrossFit is a registered trademark and 3,2,1..Go!, Fittest on Earth and The Sport of Fitness are trademarks of CrossFit, Inc. in the U.S.  and/or other countries.