Castore Turned Andy Murray’s Hip X-Ray Into A Billboard

Since its 2016 launch, premium sportswear brand Castore has built its name through partnerships with teams and athletes. Deals with England Cricket, Tennis star (as well its own investor) Andy Murray and the Oracle Red Bull racing crew have helped the business reach a billion that’s teetering on $1 billion.

Now the British-founded business has gone big with a six-figure marketing campaign with FCB London that pays homage to these collaborations with the mission of driving awareness and forging deeper relationships with sports fans in the process.

“Summer of Sport” launched today to highlight key moments in the U.K.’s sporting calendar, coinciding with Wimbledon, several weeks’ worth of men’s and women’s Ashes fixtures and the F1racing at Silverstone.

The campaign’s hero creative shuns product to instead present a striking image of Murray’s 2019 hip Xray, showing a metal ball in the joint. The three-time Grand Slam winner famously shared the photo with fans following a surgery in 2019 that brought him back from the brink of retirement.

The brand’s “Better Never Stops” ethos is weaved throughout the campaign, nodding to the brand’s mission to make athletes better and design clothing that gives everyone the edge. An Ashes-themed billboard will nod to Lords’ famous 22-yard pitch, while an F1 Grand Prix activation will feature driver Sergio Perez.

Smart OOH placements nationwide are set to flood areas near sports grounds, with some 14 million people expected to be exposed to the work.

Co-founder and chief executive (CEO) Thomas Beahon told Adweek that after years of working to a model rooted in partnerships Castore was ready to level up its brand strategy.

“This is us really taking it to the next level, it’s our biggest marketing campaign to date,” he said. “The brief was super simple: we wanted it to be emotive, we wanted to connect with customers in a different way.”

“Castore has a hunger to be the best, that runs all the way through the company from the people that work there to the teams they sponsor. ‘Summer of Sport’ demonstrates that relentless spirit through a tone of voice and visual style that reflects the gritty truth of sport,” Jack Walker, head of art at FCB London, said.

‘Better Never Stops’

Six years ago, the former Tranmere Rovers soccer player-turned-entrepreneur Beahon founded Castore with his brother Phil Beahon using a start-up loan from Virgin Gym. The pair said they noticed the lack of premium sportswear available in a market dominated by big players including Adidas and Nike.