How we made ice skating the most engaged-with Winter Olympic sport by building a movement centred around resilience, emotion and athlete-first storytelling.
The challenge
Ice skating has long captured hearts on screen, but the International Skating Union (ISU) wanted something more than highlight reels in the lead-up to Beijing 2022.
The goal? To make skating the most followed and engaged-with Winter Olympic sport on social media and leverage the Games to build global, lasting audience demand.
This initiative was more than just a campaign brief. It involved brand repositioning: how do you shift the perception of a sport from a focus on results to emotion-based athlete authenticity?
Our approach
In 2019, we uncovered a striking pattern: skaters were participating in 50,000+ social conversations each year about the fear, shame and pain of falling.
From this insight, we developed a global campaign platform called #UpAgain – a narrative that transcends sport by emphasising the universal act of getting back up.
Over three years we:
- embedded the campaign into skating culture and had it embraced by athletes and fans alike
- used #UpAgain to champion resilience over perfection and address the mental and physical challenges of the sport
- evolved the platform into a Games-time content engine at Beijing 2022, highlighting athlete stories of recovery, redemption and podium ambition
Redtorch took the lead on:
- long-term campaign strategy and evolution
- creative concept and social-first execution
- athlete engagement and amplification
- real-time Olympic content and channel optimisation
The impact
During Beijing 2022, ISU:
- became the No. 1 Winter Federation in terms of engagements (+30% higher than its nearest competitor)
- achieved 2.5x more follower growth than any other Winter Federation
- established long-term digital equity across figure skating, speed skating and short track
Beyond the statistics, #UpAgain has become integral to skating culture. Athletes have adopted the campaign as their own and interest has been sparked in fan communities worldwide.
