In the world of sports marketing, brands celebrate the winners. Russell Athletic defended team sports by defending the losers.

In 2015, 101 high school football teams lost their state championship game by a touchdown or less. The next season, Russell Athletic sponsored six of these teams and helped them turn the one thing that haunted them from that loss into their ultimate motivation.

#SettleYourScore flipped the cliche of the sports world by skipping the pro endorsement deals and partnering with real high school teams coming back from a heartbreaking loss.

When you lose big, coaches tell you to forget the loss. But #SettleYourScore had teams stare it down. 8 Seconds, 1 Play, 99 Yards became the new season’s motivation. By shining a light on the journey, the brand inspired a nationwide audience of athletes, coaches, and parents with the grit, joy, and family of high school football.

#SettleYourScore kicked off in the heart of preseason with a national digital, social, and PR campaign telling each team’s story. Billboards blanketed each community featuring the one thing that haunted the team from their loss (e.g., 8 Seconds, 1 Play, 99 Yards), so they would never forget how close they came. We outfitted each team with practice gear with their “haunt” written across their chest.

Beyond partnering with real high school teams, the brand employed three key partnerships. First, the brand partnered with Robert Clark, the photographer from Friday Night Lights, in his video directorial debut. Next, we partnered with SB Nation, an emerging sports media giant, to document four more teams, from a Native American tribe in Washington to a Deep South band of brothers. Finally, to capture season-long content for social media, Robert Clark mentored student photographers from each school.

Russell Athletic fought big with a small budget (media spend less than $1 million). By partnering with real high school teams, creating three more original partnerships (famous photographer, student photographers, and sports media), the brand was able to look big in a powerful category. #SettleYourScore successfully reintroduced the brand to decision-makers with its emotional, storyline.

Awareness: Given the small budget, earned media was key. The campaign earned 240 Million earned media impressions, which was 2X above plan.

Relevance: Here, we focused on social media metrics. We grew our Facebook fan base by 40%, and earned six million engagements (likes, shares, comments). Video engagement rates were 2X the industry average. SB Nation “time spent” on videos surpassed even their editorial content by a 91 seconds.

Sales: During the key back-to-school period, online apparel sales increased 180% year-over-year.

Championship: One of the six teams settled their score and won the state title.