OCEAN CITY – A new short film featuring the 49th annual White Marlin Open can now be found on social media accounts as part of a national sports apparel brand campaign.
As hundreds of anglers descended on Ocean City this summer to participate in the White Marlin Open, a film crew representing Under Armour Fish climbed aboard two participating boats to gather footage for the company’s new short film, “Wide Open.”
While Under Armour Fish has been a corporate sponsor of the tournament in recent years, Zac Fox, marketing manager for the outdoor brand at Under Armour, said the Baltimore-based company was looking for more ways to get involved with the sportfishing community.
“A lot of what we’ve been working on as part of the outdoor brand is trying to integrate ourselves within the culture of sportfishing,” he said. “A lot of that entails getting a lot more up close and personal with the actual captains, mates and anglers on each boat. That’s sort of where the idea for the film came about.”
Working with Idea Ranch, the marketing agency for Under Armour Fish, a film crew followed two teams, PYY Fishing and Payload Sportfishing, as they battled it out for a chance to win big at this year’s White Marlin Open.
“For people that are at the tournament, watching at the scales, or for people who have no idea what the tournament is or live halfway across the country, it’s almost like a first-person view into what it’s like and what goes into a tournament,” said Jake Poplin, social/PR account manager for Idea Ranch.