Coca-Cola UK leveraged its Premier League partnership to support its alliance with youth charity StreetGames through a summer campaign called ‘Ball Games Allowed’ that aims to provide young people with greater access to football grounds and to coaches.
The Coke campaign is fronted by former England and Spurs midfielder and current pundit Jermaine Jenas and it centres on giving fans the chance to win Premier League tickets and support football charity StreetGames which sees the brand boost the charity via access to coaches and pitches.
The initiative emerged from research revealing that 50% of young people say it is difficult to play in their local community and thus the campaign title reflects this fact through the frequent ‘no ball games’ signs dotted around so many UK residential areas.
The campaign is led by a pair of short films and an on-pack promotion that was designed to drive awareness of the many barriers and challenges faced by youngsters in accessing support from coaches and finding space to play football.
The multi-brand, on-pack promotional strand gives consumers an opportunity to win tickets to Premier League games and runs from 22 July to the start of September.
The two social and digital spots are ‘Coaches’,
and ‘Pitches’.
They both feature Jenas discussing how football kept him out of trouble when he was young and youngsters discussing the challenges of playing football and how important the game is to their physical and mental well-being.
The videos also call for more football spaces and access to coaches.
“Football gave me everything when I was young – it took me away from anything bad and put a smile on my face,” commented Jenas.
“But it’s clear that there is still a lack of football spaces and coaches, particularly in more disadvantaged areas.”
Kris Robbens, marketing director ar Coca-Cola Great Britain and Ireland, added: “Football has an incredible power to bring people together and break down barriers, and we want to celebrate that. But we know that many young people are still struggling to access pitches to play or support from coaches, so we want to address that. By working together with StreetGames, we want to give more aspiring footballers the opportunity to play in their local areas.”
The on-pack promotion was created by Haygarth with pack design by Bullet Proof.
While the above-the-line work was by M&C Saatchi and M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment (the creatives were Phillip Meyler and Darren Keff) and the films were directed by Sam Huntley through M&C Film.
The media agency was MediaCom.
Comment:
This cause led initiative leverages the build up to the start of the Premier League’s 2019/20 season – which kicks off on 10 August.
This Coca-Cola initiative also follows on from the brand’s Premier League campaign in February 2019 which sought to put real fans front and centre of a Premier League sponsorship campaign that celebrated all the everyday fans who play a role in making the league the most diverse and exciting in the world (see case study).
This work promoted the drinks behemoth’s 3.5 year Premier League partnership (its biggest sports sponsorship in the UK) which aims to act as a core pillar in its project to boost its business beyond its core brand and drive sales of its healthier, low and no-sugar variants (Diet Coke and Coke Zero Sugar).
Coca-Cola is in the 10th year of its partnership with StreetGames.
StreetGames believes sport has a critical part to play in addressing the issues faced by those living in the poorest communities and it sets out to harness the power of sport to create positive change in the lives of disadvantaged young people across the UK.
StreetGames’ work helps to make young people and their communities healthier, safer and more successful and through sport, StreetGames aims to empower young people to kick-start a cycle of positive change that echoes throughout their entire community.
StreetGames’ central programme – ‘Doorstep Sport‘ – encapsulates many of these important qualities, offering fun and informal sports clubs that work to meet the needs of today’s disadvantaged young people – 70% of whom are not involved in structured activity elsewhere.
They do this by operating according to the ‘Five Rights of StreetGames’: being carried out at the right time, in the right place, with the right people, for the right price and in the right style to suit the needs of these LSEG youth.
StreetGames’ work is delivered in partnership with the StreetGames Alliance of around 1,000 Locally Trusted Organisations, working in disadvantaged communities across the UK.
The collective power and reach of this alliance enables unparalleled access to young people growing up in over 4,000 poverty-hit localities.
The organisations that make up the StreetGames Alliance maintain industry standards for safeguarding, insurance, health and safety, and equalities and diversity.
Each is a self-determining organisation that is independently managed and funded. Most are charities, legally constituted community groups or Community Interest Companies. All are embedded in their ‘hard to reach’ neighbourhood.
With 3.5 million UK children currently living in poverty and fewer than a quarter of them meeting national guidelines for recommended daily activity, research shows that young people from the lowest economic bracket are three times more likely to suffer with mental illness than a counterpart from the highest-earning group.
StreetGames believes in fair play, both in sport and in life.
With only £3.21 to spend on sports activities per week – compared to the national average of £12.11 – struggling families just can’t afford to keep pace. That’s why StreetGames has made it its mission to level the playing field.
Through ‘Fit and Fed’, StreetGames tackles the hidden issue of holiday hunger and inactivity, through nutritious meals and fun, healthy activities.
While its ‘Us Girls’ initiative sees StreetGames work to empower young women within a holistic and supportive environment – tackling the everyday sexism that presents a barrier to participation in sport.
StreetGames also supports the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Links:
Coca-Cola UK & Ireland
https://www.instagram.com/cocacolaeu/
https://twitter.com/cocacola_gb
https://www.facebook.com/cocacolaGB/
https://www.youtube.com/user/cocacolacompanyuk
https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company
M&C Saatchi
M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment
https://sportandentertainment.mcsaatchi.com/
StreetGames
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