Shortlisted 2021

Media and Entertainment

Brand

beIN SPORTS

Entered by:

VMLY&R Miami

Love it like the first time

The Challenge

Empty stadiums, fans stuck at home, soccer leagues on hiatus for almost 100 days… a global lockdown.

How could beIN SPORTS get all those soccer fans excited for the return of soccer?  To reignite their fans’ passion for soccer, beIN Media Group worked around the clock throughout its global offices in Miami,

Singapore, London, Paris, Doha, and Istanbul to create “Love It Like the First Time” remotely during COVID-19 lockdown, the first truly integrated creative global campaign curated for millions across 43 countries and 5 continents.

Unifying and positive, “Love It Like the First Time” celebrated a fresh start for soccer across the globe following the disruption to the 2019-20 season caused by COVID-19.

The Creative Solution

After more than 100 days without live soccer, everything seemed to feel just like the 􀃕rst time. So, beIN SPORTS brought back all those unforgettable “soccer firsts.” Messi’s first game, goal, and championship with Barcelona. Mbappé’s first hat-trick with PSG. And, that first time Sergio Ramos played for Real Madrid and became their longtime captain. Vignettes and promos featuring athletes such as Neymar, Griezmann, Rakitić, Fábregas, Gerard Piqué, and Sergi Roberto were also created as part of the campaign.  beIN SPORTS knew fans would appreciate live soccer like never before and “Love It Like the First Time.” The campaign continued on beIN SPORTS’ digital and linear channels with tune-in promos, testimonials from beIN SPORTS’ roster of former

players and legends, giveaways across paid social and digital activations in various languages including English, Spanish, French, Bahasa Indonesia, Thai, Malay, Turkish, and Arabic across 43 countries, maintaining the line and the key messaging in each of the languages.

ACTIVATIONS / TALENT INTEGRATION

beIN TRIVIA featured iconic soccer “firsts,” asking soccer fans to recall epic moments including Neymar’s first game, first goal, and even his first hat-trick. The stories were shared, and fans put their friends to the test to prove they are the ultimate soccer expert.

Families came together with the “beIN SPORTS Coloring Book,” bringing a piece of the beautiful game to young soccer fans and families. The free, print-at-home book was filled with iconic soccer images and fun activities. It received unprecedented engagement and garnered attention from personalities like Olympic gold medallist Hope Solo, director of the WHO Tedros Ghebreyesus, and renowned artists from across the globe. The book consisted of eleven collectible chapters with over 85 original illustrations and activities created by beIN’s in-house creative team and artists including Dai Tamura, Jamie Orell, Carlos Mueses, and Rocio Brust, and 9-year-old influencer Ariana dos Santos, resulting in over 75K downloads in the US. New chapters were released each week with fresh themes, illustrations, and activities.

For the launch of the international social media competition, “My Best Memento,” soccer legends and beIN SPORTS analysts such as Ray Hudson, Gary Bailey, Thomas Rongen, Hope Solo, Ruud Gullit, Nigel de Jong, Omar da Fonseca, Mohammad Saadon, Wael Gomaa and others across social media using the dedicated hashtags in English, French and Arabic and beIN SPORTS’ digital and linear channels, helped launch the creative competition by posting images and telling stories of their best mementos.

The Media/Content Amplification Solution

With a solid global presence, beIN SPORTS depended heavily on their network, social channels, on air personalities, partnerships, and earned media to get their message out to millions across the world. The network’s organic reach was supplemented by a small but targeted media buy which supported the initiative. This included paid social, digital display, and pre-roll placements. This was critical in making the targeted and agile campaign a success. beIN SPORTS’ “Love It Like the First Time” gained traction across 5 continents – with coverage coming from North America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC).

This global campaign proved that although sports just aren’t the same without fans, an innovative campaign such as this would capture the enthusiasm of all those who can’t live without soccer.  Former soccer stars and legends of the game who took part in the campaign also noticed that fans really did remember their

great achievements – be it an epic win, or an unforgettable goal celebration. These great moments and achievements are also what unites fans across the globe regardless of nationality and language. This is the beauty of sports; it’s what beIN SPORTS wanted to showcase all along – that they’re proud to be the home of sports to millions of viewers who came together with the same excitement and a reignited passion when live soccer came back.

The Result

Earned Media

Media results showed extremely promising numbers – with soccer fans across the world mentioning beIN SPORTS’ campaign.

“Love it Like the First Time” garnered 250+ million media impressions and 80+ stories published globally. This was critical in making a campaign with a limited budget a success.

beIN SPORTS’ “Love It Like the First Time” gained traction across 5 continents – with coverage coming from North America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Asia-Pacific (APAC).

The Best Memento activation trended on Twitter and Instagram, with soccer enthusiasts discussing their best memories and news outlets extremely interested in the stories.

The campaign generated thousands of global entries and social mentions from 64 countries, including over 1,000 tweets, and reminded soccer enthusiasts that the new season was quickly approaching.

Former soccer stars and legends of the game who took part in the campaign also noticed that fans really did remember their great achievements – be it an epic win, or an unforgettable goal celebration. These great moments and achievements are also what unites fans across the globe regardless of nationality and language. This is the beauty of sports; it’s what beIN SPORTS wanted to showcase all along – that they’re proud to be the home of sports to millions of viewers who came together with the same excitement and a reignited passion when live soccer came back.