Yesterday, 2XU, the ‘world’s most advanced engineer of compression apparel’, hosted its first Heart of Performance Summit in New York City, streamed live via 2xu.com/heart. The summit coincided with 2XU’s official launch of its first international brand campaign titled #heartnothype.
Chaired by Jonathan Coachman, Anchor for ESPN Sportscenter, the 2XU Summit featured a panel of elite international sports experts including; Dr Shona Halson, Senior Physiologist, Australian Institute of Sport; Dr John Sullivan, Sports Psychologist; Jeff Nichols, Sports Physiologist and Former Navy Seal; Jeremy McGhee, Adventurer; and Aidan Clarke, 2XU Co-founder.
Drawing on their impressive individual careers to date, the world leading panellists engaged in a passionate debate around a topic not previously explored – ‘Can you train the heart?’. Sharing practical insights on the heart of performance, the panel also took direct questions from the live audience of select international media and key influencers.
The 2XU Heart of Performance Summit served as the launching pad for 2XU’s first truly global brand campaign, #HEARTNOTHYPE. In addition to the panel debate, the Summit also included the world premiere of 2XU’s anticipated 5 minute #HEARTNOTHYPE film, which tells the story of athletes who put absolutely everything into their training, both physically and emotionally.
The film captures the athletes’ journey as they train in 2XU compression clothing, demonstrating that by ‘cloaking themselves in seriously intelligent equipment, and putting their heart into a workout, they can train smarter, perform stronger and recover faster than ever before.’
The fully integrated 2XU #HEARTNOTHYPE campaign is designed to highlight how technical compression apparel supports the key driver of human performance – the heart. By heightening circulation and venous blood flow to the heart, compression garments enable athletes to train smarter, perform stronger and recover faster.
In line with 2XU’s distribution into over 60 countries around the world, #HEARTNOTHYPE is backed by a large-scale global drive across multiple touch points including point of sale, earned media plus digital and social channels with a focus on the stories and experiences of those who embody #HEARTNOTHYPE ideals.
2XU Co-Founder and Sales & Marketing Director, Aidan Clarke said “#HEARTNOTHYPE is the first truly global brand campaign we have embarked on, and provides us with the opportunity to connect with new and existing consumers on an emotional and functional level, driving relevance and bonding. This powerful, innovative campaign demonstrates our position as leader in compression apparel, supporting the key driver of human performance – the heart.”
Australia’s 2XU is the world’s fastest growing sportswear brand. 2XU turns over circa A$50million (US$40 million) per year and is on course to become a billion dollar entity within the next 15 years.
“I would anticipate that we will hit A$100million revenue by the end of the next financial year (June 2015). But clearly rather than that being our finish line, it’s just a milestone en route to building a million dollar brand,” said 2XU CEO Kevin Roberts.
2XU was founded in 2005 by Clyde Davenport, Aidan Clarke and Jamie Hunt. 2XU now distributes to over 55 countries across the globe with its own Performance Centres in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the Philippines and the United States. Further store expansion is planned.
Over half of 2XU’s sales turnover hails from its high-tech compression garments that were developed in consultation with The Australian Institute of Sport and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).
“The early adoption of athletic technology has always been very strong in Australia and New Zealand. Then there’s the opportunity to scale up in other markets such as North America, which is about 41% of the global athletic market,” added 2XU CEO Kevin Roberts.
