• by Larissa Faw , June 10, 2016

SOG Knives & Tools is launching its "Mission-Grade" campaign from Hanson Dodge Creative, its recently appointed AOR.

The creative is designed to expand the customer base of the Navy Seal knife brand of choice to a broader range of hunting, active, and everyday consumers. 

The creative juxtaposes mundane tasks performed with normal multi-tools with scenes depicting elite professionals performing these same tasks in situations that are "anything but every day," says the agency. 

For instance, one spot shows someone with a SOG tool tightening the screws on the helmet of a man wearing a wingman flight jumpsuit just before he plunges off a cliff.  

The new campaign is based on research that today's consumers respect and identify with the people who do it best: the elite. "The people whose jobs, and sometimes their lives, depend on their tools. Their spirit of toughness, their expertise, prowess and demand for the highest standards earn these elite professionals the respect of SOG’s target audience. And by association, respect for the SOG brand," the agency stated. 

Digital videos are designed to teach outdoor enthusiasts tasks that can be performed with these knives, including how to start a fire, open bottles and cans, and cut wire. 

Ads appear in print publications including Outside, Men's Journal, Men's Health, Field & Stream, and Tactical World. The videos will be distributed via a targeted digital strategy, focusing on YouTube before expanding to other social media channels.  

In 2013, SOG first worked with HDC to develop a new brand positioning that included a new tagline, “Take Point,” and was implemented through SOG’s first comprehensive national consumer ad campaign, “Rise to the Occasion.”