Leveraging the last 16 stage of the Champions League, official UEFA sponsor Mastercard launched an inspiring short film, called ’22 Languages’, which sees 22 football fans from around the world come together to play a match and compete for 11 UEFA Champions League tickets.
The spot’s narrative twist follows the final whistle after an intense, high stakes match when back in the changing room all of the participating players are given a ‘priceless moment’ when they are personally handed tickets and a chance to chance to trophy by none other than Pelé.
The three-minute online film debuted on Mastercard’s digital and social channels on 12 February.
Check out our new short-film, 22 Languages, and watch football legend @Pele #StartSomethingPriceless with 22 amateur players from around the world https://t.co/v5cGVgKyL9 https://t.co/VERVn39Lf6
— MastercardEU (@MastercardEU) February 12, 2018
The message is simple as Mastercard and Pele unify football fans from around the world by to #StartSomethingPriceless
As part of the campaign, the football icon himself identified three UEFA Champions League occasions that he felt unified the footballing world, empowered change and started something priceless happening.
The first of these occasions was when cancer survivor Éric Abidal was given the honour of lifting UEFA Champions League Trophy for FC Barcelona, another saw Oliver Kahn of Bayern Munich choose consolation over celebration as he comforted Valencia’s Cañizares after losing the UEFA Champions League and the third of Pele’s examples was when Manchester United fans recognised ‘talent over ream’ by giving Real Madrid’s Brazilian striker Ronaldo a lengthy standing ovation as he left the field after scoring a winning hat trick against them at Old Trafford.
“I remember when I got a crucial message from my father when I was young ‘you are going to be a very good footballer, but most importantly you have to be a good person and a good man’ and those words have always stuck with me,” explained Pelé.
“While we all love the competition that comes with sport, it’s more important what we do as people on and off the field. Football is a great unifier and these UEFA Champions League moments truly capture the #StartSomethingPriceless sentiment.”
“Football is a unifying force across the world and there is no better example of this than the UEFA Champions League,” added Mastercard chief marketing officer Raja Rajamannar.
“Our campaign is about supporting one another to inspire change and the UEFA Champions League is truly unique in traversing borders and transforming the lives of both players and fans.”
Comment:
The launch of this new football phase of #StartSomethingPriceless is not only timed to leverage excitement around the last 16 stage of the UEFA Champions League, but it also follows on from Mastercard’s 9 February announcement that it has renewed its UEFA Champions League partnership for the 2018-2021 tournament cycle.
This will see the global payments and financial technology partner continue its relationship with UEFA’s Champions League and it also includes sponsorship rights to the UEFA Super Cup in 2018, 2019 and 2020.
Mastercard has been an official supporter of Europe’s top club competition for more than 20 years and at the core of its activation sits its programme offering children from around the world the chance to become tournament Player Mascots: giving them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to walk onto the pitch alongside some of the game’s biggest stars before UEFA Champions League matches.
“Longevity is instrumental in building successful partnerships, and we are delighted to extend our relationship with Mastercard,” said UEFA Events SA Marketing Director Guy-Laurent Epstein when the deal was announced.
“Partnering with a global brand such as Mastercard presents many benefits and opportunities for UEFA and we are excited about continuing our excellent relationship over the coming years. As an industry leading technology company, we look forward to further collaboration with Mastercard, as the role of digital becomes increasingly important in building deeper connections with global audiences.”
Javier Pérez, President Mastercard Europe, added: “We are very proud to renew our long-standing sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League. Key sporting events are a great way for us to directly connect fans across the world to their passion. We will also continue to create innovative business-building opportunities for our partners. As we enjoy our 24th year as an official sponsor, we are excited to witness new priceless moments at this year’s UEFA Champions League Final in Kyiv. Looking forward to ‘Start Something Priceless’ for at least another three years!”
This deal is the fourth UEFA partnership extension for the 2018-21 sponsorship sales process for the Champions League: with existing partners Heineken, Nissan and PepsiCo all recently penning new deals and Santander joining as a new partner.
The worldwide sales of all UEFA club competition sponsorship rights are being carried out by TEAM Marketing AG on UEFA’s behalf.
Links:
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