Mondelez ‘Biskuat Academy’ Helps Nurture The Next Generation Of Footballers In Indonesia Campaign Led by FC Persigawa Founder Aji

Mondelez Biskuat, a famous biscuit in Indonesia, rolled out a campaign in September which marked the return of the ‘Biskuat Academy’: a long-running sports marketing programme reinforcing the brand’s values-led mission to nurture true inner strength amongst the country’s children.

Developed by Leo Burnett Indonesia and produced through Directors Think Tank (Malaysia), the campaign spotlights a relatively unknown coach Bang Aji – the founder of a football club called FC Persigawa – who has trained thousands of kids (with plenty of success) since he helped start the team back in 1987.

Aji himself was initially inspired to start the team by the passion he found when watching a group of local kids play with a plastic ball and so committed himself to helping underprivileged kids get access to organised training and matches. Despite limited finances, his Persigawa club provides free coaching to all kid club members and currently has six branches in the country’s capital Jakarta.

The campaign’s hero commercial, which was directed by Rajay Singh and Zhafran S, was shot in Jakarta and Yogyakarta and dropped across TV and digital channels from 8 September and is supported over the next few months through a series of initiatives across social platforms and events.

The lead ‘The True Story of Bang Aji’ spot, which highlights the fact that the new season at the Biskuat Academy is now open for registrations and includes the campaign hashtags #BiskuatSupportsDreams and #GenerasiTiger, is supported over the next two months through a series of initiatives across social platforms and events.

“Biskuat is a brand with a special place amongst Indonesian families. The Biskuat Academy platform started in 2009 as a part of our constant effort in serving our communities and the ‘Academy’ helps activate our purpose of helping Indonesian kids unlock their inner strength,” explained Mondelez SEA Marketing VP Nikhil Rao. “Soccer has been closely related to the brand over its 20+ years of existence due to it’s mass appeal but today we recognize there is limited support behind local champions and their supporters and we wanted to spotlight that during this campaign.”

“Biskuat Academy has always attracted many soccer aspirants and has helped provide true opportunity to kids through the mentors and training which the brand has been able to facilitate,” added Mondelez SEA Director Fuel and Wellbeing Thanh Vo. “To support this edition of Biskuat Academy, we wanted to help create awareness about the soccer’s unspoken heroes who have spent their lives helping kids achieve their dreams.”

Leo Burnett Indonesia CCO Ravi Shanker commented: “Through the story of Bang Aji, we wanted to deliver the message that true talent can take you places no matter what your circumstances are. Grassroot coaches and clinics have provided immense support to Indonesian football, and we want our audience and consumers to support these in their own ways. It’s time to pay homage to true heroes of Indonesian soccer who, despite limitations, have supported the growth of talent.”

The campaign was created for a client team at Mondelez SEA & Indonesia which included Vice President Marketing Nikhil Rao, Director of Fuel, Wellbeing & Biscuit Business SEA Thanh Vo, Head of Marketing Indonesia Maggie Effendy, Brand Manager Hanz Danielle Lao and Brand Manager Biskuat Indonesia Andhika Lestari by Leo Burnett Indonesia.

The ad agency group working on the project was led by CEO Sony Nichani, CCO Ravi Shanker, Senior CD Oliver Sarmiento, Regional Business Director Monideepa Nandi, Creative Achsa Zenada, Account Director Dieyan Bernard, Senior Account Executive Salma Shahab, Agency Producer Budiarto Lambot, PM Merry Gultom, Associate Social Media Director Timothy Laksmana and Social Media Supervisor Rezzi Saputra.

The production house was Directors Think Tank with Executive Producers Heng Tek Nam and Intan Sham, Directors Rajay Singh and Zhafran S, 1st ADs Bona Ventura and Dimas Putih, DOP Arif Bontang, Editor Boyd See, Producer Audri Ferainy Iswandari, Line Producer Mey, Production Assistants Fanni and Icha, Art Director Ari Bima Teja, MUA Rizka Shafira and wardrobe was handled by Nadira. Post production was by Vinie, music by Black Cat White Cat Music (Japan) and the media partners were SPARK Foundry and Publicis Groupe Indonesia.

Comment

While some may argue that the film itself is not particularly ground-breaking, at Activative we tend to champion brands which spotlight unsung heroes rather than borrow the fame of a big name sports star.