Speedo celebrates 90 years with global ‘Water baby forever’ campaign via TMG’s Channelzero

TMG’s (The Marketing Group plc) creative agency Channelzero, has announced the launch of its’ much-anticipated global campaign ‘Water baby forever’ celebrating the 90th birthday of the iconic swimwear brand, Speedo.

Channelzero won the Speedo contract, in a competitive pitch in January 2018, to provide all creative and content across key communication channels – digital, ecommunications, social and brand-site, retail and PR – for all markets, with a focus on the UK, China, France, Germany, Spain, USA and Australia.

Speedo’s 90th birthday presented an opportunity to push the brand beyond its primary association with performance swimming. The brand has significant awareness as a performance brand through its association with top level athletes such as Olympians. However, in its 90th year, it wanted to engage a wider swimming audience through the celebration of the brand’s own heritage with consumers who know and love it.

Channelzero have developed a campaign that features seven individual stories, about people of all ages and diverse backgrounds. The stories create a sense of nostalgia that is ‘real and honest’ and that resonates with Speedo’s own brand values. The core objectives were to alter ‘brand perceptions’ and its associations in order to see an increase in product sales from the previous year.

Channelzero collaborated with TMG’s One9ninety experts in social media; influencer specialist Narratrs and communications agency DAE to provide a genuine full-service response to the brief.

Says Anna Stevenson, assistant brand manager, Speedo: “It was an honour to be a part of this campaign and see our idea come to life in the brands’ birthplace. Channelzero did an incredible job of really taking on board the global way of thinking we needed for this campaign to work for our key markets and also feel attainable and real.”

Says Cara Priestley, assistant brand manager, Speedo: “It was imperative that the message worked for all water lovers of any age, any nationality, any gender and any level of swimming capability. We can’t wait to see this campaign get activated across the globe.”

Says Franky Callanan, executive creative director at Channelzero: “At the heart of the concept is people’s deep emotional connection with the water all around the world. ‘Water baby forever’ focuses on the soul of the brand and resonates in multiple markets, and not just for performance athletes. We tell incredible stories from real characters in multiple languages.”

Says Mikey Taylor, CEO of Channelzero: “This campaign is an exceptional example of how we can respond to a multi-channel multi-market brief collaborating with our talented TMG colleagues in one9ninety, Narratrs and DAE. It is a real privilege to create this global brand campaign for Speedo on its 90th anniversary.”

The campaign has launched on Speedo’s international channels and will run until July 2018. Australia was the first activation to go live, with Europe following over the weeks to come. It is a multi-channel activation approach that spans across PR and retail, digital and all social networks.

Speedo joins an enviable client list which includes Sanitarium, Rio Tinto, Sydney Water, Nestle Professional and News Ltd.