The Football Association of Wales (FAW) teamed up with the Movember Foundation to tackle male suicide with a joint campaign which rolled out on 19 November and was spearheaded by a hero ‘A Man of More Words’ spot.
The initiative, which leveraged spiking interest around the Welsh football team on the eve of the country’s Euro 2020 crucial game in Cardiff against Hungary which will determine which of the two sides qualify for next summer’s tournament.
The FAW and Movember set out to highlight how important it is to be ‘A Man of More Words’ and aim to encourage men to both check in on and discuss with friends the challenges they may face in life, with the hope to improve their mental health.
The bilingual video features Cymru players – including Joe Allen, Aaron Ramsey and Ethan Ampadu – detailing the harrowing figures that every minute, somewhere in the world, a man dies by suicide.
The spot urges fans themselves to become ‘men of more words’ and the work focuses on an in-game initiative which encourages supporters to the 15-minute half-time break during the Hungary game speaking with or messaging their friends instead of opening up social media for a time filling browse.
The video is amplified across the FAW’s own social channels: including YouTube,
Instagram,
and Twitter.
9⃣0⃣ MINUTES, 9⃣0⃣ MEN.
@Cymru have teamed up with @MovemberUK #ManofMoreWords #TogetherStronger pic.twitter.com/HFxk6tQxE3
— FA WALES (@FAWales) November 19, 2019
The creative also seeks to drive viewers to learn more about the vital work of The Movember foundation and the ‘A Man of More Words’ campaign visit: Movember.com/Talk
Comment
There is a growing heritage of Movemer teaming up with sports partners – partiuclarly rights-owners – to boost their profile, maximize their core target reach and engagement and to amplify and reinforce their message – as well as to drive fundraising revenue.
One notable recent example was September’s pre Rugby World Cup 2019 ‘A Moment Of Silence’ initiative with New Zealand Rugby (see case study).
The poignant film and the FAW tie-up is just one sports strand of the wider 2019 Movember creative and the focus of the men’s health charity’s 2019 Movember initiative is to encourage men to talk about the tough stuff and help tackle the rising Male suicide rates.
The initiative is anchored around a hero ‘Be A Man Of More Words’ spot
and includes the usual wide and rich range of supporting creative, initiatives, experiences and participatory events across multiple channels, platforms and spaces around the world.
While The FAW itself, in harness with the FAW Trust, is currently running its own nationwide campaign, ‘We Wear the Same Shirt’, which aims to combat the ever-present stigma against mental health through delivery of comprehensive, unique football programmes for people suffering from mental health issues.
The programme provides a safe and empathetic environment for people with mental health problems to exercise and meet new people in the sessions held and delivered by domestic football clubs across Wales.
The Movember tie-up creative also follows on from other recent FAW campaigns such as its early November new kit launch campaign with Adidas
and the August 2019 launch of a new visual identity which was introduced through a spearhead ‘Stronger Together’ social video.
Links:
FAW
https://www.youtube.com/user/FAWales
https://www.facebook.com/FAWales
https://www.instagram.com/fawales
Movember
https://www.facebook.com/MovemberUSA/
https://www.instagram.com/movember/
https://www.youtube.com/user/movembertv
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