Snickers has kicked off its latest campaign, teaming up with football superstars Luka Modrić and Bukayo Saka. Helping football fans steer clear of embarrassing ‘own goals’, it’s a through the line campaign featuring TVC, OOH, Paid and Organic Social and PR across 46 markets in Europe and MEA.
Jim Stump, Group Creative Director at The&Partnership, the creative agency behind the campaign, spoke to us about translating a very American idea for a very British sport and the challenge of finding the perfect brand ambassadors to act as the antithesis of making mistakes on the pitch.
What was the brief?
Off the back of the success over in the US of the Rookie Mistakes campaign with the NFL we were briefed by Mars Wrigley to bring the same core thought to the world of football over here across the European region.
How did the initial pitch/brainstorming phase go?
Well, the term ‘Rookie Mistakes’ didn’t resonate as strongly in Europe, so to begin with, the team had to find a term for footballing mistakes that felt universal across all languages.
What was the process behind ideating the concept?
As we were finalising the language of the campaign, conversations were already underway with finding talent. Somebody who could act as the antithesis of making mistakes on the pitch, a brand ambassador who could act as the Snickers messenger – delivering a bar to fans who need it. We felt having two figureheads who could bounce off each other could work well. Combining them in unlikely situations on TV, together in OOH or addressing fan mistakes directly in social meant they could play off each other a little.
Making out they’ve got part time jobs in a barber’s felt like an unexpected way to feature them in the hero ad. And judging by comments on social media so far, the combo’s gone down well.
What was the production process like?
Rigorous. Footballers don’t exactly have a lot of time to hang around on set understandably and typically, productions like this require more than just 1 ad to be shot on the day.
So, we partnered very closely with the internal teams at Mars, as well as Weber Shandwick, Born Social, The Mars Agency and Octagon, to be able to capture PR and in store material, stills etc – all meticulously choreographed by the guys at Dark Energy and the super collaborative Russell Bates who’d done famous work for the brand before and is a pro at making talent feel right at home.
What was the biggest challenge during production? How did you overcome it?
Working within a global footballer’s schedule is one thing, but working with two footballers in two different countries with tight schedules is a whole other ball game!
It came to light we just weren’t going to be able to get Luka and Bukayo in the same room to shoot so had to revise the storyboards and a whole production to shoot once in London – then again in Spain. Which proved particularly tricky to match lighting conditions etc for the hero film.
What is one funny or notable thing that happened during production?
We shot Bukayo in an actual barber shop in north London which was fine, until the local schools emptied. It took all of 5 minutes for one eager eyed 14-year-old to spot him before the shop got totally swamped. Luckily Bukayo had wrapped.
What’s the main message of this project and why does it matter?
It’s important to laugh at our mistakes, right?
What do you hope it achieves for the brand?
This is just the start for Snickers.
They have fantastic ambitions to create real value for football fans in the seasons to come - in their own inimitable way. Initially, with the likes of Bukayo and Luka we can get their attention - but down the line, the ‘Own Goal’ platform has huge potential to spark some genuine banter.
Credit list for the work?
CAMPAIGN TITLE: Snickers Own Goal
CLIENT: Mars Wrigley
AGENCY: The&Partnership
CCO: Toby Allen
GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jim Stump
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Jim Stump
CREATIVE TEAM: Andreas Lefteris & Elson Rodrigues
DESIGNER: Greg Fadden
PLANNER: Shashank Hariharan
BUSINESS LEAD: Laura Hazell
ACCOUNT TEAM: Susannah Gillespie & Amy Marais
AGENCY PRODUCER: Charlie Thacker
MEDIA BUYING AGENCY: Essence Mediacom
MEDIA PLANNER: Jordon Moss
PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Dark Energy & Diamond Rocket
DIRECTOR: Russell Bates
EDITORS: Marshall Street Editors
EDITOR: Matt Pochettino
DARK ENERGY PRODUCER: Phil Barnes
DIAMOND ROCKET PRODUCER: Debbie Stylianidis
POST-PRODUCTION COMPANY: Rascal
POST-PRODUCTION PRODUCER: James Beck
COLOURIST: Dan Levy
SOUND STUDIO: Rascal
SOUND DESIGNER: Izaak Buffin
SOUND PRODUCER: Maddy Label
PHOTOGRAPHER: Gray Hughes
