Carlsberg’s Star-Studded Euro 2012 ‘Fan Academy’ Spot

With amusing appearances by actor Brian Blessed, Ray Mears and former England full back and current youth team manager Stuart Pearce, Carlsberg has launching a star-studded patriotic UK campaign that also features Sir Bobby Charlton, Ian Wright and Des Lynam.

Leveraging its position as both the official beer of UEFA’s Euro 2012 and of the England team, the spearhead TVC launched on 12 May during Sky Sport’s ‘Soccer AM’ show.

The spot, called ‘Fan Academy’, was created by Fold7 and uses a light-hearted tone to depict England fans physically and mentally being put through their paces at the ‘Fan Academy’, by a stream of famous-faced teachers.

The idea is that this experience shows what it really takes to be a “true England fan.”

Once a fan graduates successfully, they are, of course, rewarded with a pint of Carlsberg.

The objective of the campaign is to build anticipation and momentum in the run-up to the tournament kick off and to celebrate the special experience of being an England fan.

“In ‘Fan Academy’, Fold7 have delivered a characteristically Carlsberg campaign, which we are sure will resonate with the nation,” claims Carlsberg Marketing Director Darren Morris

Ryan Newey, co founder, Fold7 said: “We wanted a change of focus from previous years and to celebrate the fans, showing what we do as a nation to get behind our team. England has the best fans in the world and we wanted to celebrate this, whilst retaining the quintessentially English sense of humour”.

The creative director on the ad was Ryan Newey, who worked with creatives David Govier and Simon Johnson. The production company was Academy Films, with direction by Peter Cattaneo. OMD handled the media planning and buying.

Comments:

Before every major World Cup or European Championship tournament, there are always new commercials released in England that are irreverent, leverage previous England anguish and struggle and try to tap into the heightened awareness and interest.

This Carlsberg spot is a classic example of that advertising genre – with the bonus of some amusing acting to boot.

This work from the beer brand backs up its existing pan-European activation that includes its Dual Screen Euro 2012 App – launched to mark the 100-day countdown to kick off – and its Facebook Ticket Challenge which first launched in autumn 2012.

Carlsberg has also previously rolled out a more general global team passion TV Spot to build pre tournament excitement and leverage the brand’s sponsorship of the competition.