THE LAND OF NEW FOOTBALL

Short List
TitleTHE LAND OF NEW FOOTBALL
BrandNIKE
Product/ServiceEC21
Category D01. Sports: Film, Series & Audio
Entrant WIEDEN+KENNEDY AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Idea Creation WIEDEN+KENNEDY AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
Media Placement MINDSHARE London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production TRIM EDITING London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 2 PARLOPHONE RECORDS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Production 3 STINK FILMS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Post Production GRAND CENTRAL RECORDING STUDIOS London, UNITED KINGDOM
Post Production 2 THE MILL London, UNITED KINGDOM
Credits
Name Company Position
Blake Harrop Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Managing Director
Eric Quennoy Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Executive Creative Director
Mark Bernath Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Executive Creative Director
Evgeny Primachenko Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Creative Director
Craig Williams Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Creative Director
Güney Soykan Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Art Director
Ane Santiago Quintas Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Copywriter
Mohamed Diaa Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Copywriter
Joe Togneri Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Head of Broadcast Production
Khalid El Khouani Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Broadcast Producer
Magda Czyz Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Broadcast Producer
Kathryn Addo Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Group Account Director
Franky Wardell Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Account Director
Abderrahim El Khouani Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Account Manager
Margot Paquien Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Account Manager
Roberta Hilgert Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Account Executive
Martin Weigel Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Head of Planning
Reid Schilperoort Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Planning Director
Alex Janneau Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Planner
Danielle Pak Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Head of Comms & Digital Strategy
Elsa Stahura Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Comms Director
Lizzie Murray Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Studio Director
Loes Poot Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Studio Manager
Yaleesa Waëlauruw Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Designer
Lewis Beedham Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Motion Designer
Lieke Milder Freelance Motion Designer
Justin Magness Freelance Motion Designer
Sohyeon Nam Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Motion Designer
David Schaegerstrom Freelance Motion Designer
Michael Graves Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Head of Business Affairs
Fiona Fan Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Business Affairs
Akvilina Jaskunaite Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam Business Affairs
Felix Brady Stink Films Director

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

The film imagines all the football pitches in the world stitched to one another forming a gigantic piece of land, from where the new generation of players declare their independence from the old ways of the game. Featuring a wide variety of athletes, from professional footballers like Marcus Rashford, Sara Däbritz and Richarlison, to JJ Roble, the UK’s first Muslim referree, and local football communities around Europe like Alesia FC in France or Football Beyond Borders in the UK.

Background

Right now, football feels like it’s at an inflection point—at any given time, it can represent the best of humanity, or the worst. But, too often we were seeing football represent the worst version of us (racism, homophobia, inequity). As a result, people’s belief in the power of sport was waning. Our brief became clear, we needed to restore people’s faith in the power of football by showing them what this beautiful game is capable of.

Describe the creative idea

The Land of New Football is like the old one, minus the nonsense. We imagined football as a land made of ALL the pitches in the world stitched together – celebrating the scale and power of the well over 3 billion players and fans who play on their own terms, and saying no to the dated ways of the game. The idea sets a new vision for global football where there is room for all, treating the community as a nation and building on that idea through different touch points.

Describe the strategy

Our target audience was Gen-Z—8-23 years old, all genders (equally focused on women). This was a departure from the more sport-focused, masculine audience we normally target. Instead of going full on sport performance, we wanted to tap into a broader, Gen-Z insight. We know that this generation is hungry to make change, improve their lives, and ultimately make the world a better place (more so than previous generations). So, our approach was to show them how football can become a platform to make those things possible. We knew our work needed to celebrate the best, most progressive parts of the game and dismiss any of the non-sense. By doing that, we were able to highlight the athletes who are using football to drive real change in the world. Ultimately, encouraging others to follow suit by tapping into the power, diversity, and scale of football.

Describe the execution

For three weeks while the Euros tournament swept the continent, we spread our vision for a land of new football everywhere that footballers were consuming the beautiful game. Our film ran in TV, cinema and across digital channels in eight countries across Europe, as well as South Africa. In Nike’s global social channels, we spotlighted the real heroes of football who are changing the game for the better in their communities. And in Snapchat, we let kids broadcast the magic happening on their own pitches with custom World Lenses.

Describe the outcome

Our film garnered over 130 million views in nine countries during the Euros tournament. In digital channels, we achieved 25% coverage and over 44 million completed views of the film.