Our on-going brief from Lewes FC is to communicate their commitment to gender equality across football.  We developed the launch film when they became the first club in the world to pay their women’s and men’s team the same and this year we were asked to put together a whole campaign showcasing the club’s other initiatives across the social purpose spectrum – gambling sponsorship, community ownership and gender equality.  Specifically the club wanted to grow their ownership base to over 2000 in a 6 month period.

Ironically we based our insight on the success of the Vote Leave campaign – built on a simple rallying cry that was able to capture the frustrations in a single line.  We also decided to talk to local people who were the bulk of the target for recruiting new owners and tap into their anger about the state of the game.

Using the organising idea approach we arrived at a unifying thought we could ladder all the different executions up to.  ‘It’s About Bloody Time’ beautifully captured the mood of the people we met.  It was a highly emotional thought, vernacular and authentic, and played to the anger of our target – ‘we’ve had enough’.  It was also ownable and future-proof, and crucially allowed us to set up a range of provovations and questions to which ‘It’s About Bloody Time’ was the answer.

Shooting on location we filmed a range of people in a portrait style. Casting locals in their natural context helped to increase authenticity.  We asked them to respond to a range of provocations with ‘It’s About Bloody Time’ delivered direct to camera.  This directness added emotional power to the executions rather than having them speak to an interviewer.  Using this technique we feel directly spoken to.  The films were cut together with questions appearing as supers on the screen and signed off with a VO explaining that Lewes FC are Fans of Change and inviting viewers to join the club.

Lots of favourable press coverage including helping Lewes become Team of The Year in The Times, and crucially reaching the goal of attracting new members taking the current total to over 2000 in 37 countries around the world.