What about those who give more than a 100% every day, but not even get 1% tomorrow?
This isn’t the story of how we won at Cannes Lions: it’s the story of how we worked for the vibrations under the surface, the shadows dancing in the dark. This is the story of how three Singaporean kids tried to redefine conditioning with Gymshark:
And the world heard us. Full story here, abridged version below:
Sometimes, people may not have the same, equal opportunity to enjoy the journey, to work at their process, in the same way that we do.
Sometimes, we go to the gym because we’re angry, we’re sad, we’re heartbroken, and we want that revenge body. We buy into the concept of result-oriented exercise and forget that there’s an enjoyable and freeing feeling of even working on your body when we don’t see the results. It’s both a mental and physical game. Personally, before I go to the gym I have to listen to music that hypes me up. It makes the process of going to the gym less daunting – with good music, your favourite artist, and empowering lyrics. All my friends make sure to plug in, too.
Except one friend. Because he is partially deaf, and listening to music needs to be an act that is thought of carefully: what volume, what type of music can he best feel the beats too.
A simple Google search revealed that more than 14 thousand people in the UK are deaf. Some of them have gone to gyms and gotten turned away by personal trainers, who fear they can’t listen and keep up. We asked one of them what it was like to work out. They said it was to a noiseless soundtrack.
So we created SharkWaves. The team found that sharks hear through vibrations, and that #wearabletech had helped deaf people listen to music through vibrations as well.
To truly embody Gymshark’s values, we conceptualised a music-oriented solution with vibrotactile technology.
But research, data, and a deck wasn’t enough. Agencies didn’t believe the campaign – centred around an “overlooked” aspect of conditioning – the music you worked out to – would ever make it to France.
But we believed in it. More data mining. More surveys. People kept telling us their favourite gym playlists, recommending the best cool-down songs. Infuencers shared workouts to specific beats.
There was a case. There was an insight. We wanted to bring this to the world. It wasn’t just about winning, it was working with a brand who could make a huge cultural difference.
Remember that friend? The deaf dancer?
Yeah.
We asked him to do what he did best: Dance without music.
We brought him into our university studio to choreograph the entire campaign – sign out each. message. No speaking. Start to finish, our campaign was. presented in sign language.
And so, SharkWaves was born. (Watch it here.)
We submitted it, and two months later…
Cannes called. And we were going as award winners.
We were the first Singaporeans in a long time to attend as winners. On the plane, I listneed to my favourite songs over and over again, not able to believe it. Agencies reached out to congratulate us. At our dream advertising conferences, sitting in seats next to our idols, people asked us about Singapore, what it was like, if it was the first time we were here.
We brought an extra bag with us. Gymshark gave us merchandise – and we knew exactly who we wanted to gift it to.
Sometimes, you don’t have to fit the mold to swim with the big ones.
The work also won attained Silver Medallist at The Crowbar Awards 2022: Digital & Innovation
Also: my first Ad Age feature –
‘SharkWaves’, is a groundbreaking idea featuring ‘connected apparel that vibrates, allowing deaf individuals to experience music through their clothing in real-time.” – Ad Age, 2022.
grateful to the team. all love.
Athena Tan 