Mental health campaigns often focus on statistics and crisis messaging, but The General Store took a different approach for Rebel Sport and Lifeline Australia. Instead of highlighting the problem, the agency built a campaign around a simple but powerful insight: just 15 minutes of physical activity can positively impact mental wellbeing. The result was ‘Sport Is Support’ — a vibrant basketball-led campaign designed to encourage Australians to move their bodies to support their minds, while also raising funds for Lifeline’s crisis support services.
Created for Mental Health Awareness Month, the campaign combined authentic storytelling, street basketball culture, illustration, fashion and community-driven content to connect with audiences in a relatable way. Featuring real basketballers, original artwork by illustrator Aaron Lowell Denton and direction from Tobias Rowles, the campaign became Rebel’s most successful Lifeline partnership to date, generating more than AUD$667,000 in donations while reinforcing the transformative power of sport.
What was the brief?
Every year, Rebel – Australia’s largest sporting retailer – partners with Lifeline – Australia’s largest crisis support provider – to produce a range of merchandise with 100% of proceeds going to the charity. It’s a great partnership that, unfortunately, no one really knows about, unless they happen to be in store. Our challenge was to raise awareness of Rebel’s incredible partnership with Lifeline, while raising some healthy donations along the way.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
There are so many confronting statistics around mental health in Australia. The early temptation was to get trapped into highlighting the problem, rather than showing how sport and Rebel can help improve your mental wellbeing. Our team uncovered a great insight from a study in the UK that found as little as 15 minutes of physical activity was enough to improve your mental health. So we set out to show that when it comes to improving your mental health, “sport” doesn't necessarily mean running a marathon or training like a pro athlete, it’s as simple as moving your body.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
We needed to capture Rebel’s core belief around the transformative power of sport, while tying back to Rebel’s brand platform, Sport Is Calling. Once we unlocked the simple insight that moving your body supports your mind, which tied nicely with the campaign line, Sport Is Support, we just needed to find the right environment to tell our message. As a social, year-round sport, with plenty of inbuilt street culture, basketball seemed like the perfect fit.
What was the production process like?
Tobias Rowles from Sam I Am was perfect for the job. As a director and photographer who had grown up playing basketball and had ties with the community, he knew we needed real ‘hoopers’ with real stories of how sport supports their mental health. It was just a matter of setting the scene for these stories to unfold. In terms of the artwork, we had some amazing illustrations done by artist Aaron Lowell Denton for the merch collection. In post, Carve & Stitch were brilliant in bringing them to life.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge throughout pre-pro was finding the right balance between the campaign messaging and promoting the merchandise. It flipped back and forth a few times but once we boarded it up and were able to show the client just how prominent the promos would be, everyone was happy with the hierarchy.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
Everyone knows that getting out and getting active makes their bodies feel good. But many don’t realise you only need 15 minutes for it to benefit your mental health, too. Our message was simple: moving your body supports your mind. If this campaign protects or improves the mental health of one Australian, or raises funds for Lifeline to support one more Australian in crisis, then it’s worth it.
How long did it take from inception to delivery?
Working towards Mental Health Awareness month in October, we had 10 months lead time. It worked in our favour, because we ended up changing the concept to a better one.
Can you describe the creative spark or inspiration behind the initial concept? Was there a specific moment or insight that ignited the idea?
It all started with the finding that you only need 15 minutes of physical activity to improve your mental health. From then, we just needed an accessible, relatable sporting activity to frame it in.
How did you ensure that the concept aligned with the brand's values, goals, and target audience?
Rebel’s brand belief is the transformative power of sport, so showing the positive impact of sport on your mental health was well aligned from the get-go. The trickier piece was finding the right balance between the promotional and campaign messaging.
Were there any alternative concepts or ideas considered during the ideation phase? If so, what led to the selection of the final concept?
Our initial concept revolved around using numbers in sport – jerseys, field markings, lane numbers, etc – to highlight mental health statistics and quantify the benefit of sport on mental health. It was a good approach, but wasn’t without its complications (e.g; focusing too much on the problem, statistics with long descriptors, etc.). We were lucky we had lead time, so we kept pushing.
Can you discuss any collaborative or interdisciplinary aspects of the ideation process, such as working with other departments or external partners?
It was really cool collaborating with Twitch and exploring what a partnership with NBA2K would look like. The latest edition had a similar release date to our campaign, and we looked into what a fund-raising game with Twitchers would look like, including court mods and all.
How did you ensure that the concept remained innovative and stood out in a crowded marketplace?
In a saturated Mental Health Awareness Month, our approach was to keep the concept as real and relatable as possible. We started with real basketballers and telling their real stories of support. We had plenty of colour and vibrancy to work with from our illustrations and, with Adidas on board, the rest of the apparel and footwear naturally stood out.
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
Firstly, the campaign has been Rebel’s most successful Lifeline campaign ever, with over AUD$667k in total campaign donations (+5% YoY). That will go a long way toward helping Lifeline continue its vital work. Secondly, if our messaging gets more Australians moving their bodies to support their minds, then that’s a huge win, too. And lastly, if Australians continue to see Rebel as a brand that actively supports their mental health, and the mental health of all Australians, then we’ve done our job.
Credit list for the work?
Client Credits:
Managing Director: Gary Williams
Head of Brand Experience: Adam Lee
Head of Marketing: Brock Coleman
Marketing: Georgia Wilson
Creative Lead: Paige Lawless
Photographer: Tony Berlangieri
Agency Credits:
Creative agency: The General Store
Partner and CEO: Matt Newell
Partner: Danny Lattouf
Managing Director: Sophie Lander
Strategy Planner: Angelica Martin
ECD: Sharon Edmondston
Associate Creative Director: Chris Ching
Associate Creative Director: Tristan Cornelius
Account Director: Sascha Jacobs
Designer: Luke Mathers
Production Credits:
Production company: Sam I Am
Executive Producer: Rich Cole
Photographer/Director: Tobias Rowles
Stylist: Jana Bartolo
Post production: Carve & Stitch
Illustration:
Illustrator: Aaron Lowell Denton
