Primark's 'Game Changing' Campaign For Its Active Footwear Collection

Primark unveils its activewear collection, Primark Form, with a playful new campaign which skewers the pompous seriousness of the world of activewear - proving you don't have to pay seriously high prices to get seriously great kit.

Created by global creative agency of record VCCP, ‘That’s Kinda Game-Changing’ follows on from recent campaigns, ‘The Get Away’ and ‘Shockingly Chic’ and is the latest chapter of the ‘That’s So Primark’ brand platform. The campaign sits within the brand’s wider strategy to attract style-conscious shoppers and strengthen Primark’s reputation for style, quality and great prices, establishing itself as the ultimate value disruptor. With That’s Kinda Game Changing, Primark is setting out to establish itself as a trusted go-to for great activewear at the value prices it’s known for, so customers are ready to rise to the challenge of even the toughest workout.

In playful Primark spirit, the campaign knowingly subverts the trope-filled world of sports ads, bringing to life the idea that when you pay just £10 for quality activewear that supports your workout, it feels like a game-changing bargain. It speaks to Primark’s role as the original value disruptor: challenging expectations of what is possible at an accessible price point. 

The film satirises the overly serious world of sports ads, adding Primark’s playful attitude to stand apart from competition. Directed by Andreas Nilsson through production company Biscuit Filmworks, in collaboration with VCCP’s global content creation studio Girl&Bear, the film is set in a brutalist concrete backdrop and soundtracked by a violin cover of Benny Bonasi’s Satisfaction. The 30” film features women wearing Primark Form, the retailer’s new activewear sub-brand, whose workouts are interrupted when the dark and gritty world of stereotypical sport ad drops in around them. With a cheeky, knowing look to the camera, the women seem to say “whatever” - they’re not buying into the trope, or the try-hard male voiceover narrating their actions. 

The campaign world extends into dynamic photography, shot by Pascal Schonlau and social films by Charlotte Croft featuring confident and athletic women amused, knowing looks to the camera. This photography can be seen across OOH, DOOH and social. The campaign was ideated by VCCP creatives Jake Wiseman and James Ginn.

Girl&Bear managed the project from start to finish overseeing strategic and creative development, design development, production and post-production across all aspects of the campaign, including in-store retail assets. Media strategy and buying managed by One Publicis Primark. Primark activewear will be brought to life through a multi-channel campaign designed to connect with audiences at the moments that inspire them to get active. Spanning AV, OOH and audio, the campaign combines national reach with high-relevance environments. OOH will put Primark across the country, including gyms, health clubs and key running and marathon routes, placing the brand directly into the environments where people are training and getting active. Audio will build on these moments of movement, with Primark appearing across popular sports and fitness podcasts to reach audiences while they travel and train. The campaign will also see Primark partner with Men’s Health and Women’s Health, bringing trusted fitness voices and expertise into the conversation and reinforcing Primark’s credentials in activewear.

Primark's retained social agency SocialChain is leading the ongoing rollout of organic social end-to-end for the campaign.

Wendy Duggan, Marketing Director at Primark said: ““With Primark Form, we wanted to challenge expectations of what high-performance wear can look like and how it is often overpriced. This campaign celebrates the feeling of expecting the unexpected, knowing you’ve not paid above the odds for performance pieces that support your workout at a price you can’t quite believe. With Primark Form, we wanted to showcase performance activewear designed to rival specialist sports brands - without the premium price tag. This campaign celebrates that feeling when others underestimate you, and you know you’ve got high-performing kit that supports your workout at a price you can’t quite believe.”

Nikki Lindman, Creative Director at VCCP added: “Are you even working out if you’re not in a oh-so-serious black and white world, with dramatic choreography, being egged on by an omnipotent, rousing voice over? If you’re wearing Primark while doing it, then yes, you are. Serious sportswear doesn't need to feel so serious when you’re not paying silly prices for it. And we just proved it.”    

Credits

Campaign Title: That’s Kinda Game-Changing

Client: Primark

Advertising Agency: VCCP 

Creatives: Jake Wiseman & James Ginn
Creative Director: Nikki Lindman

Managing Partner: Bridget Limbrey 

Business Director: Danielle Shedletzky 

Account Director: Alison Still

Senior Account Manager: Erin Kelly

Planning Director: Connie Marshall 

Group Planning Director: Claire Strickett 

Planner: Wilfred Bentley

Content Creation Agency: Girl&Bear

TV Producer: Ed Thorn 

Senior Integrated Creative Producer: Diana Turchi

Production Company: Biscuit Filmworks

Director: Andreas Nilsson

DOP: Lasse Frank

Exec Producer: Rupert Reynolds-Maclean

Producer: Peter Knowles

Production Manager: Peter Arboine

Editor: Ben Cambell @ The Quarry

Post-Production Company: Selected Works

Exec Producer : Alex Fitzgerald

Post Producer: Solomon Tiigah

Colourist: Hannibal Lang

Compositing : Georgina Ford

Compositing : Val Scalamandre

Compositing : Al Hamer

Shoot Attend : Wes 

Music and composition: DLMDD

Music Super
Sound Company: 750mph

Sound Design + Mix: Sam Ashwell and Giselle Hall

Executive Producer: Olivia Ray

Head of Production: Rachel Saxon

Senior Producer: Chloe Hughes

Casting Director: Kirsten Troy

Senior Casting Assistant: Tara O'Kellyvisor: Sascha Darroch-Davies & Rob Shone

Arranger/Composer: James Joshua Otto

Track  “Satisfaction" by Benny Benassi.

Photographer: Pascal Schonlau 

Photographer’s Production Company & Agent: Common Era 

Dop: Charlotte Croft 

Movement Director: Liam J Hill 

Retouching: Stanley’s Post

Content Creation Studio: Girl&Bear

Social Filmmaker: Ed Roe 

Social Producer: Maxine Bicknell 

Designer: Maria Quiroga

Artworker: Nick Normann

Post Production Company: Girl&Bear

Post Producer: Gabriele Toresani

Editors: Toby Cherrill, Amelia Eve, Adrian Scanlon, Deri Watt

Colourist: Peta Ridley & Syd Harvey

Media Agency: One Publicis Primark

Managing partner: Danny Weitzkorn 

Business director: Mehr Chughtai

Account director: Alexander Head

Social Partner: SocialChain

Executive Creative Director: Tom Fenwick-Smith
Creatives: Eve Young, Ryan Harding
Strategy: Chelsea Noronha

Head of Social: Jack Heidler
Production: Jasmine Day, Jude Summerton
Post-Production: James Archibald
Account Director: Lucas Powell
Account Manager: Sivangi Raj