MARIO'S GOAL

TitleMARIO'S GOAL
BrandSAMSUNG
Product/ServiceSAMSUNG GALAXY
Category E05. Use of Licenced or Adapted Music for a Brand or Campaign
Entrant CHEIL GERMANY Frankfurt, GERMANY
Idea Creation CHEIL GERMANY Frankfurt, GERMANY
Production TEMPOMEDIA Frankfurt, GERMANY
Production 2 ACHT FRANKFURT Frankfurt, GERMANY
Additional Company YESSIAN MUSIC Hamburg, GERMANY
Additional Company 2 A.R.T STUDIOS Frankfurt, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Roland Rudolf Cheil Germany Chief Creative Officer
Joern Welle Cheil Germany Executive Creative Director
Harald Linsenmeier Cheil Germany Freelance
Jens Orillo Cheil Germany Freelance
Alphons Conzen Cheil Germany Freelance
Arnab Biswas Cheil Germany Creative Director
Sabrina Lienig Cheil Germany Senior Art Director
Chris Druecks Cheil Germany Senior Copywriter
Moritz Gillrath Cheil Germany Senior Producer
Stefan Prilipp Cheil Germany Business Director
Jonas Niedling Cheil Germany Account Executive
Christiane Lobenstein Cheil Germany Senior Planning Director
Deveroe Reuter Cheil Germany Freelance
Ralf Schipper Tempomedia Founder
Christian Gilardoni Tempomedia Producer
Stuart McIntyre Tempomedia Director
Ross Giardana Tempomedia Cinematographer
Roman Muellegger Tempomedia 2nd DoP
Peer Arne Sveistrup Tempomedia Editor
Pana Argueta nhb Studios Berlin Colorist
Nadine Chodan Acht Frankfurt Producer
Axel Klostermann Acht Frankfurt VFX Supervisor
Ingmar Rehberg Yessian Music Producer
Max Fritz Yessian Music Sound Designer
Philipp Lenz A.R.T. Studios Audio Engineer

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

The commercial shows what a strong and positive impact the right choice of a song as a creative piece of entertainment can have on commercial content. The adapted music was a major factor in the spot's widespread success and caused intense reactions from football fans as well as the national media.

Background

Most people in Germany expected Mario Götze, who shot Germany to the Football Championship in Brazil, to play again in the 2018 World Cup. But after a rocky season, he wasn't nominated by Germany's head coach Jogi Löw. Samsung as a sponsor of both, Germany's national football team as well as Mario Götze himself, chose to stand by the midfielder and thus told the story of his defeat in an unusually honest way. And, by doing so, also conveyed Mario's personal message to the whole nation: That he will do everything in his power to come back stronger than ever.

Describe the creative idea

Set to the song and lyrics of the song “HURT” in the iconic cover version of Johnny Cash as well as original soundbites from press and TV, we tell the story of Mario Götze, the famous scorer of Germany’s winning 2014 World Cup goal – and how his hopes where brutally smashed of being part of 2018 national football team due to an injury and a low performance. But feeling encouraged by people across all of Germany, and by reminding himself of his greatest achievement, Mario shares two important messages with his former teammates and with his fans: that he wishes them all the best for the World Cup, and that he will “will find a way” – working harder than ever for a comeback. Because while you can’t always win, you should always keep trying.

Describe the strategy

"Hurt", originally written by Trenz Reznor of Nine Inch Nails, became a career-defining song for the late Johnny Cash. While the lyrics literally deal with drug abuse and depression, they also speak in a broader sense of doubts and personal defeats – but also maintain a glimmer of hope or the promise of redemption. It was this metaphorical match to the acute state of Mario Götze's career combined with the harsh contrast the song posed against the usually highly energetic, hip-hop-culture influenced music often associated with sports commercials, that promised to be a disruptive and compelling choice. A choice that could instantly grab the audience's attention while for once presenting Mario Götze not as some elevated sports hero, but a human being, fractured yet unbroken. And thus turn Samsung into the champion, no matter what, for anybody who has to overcome barriers in life.

Describe the execution

The spot aired during the Football World Cup in June 2018 on social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook, in cinemas across Germanys as well as in a slightly shorter version as TV commercial on major German television channels.

Describe the outcome

Results and impact related to the use of the "Hurt": 220M impressions and reach +150% of streamings of „Hurt“ on SPOTIFY during the campaign period +377% of streamings of „Hurt“ on APPLE MUSIC(!) during the campaign period +894% of SHAZAMS during the campaign period „Hurt“ becoming the #1 song on the German AMAZON streaming charts Finally, the commercial and its song struck such a strong chord with the audience across all media, that "Hurt" was picked up as the closing song by national television channel ZDF after the German team's historical defeat and elimination in the first round of the World Cup.