Russell Athletic introduced the true inception of the ‘sweatshirt’ that the world knows today. The brand introduced their iconic new Eagle R sub-range into Australia by communicating a fully-fledged passion approach to the range, while ensuring their message supported the vision to celebrate modern trends in fashion and respecting the original roots of the OG brand. Encouraging its wearers to live their best lives while being authentic, genuine and individual was a major key to the conversation delivered by the brand for this range. Russell Athletic wanted to connect with current and prospective customers with a fresh, unbounded approach that maintained the organic but modern flair that people knew them for.

Russell Athletic’s business objective for the Eagle R campaign was to connect with the Australian market via influential and well-respected individuals in the country that on a daily basis fully encompassed what it meant to embrace unique passions and cultivate creativity via their own personal brand. CEA applied a strategic approach to aligning appropriate figures in the market with the brand by assessing true core values on each side.

Two culturally influential artists within the Australian landscape were chosen to align with the Eagle R launch. G Flip, a young, fresh and highly accomplished singer, songwriter and producer whose creativity within the studio and on stage saw no bounds. Attracting widespread fan bases across domestically and internationally with her straightforward, modern but ever-relatable musical works, she embodied a creative devotion while staying true to herself earnestly. Alongside her, Hooligan Hefs, a king of Australian hip hop in his own right. A courageous, forthcoming and truly creative genius, he proved he was at the forefront of his new era both musically and culturally. Both artists symbolised an organic, real and uniquely prolific approach to Australian lifestyle. The overall pairing of emerging talent with an emerging new brand felt organic and impactful in maximising reach, while also embracing their exponential career growth especially in the twelve months leading up to the Eagle R launch. 

Both artists were aligned with Eagle R initially across significant photo shoots delivering a tone of modern, yet old-school, ‘back to our roots’ vibes that encompassed the values and visions of the Russell Athletic brand dating back to the early 1900’s. The fresh, bold and upfront range was captured on G Flip and Hooligan Hefs, used accordingly across social media platforms, fashion media and more. G Flip specifically engaged with fans on a very well-executed live stream performance while wearing the Eagle R range- truly exhibiting her creative and bold personal brand organically. 

CEA’s unique approach in identifying evolving demographics allowed sheer analysis and sourcing of well affiliated artists for Eagle R. Talking to various brands and artists every day, CEA attained a solid understanding of the market that the brand was ultimately looking to make an impact in. Applying speciality expertise across branding, marketing and entertainment, while ensuring the narrative of the brand is met by the artists’ own interests, beliefs and personal brand and engaging new markets through diversity and inclusion is at the forefront of CEA’s mission invariably. 

CEA created a supremely aligned brand partnership for Russell Athletic with current and engaging talent on the ground, while providing pioneering legal guidance across the campaign. G Flip and Hooligan Hefs made an impact on the new brand’s entry into the Australian market meeting desired outcomes of exposing the bold, creative and real roots of the clothing designs and its historical brand to current and new fans of their own. Across confident and fierce photo shoots with both artists, social media and online fashion publications Eagle R depicted its true vision through the personas of both artists both digitally and via live stream performance presence.