Meet The Shortlist: Film Content Of The Year
Film Content of the Year in association with Sela Sport was introduced to the BT Sport Industry Awards for the first time in 2018, reflecting the huge number of content pieces being created from all areas of the industry, be it a standalone film, online series or television commercial, to engage with their target audience in a creative and effective way.
This year’s Film Content of the Year shortlist features: BT Sport’s season launching ‘Being Dele‘; European Tour’s drive with the stars in Aaron’s Best Day Ever; HSBC’s tour with Fiji in Sevens From Heaven; Lucozade Sport’s profile of the rise of Anthony Joshua in Nobody Ever Moved Forward Standing Still; Southampton FC’s super-powered kit launch #MadeForHeroes; and The FA’s Salute the Lionesses ahead of the UEFA European Championships 2017. Meet the shortlist below:
BT SPORT – BEING DELE
After four years of talking almost exclusively about its football rights, BT Sport needed a film that could convey its breadth of rights beyond football – including rugby, cricket, boxing, UFC and basketball – with Tottenham Hotspur’s Dele Alli landing himself in a host of different situations in sporting venues around the world.
“It’s hugely entertaining and fresh,” explained David Stratton, GM for broadband, sport and TV, at BT. “It’s not often fans see the best in one sport go head to head with the best in another.”
EUROPEAN TOUR – AARON’S BEST DAY EVER
After an email request from Aaron’s dad to celebrate his son’s 9th birthday, European Tour gave young Aaron a day to remember, meeting his heroes Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Martin Kaymer and Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston. The result was a heart-warming short film extensively aired and shared across both broadcast and digital media.
“So many elements came together to make this a very special film,” said Roddy Williams, head of content at European Tour, “from the creativity of our content team through to the support from our leading players, to give a nine year old boy the best day of his life.
“It was great for everyone involved to be recognised by the industry [with a place on the shortlist] for a job well done and the inflatable unicorn continues to sit in pride of place in the office!”
HSBC – SEVENS FROM HEAVEN
Some stories need more than a few minutes to explore in real depth and detail. These were guiding principles Hill+Knowlton Strategies and HSBC applied in bringing to life the true story of the Fiji rugby sevens team in a 17-minute documentary – made in partnership with a local Fijian filmmaker – that represented a new direction for HSBC.
“I think what gave the team the most satisfaction was the emotional impact the film seems to have had,” explained Hill + Knowlton Strategies’ Anthony Scammell. “With film content the tendency is to measure success in terms of binary numbers such as views or likes. What was so gratifying about the response to this film was the real human reactions we received from fans.”
Scammell added: “Convincing a financial services brand to commission a documentary film about rugby sevens, then managing the storyboarding, production and ultimately distribution of that documentary to broadcasters around the world was a new challenge for the H+K team and represented a bold departure from previous work for the bank.
“But this story of the limitless ambition of the Fiji team fulfilled HSBC’s brand and sponsorship objectives by engaging both new and existing fans of Sevens and communicating HSBC’s stated purpose of ‘supporting human ambition’.”
LUCOZADE SPORT – NOBODY EVER MOVED FORWARD STANDING STILL
Just a few days after the BT Sport Industry Awards 2017, Anthony Joshua faced his biggest test to date against Wladimir Klitschko. In the days building up to the encounter, Lucozade Sport took the opportunity to chronicle the life of ‘AJ’, the brand’s newest ambassador, through a 90 second film that took its ‘Made to Move’ platform into popular culture.
James Young, strategic partnership lead at Lucozade Sport, explained: “We were the first brand to tell Anthony Joshua’s back story in such a way and being able to link his quest for progression to our Made to Move campaign positioning made for a very powerful film. I don’t think featuring his Mum in the advert did any harm either!”
Young added: “It’s always great when work you are really proud of is recognised by your peers. There are big brands doing great work in sports marketing so to be recognised as a leader in this field is the icing on the cake for what has already been a highly successful campaign.”
SOUTHAMPTON FOOTBALL CLUB – #MADEFORHEROES
Year after year, many clubs stick with the tried and tested when it comes to shirt launches. For 2017/18, Southampton Football Club created a series of animated adventures, starring Saints players as superheroes – fighting to rescue the new kit designs.
The launch broke all previous kit records for the club, delivering record content engagement amongst fans at home and abroad – whilst orders of the shirt were up 24% year-on-year, ensuring the content was engaging, whilst still delivering commercial impact.
“We hope it’s a great example of creative and fun storytelling brought to life in an innovative way, said the club’s brand & marketing director, Kate Tarry.
“It was this winning combination that grabbed the attention of not only football fans but fans of great content, thereby reaching further and taking the club into new audiences.”
Tarry added: “It’s extremely rewarding for the team to be shortlisted at the BT Sport Industry Awards, especially alongside such impressive contenders in the category. This kind of recognition is a real boost to the team and the Club.”
THE FA – SALUTE THE LIONESSES
With the FA’s Gameplan for Growth pledging to double the fanbase of women’s football by 2020, the Lionesses’ participation in the UEFA Women’s Euro 2017 was an important platform to engage female fans and raise the profile of the players.
Salute the Lionesses tapped into its target audience thanks to Little Mix’s hit anthem, Salute, to create a simple call to action to unify girls and create further interest in women’s football.
“The success of the ‘Salute the Lionesses’ campaign was an incredibly proud moment for the agency in 2017,” said head of Pitch Productions, Lee Cheney. “We reached millions of people and got more than 10,000 young girls and boys to show their support for the Lionesses by replicating Little Mix with salutes of their own. For us though, a real highlight was when England vice-captain Jordan Nobbs celebrated a goal at the Euros by performing a salute of her own.
“It’s always rewarding to be recognised for your work – even more so when it is an idea that you have seen from its conception to delivery. The whole team worked tirelessly on the creation of the content and the campaign that supported it, so there was a real sense of team pride in the nomination.”
Check out the full shortlist for the BT Sport Industry Awards here.
The BT Sport Industry Awards are the largest commercial sports awards in the world, taking place at Battersea Evolution in London, on Thursday 26th April 2018.
Bringing together sports stars, celebrities, senior decision makers, influencers and global media, the industry’s most anticipated night of the year celebrates the very best work from across the sector. The famous trophies are awarded on-stage in front of a sell-out crowd of 1,700 guests at the star-studded event, held annually in London.
Silver tables are now SOLD OUT, but a variety of table packages are still available to purchase here. For more information on the event click here, and follow @SportIndustry #BTSIA.
