Football Legends Gerrard & Cafu Fly Down Memory Lane In UEFA Partner Turkish Airlines UCL Campaign

Turkish Airlines, an official partner of the UEFA Champions League, leveraged the 2023 Final (played on 1 June in Istanbul’s Atatürk Olympic Stadium) with a campaign fronted by football legends and former UCL rivals Steven Gerrard and Cafu who played in the famous 2005 final in the same stadium which saw Liverpool FC come from behind to dramatically beat AC Milan.

 

The campaign, created by Publicis Istanbul, Imaj Online and Audentity, was spearheaded by a hero TV commercial and online video which saw the stars take a trip down memory lane and then take to the vibrant streets of Istanbul as their epic clash 18 years ago links to the next generation of stars seeking Champions League glory. 

 

The visual narrative arc was set to a sonic audio track from Audentity which mixed ‘trap-like beats’ to the infectious rhythms of ‘reggaeton’ infused with a Middle Eastern musical feel through use of the Zurna.

 

The ‘More Than A Final – Turkish Airlines’ ad debuted on-air and online on 28 April linked to supporting social content through the hashtags #TurkishAirlines #RoadToİstanbul #UCL #MoreThanAFinal.

 

 

The campaign was created by a team at agency Publicis İstanbul which included Agency Producers Arzu Koksal and Eren Karabacakoglu, Creative Ercan Akkaya and Producers Ender Sevim, Burak Erdener and Birol Akbaba.

 

Post and VFX were handled by Imaj Online Coordinator Serkan Dogru, Editor Artun Topcudere, VFX Supervisor Burak Balkan, VFX Artist Serdar Yildiz, 3D Artist Cihan Çiçekel and Colourist Bora Goksingol

 

While music and sound was by Audentity where the team on the project included Sound Technician Okan Ondu, Composers Niels Den Otter and Ian Alken.

 

 

Comment

 

It was in September 2022 that Turkish Airlines became an official UEFA Champions League partner in a deal that also saw it become a sponsor of the UEFA Super Cup, the UEFA Futsal Champions League finals, and the UEFA Youth League finals.

 

This UCL Final linked campaign followed on from the airline’s other June 2023 UCL marketing which included ‘Miles & Smiles’ content and ‘The Epic Challenge’ social series.