| Title | SUPRISE SELECTION |
| Brand | SPECIAL OLYMPICS |
| Product/Service | PLAY UNIFIED |
| Category |
C05. Influencer Communication & Social Amplification |
|
Entrant
|
LDV UNITED Antwerp, BELGIUM
|
|
Idea Creation
|
LDV UNITED Antwerp, BELGIUM
|
|
PR
|
WAVEMAKERS Waasmunster, BELGIUM
|
Credits
| Dennis Vandewalle |
LDV United |
Copywriter |
| Dries De Bruyn |
LDV United |
Art Director |
| Kristof Snels |
LDV United |
Creative Director |
| Jilze Gerritsen |
LDV United |
Account Manager |
| Tomas Sweertvaegher |
LDV United |
Strategic Director |
| Eline Goethals |
LDV United |
Strategic Planner |
| Kevin Wittevrongel |
LDV United |
Strategic Planner |
| Dimitri Mundorff |
LDV United |
Head of Account |
| Zehra Sayin |
Special Olympics Belgium |
Co-CEO |
| Inge De Roeck |
Special Olympics Belgium |
Communicatie medewerker |
| Catalina Daniëls |
Special Olympics Belgium |
Co-CEO |
| Innie Tran |
LDV United |
Account Executive |
| Jeffrey Uten |
LDV United |
Brand Designer |
| Nick Gorrebeeck |
LDV United |
Digital Producer |
| Petra De Roos |
LDV United |
Managing Director |
The Campaign
What would draw enough attention to introduce, explain and establish Play Unified in one go?
What if we let the Coach of our National Soccer team call up unannounced 8 totally unknown names at the official selection, the names of athletes with a mental disability.
We addressed the national press when they were all ears, at the official selection for the national soccer team. They are always looking for a scoop on new players being selected for the national team. But they weren’t expecting this. 8 unknown names belonging to 8 athletes with a mental disability (special football players). 8 Athletes who would play a unified game with our national football heroes.
There’s no message more empowering than calling up special football players in the same breath as the best football players of the country.
Execution
September 30th: the official press conference for the selection of the national soccer team. National coach Martinez reads the names of the players to the gathered Belgian press. When the selection is over, he surprises everyone by adding unannounced 8 unknown players to the team.
During the following 3 days, the spotlight is on Play Unified. #playunified becomes a hot topic.
3rd of October, the Unified game between our national football players and special athletes takes place under massive media and public attention.
From the official press conference, the spotlight was on #playunified, and we kept it there. During, before and after the game we got coverage in national newspapers, the big television journals and radio stations. #playunified was a hot topic on social media, and everyone could witness the joy of Playing Unified.
We didn’t ask the national football heroes to donate money, we asked them to donate their spotlight. With no media budget and little owned reach, we managed to get and hold the spotlight on Play Unified, leading to a peek in site traffic, huge press coverage (radio, tv, print, online) and social media attention thanks to our 8 football heroes, leading to a total reach of more than 30 million and almost 2 million euro in earned media.
Our greatest accomplishment: we finally got the attention of national sports Federations (football, bowling, tennis, badminton). Thanks to these partnerships, we changed the course of #playunified in Belgium. Now, hundreds of clubs and thousands of athletes will discover the joy of Playing Unified, achieving our most important victory: creating social inclusion through sports by playing on one team. One press a whole new perspective on players with a mental disability.
The Situation
We hijacked one of the most anticipated press event in sports in Belgium to put the spotlight on Play Unified.
September 30th: the official press conference for the Red Devils selection. Coach Martinez adds unannounced 8 unknown players to the team. Play Unified immediately became a hot topic.
October 3rd: media and public attention peaked when it mattered most: on the first ever Red Devils Unified game, leading to a reach of 30 million, and 2 million euro in earned media with no media budget. The whole of Belgium could see and experience the joy of Playing Unified.
The Strategy
We wanted to reach every sports lover in Belgium with no media budget. We called in the help of our national soccer team. Football is the most popular sport and football players are national heroes, with a lot of social media followers. We didn’t ask them to donate money, we asked them to donate their spotlight: we hijacked the official press conference for the selection of the national team and we organised a Unified game.
This gave us not one influencer but 8, each with thousands of followers amplifying our message to the public.
This gave us the stage to tell our story, but also to show it: the Unified game with special athletes and national football heroes was played under massive public and media attention. Everyone could see and experience the joy of Playing Unified through their eyes.
That's when we activated them to sign up at playunified.be