Hope Beckham Inc.

Russell Athletic

Situation
For more than two years, Russell Athletic, a then 100-year-old athletic apparel provider headquartered in Atlanta, had not participated in any public relations efforts. When Hope-Beckham became Russell Athletic’s public relations agency of record, the goal was to make the athletic brand relevant and a part of frequent media commentary. Russell requested that Hope-Beckham also draw attention to its biggest product launch in more than a decade, Dri-Power® Fleece.

Approach
Russell’s brand revitalization focused on the company’s 1926 sweatshirt invention. Because it first created the sweatshirt for football players’ practice jerseys, celebrations of its milestone 80th anniversary were planned to coincide with the fall launch of Dri-Power® Fleece.

In every instance, Dri-Power® technology was treated as the 80th birthday present to the sweatshirt. To further promote the Dri-Power® technology, Hope-Beckham arranged an expert in kinesiology, Dr. Larry Kenney of Penn State University, to act as Russell’s SweatXpert and speak on behalf of the science of sweat.

First, Hope-Beckham facilitated Russell’s title sponsorship of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s (CFF) 65 Roses® Ball, renaming it “The Russell Athletic 65 Roses Sweatshirt Ball.” All guests were encouraged to don their favorite sweatshirt as a part of their black-tie apparel; a fashion show ended the night. The event included branding throughout the ballroom and pre-function area, 50 tickets for company guests, athlete appearances and sweatshirt donations to CFF clinic patients.

Next, Hope-Beckham leveraged Russell’s sponsorship of the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF) to host an inaugural Hall of Fame Inductee Breakfast at New York’s Waldorf=Astoria. A fashion show of WSF and local high school athletes highlighted the latest Russell products. The morning concluded with Billie Jean King and Russell executives cutting a sweatshirt birthday cake, a commemorative sweatshirt giveaway and a group photo of all in attendance wearing sweatshirts.

Also, Hope-Beckham created and distributed multiple story pitches including: “Celebrities Favorite Sweatshirts,” “Sweatshirts in the Movies” and “Cruel, Cruel Summer” (about managing sweat using Russell’s new Dri-Power technology).

Results
Donations and attendance for the ball more than doubled from the previous year with Russell Athletic’s leadership. Four hundred people attended and more than $225,000 was raised for the cause. With numerous black-tie events in the fall, media coverage could have been a struggle. However, the unique approach and colorful visual attracted impressive media attention.

Pitches created hundreds of media hits.

SweatXpert Dr. Larry Kenny was sought out and quoted in publications including USA Today.

Russell has also negotiated with Dr. Kenney to be a spokesperson for the company for several future projects with the team division of the business.

In only nine months, Russell Athletic received extensive local and national media coverage with major articles in publications such as the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the Atlanta Business Chronicle and Sports Illustrated. In a double-page, color spread in Women’s Wear Daily, Russell Athletic’s sweatshirt was mentioned alongside designers Givenchy, Chanel and Norma Kamali.