A carefully crafted ‘Greatest Moments’ Sky Sports commercial sees Thierry Henry takes football fans on a journey through Premier League history in the broadcaster’s new 2015/16 season promotional campaign.
Viewers can relive the league’s highlights through a neatly edited spot that uses 23 years of archive of football footage as Henry aims to demonstrate that the Premier League really is the best league in the world.
The campaign, devised in partnership with agency Brothers and Sisters (and with Outsider and Electric Theatre Collective), features the former France and Arsenal striker CGI’d into each highlights scene (including coming face-to-face with his younger self)
The 90-second film, which took five months to film, uses ground-breaking special effects to showcase 13 of the most iconic Premier League moments to build excitement around the upcoming season.
From Fergie-Time, to Klinsmann’s dive, it spans star-studded stand-out clips from the likes of Stan Collymore, Tony Yeboah, Eric Cantona, Alan Shearer, Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero.
This integrated, multi-platform campaign was first posted on the Sky Sports YouTube channel and on www.facebook.com/SkySports on 15 July and then first aired on television on 18 July.
In addition to the TV work, it also spans print, digital out of home and digital.
Indeed, the online campaign hub, which features interviews with Sky Sports expert summarisers and pundits discussing their own favourite Premier League moments,
.@GNev2 takes a trip down memory lane to recall his third title with @ManUtd: http://t.co/09TspSWmT2 #PLMoments pic.twitter.com/AU8xo7Cm2C
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 25, 2015
it hosts no less than 160 historical highlight clips to watch and share and it also includes a fan vote for their ‘greatest moments’ – all running under the tagline #PLMoments.
What's the greatest @premierleague performance you've ever seen? Watch more here: http://t.co/9ph5greA1E #PLmoments pic.twitter.com/9RyFY5B2jD
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) July 27, 2015
Henry, a lead Sky Sports analyst for the coming season, takes viewers on a trip down memory lane accompanied by the sound of Frank Sinatra’s ‘That’s Life’.
‘Both as a player and now working for Sky Sports, I know what makes the Premier League the best league in the world and this advert helps explain why,’ Henry states at the campaign launch.
‘It was a fascinating process to be part of, very technical with the effects used to take me back to those memorable moments. Every detail was accounted for, the advertising boards, the old kits, the old ball from Cantona’s goal against Sunderland. Sky Sports has been the home of this history from the start and I’m looking forward to seeing more great moments this season.’
‘It is a sports fan’s dream to delve into Sky’s extensive catalogue of footage since 1992 of Premier League matches to make this film,’ states Brothers and Sisters executive creative director Andy Fowler.
‘So many great stories have been told around football, but here we have the chance to illustrate why this is the best league in the world.’
‘Sky Sports is synonymous with the Premier League, we have been there from the beginning and brought viewers countless unforgettable moments from the greatest league in the world,’ argues Sky Sports head of football Gary Hughes.
‘Thierry going back and celebrating a few of those special moments will only make everyone more excited for the season ahead.’
Comment
It’s not even August, but the new football season marketing engine is well and truly up and running.
The campaign not only aims to boost awareness and generate anticipation around the start of the new season, but also to solidify Sky’s heritage and 23-year history with the sport in the minds of fans (in the face of increasingly fierce competition from BT Sport) and, of course, to drive Sky Sports subscriptions.
This Sky campaign is also airing head-to-head with rival BT Sport’s glitzy and distinctly Sky-like ‘House Party’ promotion (see our case study) promotion for its recently captured exclusive UEFA Champions League coverage.
Sky certainly now has a powerful, direct and aggressive challenger to its top spot in the UK football landscape.
Sky Sports will show 116 games from the 2015-16 Barclays Premier League (more than any rival channel), as well as 112 matches from the Sky Bet Football League, plus Capital One Cup games and more than 30 matches from the Scottish Professional Football League.
The channel will also air the final qualifying matches for UEFA Euro 2016, plus live Major League Soccer matches in the USA and games from the Dutch Eredivisie,.
Links:
Sky Sports YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/SkySportsOfficial
Sky Sports Twitter:
Sky Sports Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/skysports
Sky Sports Website:
Premier League Website:
Premier League Twitter:
https://twitter.com/premierleague
Premier League Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/premierleague
Premier League Instagram:
https://instagram.com/premierleague/?ref=badge
Brothers and Sisters Website:
