The National Football League (NFL)’s 2021 season hype spot transforms a well-known pre-game ‘call-and-response’ refrain into a declaration of the bond between the league, the players and the fans.
Launched on 6 September, ahead of the 9 September kick-off, ‘We Run As One’ is a passionate, energetic 60-second spot created by agency 72andSunny and directors Hudson Dusters (aka Michael Kuhn and Niles Roth).
It features a strong team of NFL stars, influencers and fans who shout themselves hoarse in what the agency describes as ‘a thunderous proclamation of mutual love, respect and admiration’: ‘Who Got My Back? I/We Got Your Back’.
The hero spot ran across television and on league and team online platforms linked by the #Kickoff2021, #WeRunAsOne and #NFL hashtags promoted the 8.20pm EST season opener between Super Bowl champs Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys and it generated 2.2m YouTube views on the NFL’s own channel within 48 hours.
The spot features both NFL stars (Aaron Donald of the LA Rams, DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals, Cam Jordan of the New Orleans Saints, Derrick Henry of the Tennessee Titans, Justin Herbert of the LA Chargers and DeVonta Smith of the Philadelphia Eagles), plus a group of influencers (including Deestroying, Gerald Huston, India Love, Nick Mercs and Reginae Carter) and members of several youth teams (led by LA’s Watts Rams and Las Vegas based Apex Predators).
Run with your team, your coach, your crew, your family, your heart and with us. Together, We Run As One. 9.9.21. #WeRunAsOne #Kickoff2021 pic.twitter.com/I7jFTb3OSa
— NFL (@NFL) September 6, 2021
“After a year apart, it was important for us to reunite the players with the fans,” explained 72andSunny Executive Creative Director Zach Hilder. “Their unbreakable connection is the heart of this game as well as the heart of this campaign.”
The campaign was created for the NFL by creative agency 72andSunny Los Angeles, with production by Greenpoint Pictures, Directors The Hudson Dusters, with editorial handled by Exile and music by Human.
Comment:
This kind of fervent, symbiotic marketing creative seeks to cast football fandom and team support day as a deep-rooted, intrinsic part of human identity which is woven into the fabric of daily life. It is an approach explored by other sports entities in recent years such as the NBA and Adidas.
Does this spot quite achieve that objective? We will leave it up to you to decide.
The spot drops and the season starts with stadiums expected to host crowds around full capacity after most games last year were played behind-closed-doors due to Covid-19. Although the Delta variant will present challenges through the season.
This campaign is part of the NFL’s push to maintain its number one status in the US big leagues as it battles against recent ratings drops (NFL ratings were down 7% last year according to Nielsen) and the a challenge from the NBA which tends to drive cultural conversation
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