UK commercial TV network ITV kicked off its promotion for the FIFA 2023 Women’s World Cup 2023 with an integrated and inspirational campaign called ‘’The Pride Has Arrived’ which promoted its tournament coverage by comparing the England squad with real lionesses.
Developed by ITV Creative and creative team Bailey & Joaquin, the film rolled out almost a month ahead of kick off (with the tournament running from 20 July to 20 August) and features real footage of lionesses in the wild in South Africa.
Aiming to rouse England fans across the country and bring the nation together, the anchor video focuses on the concept of lionesses infiltrating English people’s everyday lives and morning routines: seeking to bring the tournament front-of-mind and position the side and its supporters as calm and confident.
The real lionesses represent the presence of England’s women’s football stars and position them has confidently arriving at the tournament with the nation behind them. The creative team set out to set a tone that would allow the lionesses’ personalities to ‘take centre stage’ and the film blends CG and real lioness footage
With the 60-second ‘The Pride Has Arrived’ promo debuted on ‘Good Morning Britain’ on 30 June before rolling out across the full ITV Network, ITVX and owned social platforms. It is based by 30- and 20-second cut down versions.
Extending the campaign off network, a two-week out-of-home strand runs between 10 and 23 July comprising digital six sheets and several flagship 48 sheets.
ITV will share live television coverage of the tournament with the BBC and every game will be shown in real time: as games are played in the southern hemisphere, kick-off times will be early with most matches being played between 8am and midday UK time.
“We’re so happy to be able to put women’s football front and centre this summer – when we launched ITVX last year we did so to bring the freshest content to our viewers, and broadcasting the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 does just that,” stated ITV Chief Marketing Officer Jane Stiller. “ITV is always at the heart of popular culture. If it matters to the country, it matters to us. And we all fell in love with the Lionesses at the Euros two years ago. That’s why we wanted to create a campaign that rallies the country behind them again, with a little extra bite to go along with it.”
Creative team Joaquin & Bailey added: “We wanted to answer the brief to not make another ‘Women’s World Cup ad’ and to just make a great World Cup ad. Football is a passion and the World Cup brings people together. That’s what it’s all about.”
Framestore Director William Bartlett commented: “It was an incredible project to be involved with. ITV Creative were great to collaborate with and we had a lot of fun creating the scenes we could drop our lionesses into. And as always, the VFX crew at Framestore hit it out of the park delivering outstanding work worthy of such a strong creative idea. Now all that’s left to do is sit back and enjoy the tournament!”
The campaign was created in-house by ITV Creative where the team was led by Executive Creative Director Chris Vernon, with Creatives Joaquin & Bailey, Strategist James Hillhouse, Campaign Manager Rachel Cann and Marketing Manager Jamie Criswell.
Production was also handled by ITV Creative with Director William Bartlett, Producer Cressida Ranfield, Production Manager Patrick Bailey, 1st AD James Amos, Director Of Photography Ben Magahy, Production Designer Simon Davis, Wardrobe Manager Hannah Glossop and Makeup Artist Natasha Lawes.
Editorial was handled by STITCH London’s Editor Leo King and Producer Maggie McDermott, with post production and VFX was by Framestore’s Producer Semley Wilkinson, VFX Supervisor Will Laban and VFX Artist Michael Baker and by Company 3 London Colourist Matthieu Toullet.
Music and sound was by Sine where the team included Sound Engineer Phil Bolland, Producer Julian Marshall and Composer Ross Wakefield.
Comment
As anticipation mounts ahead of next month’s tournament, broadcasters and sponsors alike begin to amp up their advertising as they seek to build buzz, generate support and leverage their rights.
In the UK, the Lionesses’ success in the 2022 Euros has boosted passion, interest and engagement for the women’s game.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.