How Josefine Cardoni Captured Real Athletes in Their Element with WHOOP
When it comes to brand storytelling, few things are more powerful – or harder to pull off – than true authenticity. Making a brand resonate within culture in a way that feels organic, not manufactured, takes real creative precision. And that’s exactly what SOFTSPOT* director Josefine Cardoni delivers in WHOOP’s latest high-impact anthem campaign.
Faced with a brief for four separate brand films, SOFTSPOT* devised an anthemic film that would elevate the brand's core motifs. Shot on a grand scale and crafted with an eye for honesty over artifice, the campaign is a powerful statement of intent for the elite fitness tracker brand. Through four striking films, it captures the raw intensity of real training sessions with world-class athletes, including track and field sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, legendary climber Alex Honnold, the Alpecin cycling team, and Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes – placing WHOOP not just alongside them, but right at the core of their performance rituals.
To find out more about how the films came together, and what steps she took to ensure that sense of authenticity shone through in every frame of the ads, LBB caught up with Josefine Cardoni.
LBB> Josefine, what kind of vision did the team have at the outset of this campaign, and to what extent does it align with the finished ads?
Josefine> Our vision from the beginning was to create a campaign that highlighted the product through personality-driven stories. We were able to feature amazing athletes in these spots, and we allowed the uniqueness of their personalities to help motivate our decisions.
I created a general visual language to follow to keep the campaign cohesive, but within that framework, we allowed ourselves room to explore different facets that felt authentic to the talent and better showcased each aspect of the product they wanted to highlight.
I feel like the finished product reflects our original intentions. Each spot feels specific to each talent, while also feeling part of the same campaign.
LBB> How did the anthem come about? Was it always the plan or was it developed as you shot each individual film?
Josefine> The anthem was something I had in the back of my mind from the very beginning of this job. It was a piece I envisioned as my director’s cut – a way to bring all these incredible athletes together in one powerful spot. We always thought it could really showcase the full scope of what Whoop has to offer, while also capitalising on the star power and variety of locations we had access to throughout the campaign.
After we put together a V1, Vertel and Tomas (SOFTSPOT EPs) ended up sharing it with the WHOOP team, and they loved it. We ended up being able to sell it through as another official piece for the brand, which was super exciting.
LBB> What was your grand vision for the anthem and how it could come together?
Josefine> From the start, I was thinking about how we could stitch all the individual pieces together into one cohesive, epic anthem. Since everything was part of the same campaign, we had the opportunity to build a strong visual language and tone that carried through each shoot. That consistency – in things like lighting philosophy, camera movement, action direction, and edit rhythm – allowed each standalone moment to feel like it belonged to a larger whole.
The idea was to then create a rhythmic edit that wove together shots of different athletes resting, training, and preparing, each in their own way, but all connected by the shared intensity of, and never-ending dedication to, their sport.
I also want to give a huge shoutout to our editor, Cobi Byrne, who was instrumental in making this vision a reality! For each piece, he understood the energy instantly and was truly integral to bringing these pieces to life.
LBB> The films are all very visceral and tactile, making the audience feel part of the workout. Was that always the objective?
Josefine> Definitely! These are qualities I like to play with in my work, and they were a big part of the WHOOP campaign. We wanted to show that while these are some of the best athletes in the world, WHOOP isn’t just for athletes. We wanted the spots to feel inspirational and relatable, creating portraits that allow us to admire the athletes’ talent and see how WHOOP helps them succeed and, in turn, can help us succeed.
LBB> Is there anything you do which is unique to filming with professional athletes? Is there a particular trick or method you use to capture their movement authentically, for example?
Josefine> When working with athletes it’s important to find out what feels natural to them. Especially with these spots, WHOOP really wanted their actions and workouts to feel authentic to how they genuinely train. I love this approach because the athletes usually feel and look more comfortable on camera. It always sucks to force talent to do things they are clearly not into, so communication was a big thing.
It’s especially helpful when a trainer or movement coach is present. For example, when we shot with Patrick Mahomes, his trainer Bobby was present. We only had a limited amount of time to shoot with Patrick, so it was really important to be clear and concise with the workouts we wanted to see on camera.
Before Patrick came onto set, Bobby, the DP, and I walked around the gym and were able to discuss the moves we wanted. I’d show him some references and photos we’d shot during the scout and say, “We’re looking to shoot a medicine ball workout, a free weights workout, and some stretching. What are moves that you guys actually do in your training that fall into those categories?”
He would show us, and we could adjust from there. We were able to get really aligned, and by the time Patrick was ready to shoot, Bobby was able to communicate clearly to him what moves to do. Our cameras were able to be more like observers in his workout routine, instead of intruders.
This level of communication between the athletes and their trainers enabled us to achieve a balance between a more authentic 'docu-style' approach and a final product that still feels polished and premium.
LBB> What’s the thinking behind the particular athletes WHOOP has partnered with - what makes them the right fit to embody the brand in this way?
Josefine> The WHOOP team put a lot of thought into each athlete we featured, and each facet of the product they chose to highlight with them. We wanted to emphasise the differences in these athletes to showcase the range and dynamism of the product and how it adapts to everyone.
For example, the spot with Sha’Carri is about personalisation: how you can customise everything from the colour of the band to the individualised metrics you track. It makes so much sense to pair this aspect with someone like Sha’Carri, an icon who’s always customising her image to reflect her personality, from her hair to her nails. She’s energetic, she has style, and we wanted the choices we made throughout the spot, from the music to the energetic transitions and fast-paced edit, to reflect that.
For Alex Honnold, our approach was more reserved, as WHOOP wanted to use his story to highlight the deliberate minimalism of their product, showing how the band doesn’t distract, allowing you to focus on the important things. Our camera was far more still here, with more fluid and minimal moves, and a more relaxed energy in the edit to highlight that ideal.
LBB> There’s a variety of locations across the ads. How much ground did you cover in order to get everything you needed from this campaign?
Josefine> We travelled a lot of ground – around 15,800 miles!! Orlando, to Las Vegas, to The French Alps, to Kansas City. We hit a lot of different locations to pull this off. In an effort to stay true to the athletes, we went to them instead of having them come to us.
We often shot in the actual homes and training facilities that these athletes use, which was super unique and I think helped our talent feel more comfortable as well.
When we shot Alex Honnold at a popular climbing spot near his house where he often trains, funnily enough, it actually opened up a fun collaboration between us. During the scout, I took photos of spots we wanted to shoot and showed them to Alex. I’d say, “We want to shoot you walking here and climbing here - what do you think?” and he’d respond, “Oh yeah, I know that spot. That’s too easy. What if I climbed here instead? I’ll be able to get higher, and it’ll give you a cooler shot.” And I’d be like, “Hell yeah! If you’re down, I’m down.” That was super cool.
You have to be a little cautious sometimes to make sure you’re not pushing anyone too far, so it’s always amazing when the talent is excited about what you’re shooting, and wants to help you get the best shots. I love that stuff. If I can leave a shoot knowing that the talent felt comfortable and had a good time, that makes me happy.
LBB> What was the biggest challenge you encountered across the campaign, and how did you overcome it?
Josefine> I think the biggest challenge here was the same challenge a lot of teams face when dealing with high-profile talent: time.
The WHOOP team wanted to capture a lot of variety in what the talent was doing in order to showcase the breadth of their product. This means location moves, outfit changes and more, often within a very small time slot. We managed to pull this off through strong communication and extensive work in pre-production.
The decisions you make and the discussions you have in pre-production usually determine the success of the shoot. This means choosing dynamic locations so we don’t have to move much to get a range of shots, having multiple cameras shooting, working with amazing DPs who can work fast, lighting the space instead of each individual shot, and many meetings with the AD to schedule our day as efficiently as possible.
But the biggest factor is just being flexible. When your location falls through, or the talent is running late, or everything goes wrong and your schedule is screwed, you have to be able to think quickly and adapt to what’s possible. There were many situations where we had only five minutes to prep and shoot a scene, so decisions had to be made on the spot.
Having the trust of the incredible team at WHOOP was also huge on this one, as their flexibility and understanding really allowed us to succeed.
