Case Study: SBD Apparel – Phantom: Athlete Editions
Shoot once. Post everywhere. Reach everyone.
Shoot once. Post everywhere. Reach everyone.
After building hype with The Making of Phantom, the time came to launch. But this wasn’t about a single brand film. This was a content architecture play—designed to turn one high-impact shoot into a suite of bespoke edits, distributed via some of the strongest voices in the powerlifting world.
Each athlete—Taylor Atwood, Kimberly Walford, Jess Bittner, Amanda Lawrence, and World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman—received their own tailor-cut Phantom edit: built for tone, platform, and audience. These weren’t just chopped versions of the master cut. They were designed for the athlete's channel—heroing their lift style, their discipline, their following.
Taylor’s edit was sharp and explosive. Amanda’s leaned into focus and intensity. Jess’s film carried warmth and clarity. Tom’s? Pure power. Each one had a slightly different energy, a different rhythm—but always the same Phantom identity: blacked-out, focused, elite.
The content was pulled from our main campaign shoot in NYC (Red Hook Studios), but the brilliance was in how we shot for utility. Every angle, every frame, every setup was captured to give us options—platform cuts, story tiles, training loops, hero reels. From one shoot, we built a library.
And then we let the athletes do what they do best: move weight—and move audiences. Their posts went live in sync with the Phantom drop, giving SBD global reach through earned trust. These athletes weren’t just posting branded content. They were starring in it.
From a behavioural standpoint, the campaign leveraged parasocial endorsement, identity alignment, and peer modelling. Powerlifters follow these athletes not just for admiration—but aspiration. When they wear Phantom, it becomes a signal of legitimacy.
Results:
81% of total traffic to Phantom product page during launch week originated from athlete-linked posts
4.6x increase in direct social shares compared to previous SBD campaigns
Over 1.2M organic views across athlete-owned channels within the first 72 hours
28% increase in first-time customers (month-on-month)
Phantom became the fastest-selling line in SBD history, surpassing inventory targets within a week
Why it worked:
Because we didn’t just feature athletes—we empowered them as media channels. Phantom: Athlete Editions proved that with the right planning, one shoot can become a content engine. It wasn’t just great production. It was strategic amplification.