England had just failed to qualify for Euro 2008 and the nation was in mourning. The Mars communications proposition for Euro 2008 was Mars Balls Gets Britain Playing to inspire the next generation, with the aim of changing nationwide disappointment into optimism.Forty individuals, one client, two media owners, two media agencies, one creative agency and a PR consultancy needed the singularity of vision to deliver a campaign that filled the void left by England's failure.
The brief was clear - to produce a cross-media campaign and football platform by tapping into the strengths of TalkSport and The Sun. The key insight to drive this was "balls to Euro 2008", because there were still reasons to be cheerful.
The campaign encompassed marketing promotions, features, online, mobile and events, with Mars giving away 100,000 footballs to the next generation of stars.
MediaCom and ZenithOptimedia organised regular meetings to ensure the collaboration ran smoothly.
The Great Balls Giveaway was followed a week later by an on-pack promotion. Audiences were encouraged to play classic childhood games such as headers and volleys and keepy-uppy, and to indulge in kickabouts.
The Sun even produced a Kickabout Guide, which was cross-promoted on TalkSport. Readers and listeners were also given the opportunity to upload videos of their games and to see them featured in the paper alongside a match report.
Other cross-promotions included TalkSport's all-star five-a-side game, the Mars Power League pitch promotion and the opportunity for readers and listeners to win tickets to the Mars Grass Roots Live event at the NEC.
Early measures of success for the campaign indicate that Mars is on track to boost sales by about 12%. YouGov's brand index tracker shows that advocacy and positive buzz both increased 35%.
The campaign results would have been considered strong had England played in the tournament - given the team's failure to qualify, its success is highly impressive.
Silver
Carat with RSVP (a strategic alliance between Viacom Brand Solutions, GCap Media and IPC Media) and Nivea
Nivea
Nivea Visage Young "FYI Mag"
Shortlist
Fuse Sport with The Sun and Jeff Stelling
Coral
Jeff Stelling
Guardian News & Media with Carat
British Gas
Greener Living Partnership
MediaCom with Guardian Media Group
VW
Observer Film Quarterly
MediaCom with ITV1
Pedigree: Saving Dogs, Viewing Winners
Profero with The Sun
Halifax
The Sun Expat