Sony Six pitches La Liga with rival fans waging 'war'

Sony Six, broadcaster of the Spanish League La Liga in India, has rolled out three promos for the current season, which started last weekend. The films have been conceptualised by J. Walter Thompson and feature a fan each from the top three Spanish clubs of last season – FC Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. 

 

One of the films features a young man in a Barcelona jersey packing a bag. Someone in an Atletico Madrid jersey is seen in the background. The scene shifts to an airport where the man in the Atletico Madrid jersey is shown strolling towards security check. A siren sounds when his bag is screened. Security run in and surround the soccer fan. Back home, the man in the Barcelona jersey is enjoying popcorn and laughing as news of the man arrested appears. Commentary from a La Liga match plays in the background which says Leo Messi has put Barcelona ahead, as a super reads 'Barcelona 1, Atletico Madrid 0' before the La Liga is introduced with the message: 'It's not football. It's war.' 

Another film is set in an office. This time, a young man in a Real Madrid jersey texts 'Jaanu' (beloved) a message saying it's over between them. It is revealed as he quickly moves away that it isn't his phone or jaanu, but his colleague's. When the latter returns to his desk, he gets a call from his jaanu and a mouthful. The person at the receiving end sports a Barcelona jersey.

A third scenario in the campaign features an Atletico Madrid fan feeding pigeons generously on his terrace. It is only to ensure that the Real Madrid fan's car below is draped in pigeon shit. 

 

Rajesh Kaul, president, distribution and sports business, Sony Pictures Network (SPN), said, “We always aim to create innovative content for our viewers. Through this campaign, we want to highlight the scale of LaLiga by reaching out to the football fans of India. Since the inception of the sports cluster at SPN, we have strategically worked to establish it as the premier destination for an unparalleled football viewing experience. Through our tactical acquisition of marquee international tournaments and international domestic leagues, we have established ourselves as a one-stop destination for international football and want to give our viewers an experience of the highest quality of club and international football.”

 

Shounak Guhathakurta, senior creative director, J Walter Thompson Mumbai, said, “Legendary manager Bill Shankly famously said, ‘Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I don’t like that attitude. I can assure them it is much more serious than that.’ No one can attest to that notion better than die-hard footy fans who once having pledged their allegiance to a certain club, remain staunch loyalists come what may. This led us to the idea of ‘epic revenge tales’ where it’s every fan for himself.”

 

Vinayak Gaikwad, senior creative director, J Walter Thompson Mumbai, added, “Football fans love to get the better of each other, be it on the pitch or off it. We found this space very interesting and tried to tell stories where rival fans score goals against each other in real life situations.”

 

Credits

 

Client: Sony Pictures Network

Agency: J. Walter Thompson

Chief creative officer: Senthil Kumar

National creative director: Tista Sen

Executive business director: Anitha Krishnan

Senior creative directors: Vinayak Gaikwad and Shounak Guhathakurta

Account director: Saptarshi Banik

Creative team: Vinayak Gaikwad, Shounak Guhathakurta, Shreenath Pillai, Ganesh Palkar

Senior account executive: Sanat Shende