(1888PressRelease)
May 09, 2007 - For many television viewers, the thought of Ultimate Fighting Championship and Mixed Martial Arts draws a different attention than what Pressure sees in this rapidly growing industry. From what’s traditionally labeled a blood sport, the emerging captive audience says otherwise. “UFC is so big,” exclaims Pressure’s CEO & creative director, Barron Lau, “It’s become a lifestyle incorporating music, fitness and fashion.” In an industry where fighters are offered large 6 figure sponsorship contracts, and in a market that has already expanded across Japan, UK, and North America, there are still new avenues for this industry waiting to be discovered.
Pressure* was chosen to design the clothing line for the biggest names in combat sport. The match between spirit and design couldn’t be better. Pressure is at the forefront of their market, sports, and consumers. Pressure* also actively manages Fightlab.com, to actively share analysis and predictions of ongoing tournaments. By taking elements of the scene they know, the team reinterpreted its expression to drive modern fashion forward. Taking their industry and turning it into a fashion trend, a series of clothing lines were launched for fighters George St. Pierre, Randy Couture, Sam Stout, and Mark Hominick.
MMA didn’t get to where they are today without a fight. In 1990, UFC held pay-per-view channels to showcase no holds-bar matches from different martial arts disciplines. Every fight is dynamic since contenders were different. By the mid-90’s MMA underwent huge political controversy and as a result fighting matches and televised channels were banned by many states.
This drove the sport underground in North America as it became a huge sensation in Japan. Zuffa bought out UFC. They took the sport and applied rules necessary to turn a perceived spectacle to a sport. Nevada’s state athletic commission sanctioned the revised guidelines. By the beginning of 2005, The Ultimate Fighter on Spike became mainstream TV. The reality TV show beat down similar programming and began launching multitude matches a year. They remain unbeatable from worldwide competitors to date.
Pressure* is Toronto’s first all competition creative outsource studio specializing in viral, guerilla, buzz, social and word-of-mouth marketing. Pressure, formerly known as DIG (Digital Impressions Group), was founded in 1999 with the mandate to provide creative design and execution within all media form. The studio is raising the bar with its competition-level quality standards and wouldn’t expect anything less for their client.
