Chelsea FC’s 2021/22 season shirt launch campaign took star players Mason Mount, Timo Werner, Hakim Ziyech and Callum Hudson-Odoi alongside Magda Eriksson, Fran Kirby, Pernille Harder and Sam Kerr (and academy players Levi Colwill and Lewis Bate) on a trip back to the 1960s in an art inspired marketing push in harness with kit partner Nike and front of shirt sponsor Three.
The psychedelic kit campaign, created by agency 20something and Kode Media, was fronted by young stars of the men’s and women’s teams and was inspired by the 1960s Op-Art movement made famous in London.
This sees the shirt’s dynamic, blueprint graphic reflects the heritage, creativity, style and music of the Kings Road in the 1960s and links it to present day London through the energy and vibrancy synonymous with the new wave of young talent that is propelling the club forwards.
Music is also synonymous with the culture of Chelsea and the King’s Road and the shirt campaign features a reworked version of the 1960’s track ‘Time of the Season’ by The Zombies. The brand’s lead singer Colin Blunstone is a lifelong supporter of the club (and his uncle Frank Blunstone played outside-left for Chelsea from 1953–1964).
Rolled out ahead of its on-pitch debut at Wembley for the FA Cup Final (where the club lost to Leicester City FC on 15 May) and the women’s team’s UEFA Champions League Final (which saw the side lose 4:0 to Barcelona), the campaign was led by a hero spot and was amplified by supporting content across the club’s social channels (including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter) and was further echoed on some of the players’ personal platforms.
The campaign was reinforced by content running across the social platforms of shirt sponsor Three and supplier Nike.
Here it is..
The fresh new 2021/22 @nikefootball home kit @ChelseaFC @ChelseaFCW#ItsAChelseaThing #ThePrideofLondon https://t.co/50PMu3oxIG— Three UK (@ThreeUK) May 13, 2021
“Kit launches are always an exciting time for the Club and our fans. Given the bold design of the new Home kit, we wanted to create something just as stylish and fun to reveal it and bring it to life,” commented Chelsea Marketing Director Gary Twlevetree at the campaign launch. “We were delighted that The Zombies, one of the 60s most iconic bands, joined us to capture that new wave feel.”
Agency 20something Co-Founder Will Tacker said: “The Zombies’ track was the perfect backbone to the film. But we couldn’t miss the opportunity for a remix to drop in a contemporary bass line. There were no stems to the original, live recording. So, we had to work around the beautiful imperfections and slight tempo changes. We wanted to do this in a way that retained a nostalgic quality. We tried to match that in the visuals by filming both handheld – 16mm, and more dynamic, technical crane moves. Giving the swagger, style, and flair of today’s young players an unmistakable 60’s vibe has been exciting. We wanted to cement the London of today with the London of the past, for a new, global audience.”
Colin Blunstone of The Zombies added: “I’ve supported Chelsea through thick and thin since 1955!! I was 10 when I discovered my distant uncle Frank Blunstone was a star player for them, and he left tickets for my Father and I to attend a match! So thrilled to be singing with The Zombies for Chelsea’s new promo film, and love this remix!”
The shirt launch campaign was created for Chelsea FC Marketing Director Gary Twelvetree, Brand Marketing Lead Jack Peters, Creative Lead Liz Cummings and Creative Content Lead Chris Nutbeam by a group at agency 20something which included Creative Director Will Thacker, Senior Creative Elliott Star, Account Manager Amy Greasby, Designer Casey Highfield and Head Of Design Samuel Guillotel.
Production and edit was by Kode Media with Director Harry Cauty, Executive Producer Matt Fleming, Producer Emily O’Meara, Production Manager Jamie Brewer with DOP Tom English, 1st AD Affy Robani, 1st AC Kate Eccarius, Camera Op Morgan Sinclair and Editor Nick Ellis.
The photographers were Alex De Mora and Ollo Weguelin, with further input from Digi-Tech Felix Turnbull-Walter, DIT Jasmin Anderson and VFX Supervisor Ed Rigg. The stylist was Holly Macdonald, the art director was Jade Mortimer, with motion graphics by Ikki Dhesi & Jesse Malisa, Tracking by Capital Studio, the colourist was Dan Moran, with remix and sound design by Harvey Gunn.
Comment:
The aim of the creative approach was to inject a new energy, tone and edge into the club’s creative platform (a strategy also reflected in its recent London Derby linked ‘Chelsea Creates’ initiative’.
The new Chelsea FC kit campaign was an instant hit with fans racking up over 3 million views of the hero spot over the first 24 hours.
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