The Under Armour brand was born out of football in 1996, with the mission to make all athletes better. Its ascent was meteoric, ultimately claiming the number-two position in U.S. sportswear.

But their single-minded focus on men's performance products came at a cost. Women's sportswear was booming but Under Armour was not getting its fair share. Category growth was driven by “Athletic Females”—women who lead an active lifestyle but don't consider themselves athletes. They account for the lion's share of category purchases. While Under Armour's product lines stacked up well ,their brand didn't - its iconography and tone were masculine to the core and women described it as “meat-headed" and “aggressive”.

Dramatically shifting their tone to appeal to women, borrowing lifestyle and fashion cues and clichés would seem superficial. It would have also undermined the brand's overall positioning.

To get on Athletic Females' radar and her business we instead dove into audience's goals, aspirations and needs - not just relative to fitness but to life. We found that those women fitness is personal, not a means of competing against others. And more than that it's a means of resisting, and tuning out, the enormous amount of conflicting, cultural pressure women are under today. Sports and fitness, ultimately, allow her to will back control. The Under Armour woman doesn't need permission - because she has will.

This led us to the campaign idea of I Will What I Want. To bring this insight to life we chose unexpected, nontraditional female role models who embody this self-possession. We picked Misty Copeland a successful classical ballet dancer, who defies every stereotype by being African-American, by being athletic, by having "the wrong body" - but who tuned out rejection, well meaning advice, constant commentary to triumph in her field.

We then picked Gisele Bündchen as our second brand role model. But instead of casting her to type and using her as a model and celebrity we showcased the strong, independent woman underneath who confidently pursues her own goals.

The impact of the campaign was immediate and dramatic:

• Together, the ads generated over 10 million views, and achieved coverage by the most popular fashion and lifestyle sites and major print and TV news media. This in turn inspired women to share their own responses to the campaign resulting in over 2 million social engagements.

• The brand’s ‘cool factor’ perception went up significantly, as did purchase consideration. Most importantly the brand had a dramatic impact on sales, both direct and through retailers.

Finally, 2014 was the year in which Under Armour finally took the #2 position in athletic apparel next to Nike, but was crowned Marketer of the Year by Advertising Age with the campaign being called out as a major reason for this honor.

Not only was “I Will What I Want” one of the most successful campaigns in Under Armour’s history, it achieved what it did with a fraction of its competitors’ budget. Like Misty and Gisele and the millions of Athletic Females we stand for, we willed what we wanted.