First-Gen Movement Campaign
“You didn't inherit this.
You built it.”
Athletic campaigns often spotlight prodigies, but overlook the firsts:
Those who are first in their family, community, or culture to even enter the arena.
First-gen athletes face pressure, invisibility, and burnout, yet no brand speaks directly to them.
Until now.
You built it.”
Athletic campaigns often spotlight prodigies, but overlook the firsts:
Those who are first in their family, community, or culture to even enter the arena.
First-gen athletes face pressure, invisibility, and burnout, yet no brand speaks directly to them.
Until now.
MAIN FUNCTIONS: Campaign Concepting, Analytics, CRM
TOOLS UTILIZED: Adobe CC, GA4, HubSpot, Sprout Social
First-generation athletes felt underrepresented: Majority of Gen Z athletes say they “rarely see someone like them” in the sports advertising industry (Talkwalker).
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Built a movement-centered campaign through Origin™ “For the Firsts Who Refuse to Be the Last”, spotlighting first-gen athletes through authentic real-person accounts and user participation.
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- Released a multichannel rollout across YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and outdoor digital boards.
- Coordinated influencer partnerships with athletes who are first in their family to go pro or compete nationally.
- Integrated CRM automation through HubSpot to track engagement by audience segment.
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Modeled KPIs:
- +18% higher ad recall vs. industry baseline (based on Google Ads Brand Lift norms).
- 2.1x engagement rate on social vs. TYR’s average (using Sprout Social).
- 15% clickthrough rate increase from CRM re-engagement emails (HubSpot performance benchmark).
- Estimated 7% lift in branded search traffic (Google Analytics projection), and 12% projected revenue lift from expanded market reach into first-gen college athletes.
TYR is a sports performance brand known for grit, discipline, and tradition-defying athletes that has expanded remarkably from its roots in swimwear, and has been seen worn by Olympians throughout the years.
Sold at REI, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Rogue Fitness, and Road Runner Sports.
MISSION
Design a movement campaign for TYR that empowers first-generation athletes by reframing struggle as legacy.
BUDGET: $425,000
TIMELINE: 16 Weeks
PROCESS
- Used SEMrush and Talkwalker to analyze athlete-related hashtags and sentiment across 1,200+ social mentions. Identified “first-gen athlete” as an underrepresented audience cluster with strong emotional resonance.
- Built a campaign ladder centered on “resilience, to legacy, to origin.” Then mapped all creative assets to one of these tiers for consistent storytelling across formats.
- Designed cross-channel content (broadcast, social, influencer, and digital OOH.
SOLUTION
Origin™ became crafted as an unapologetic campaign honoring the athletes who have built from scratch. Through biographic narrative-drenched apparel drops, cinematic advertisements, and promotional influencer collaborations, a movement was born - not just a moment.
IMPACT
Repositioned TYR as a culturally empathetic performance brand appealing to Gen Z and multicultural segments, and created a scalable campaign architecture applicable across swim, run, and strength categories.
MODELED STAKEHOLDERS & CROSS-FUNCTIONAL PARTNERS:
Creative Director
CRM Manager
Media Strategist
Data Analyst
Influencer Partnerships Lead
Uses thick layers of carefully-tinted transparent 3D acrylic for broken glass effect.
Just the right amount of text concealment gets people to almost involuntarily pause for just a few seconds to solve the reading, but not too confusing as to avoid any mild disgruntlement.
Several colorways available for the shoe drop. This one is particular is blue + pink fo rthe classic color-pairing for infants, targeted towards all genders.