UNICEF Soccer Aid Academy

Background

We were thrilled when the Soccer Aid for UNICEF team asked us to create and develop their school’s product for 2024.

Soccer Aid for UNICEF is the world’s largest celebrity football match, raising money to give kids the best start in life. The support from passionate fans means that this yearly match raises millions of pounds which allows UNICEF to continue their support to children all over the world.

The Brief

The UNICEF Soccer Aid team wanted a new school’s product to appeal to their core audience of teachers and the school community. This product was targeted to primary schools; however, we did need to keep in mind that some secondary schools would take part.

Our brief was to develop a fundraising product which encouraged schools to participate and raise income during Soccer Aid, as well as to expose the Soccer Aid brand to a new growing audience. The idea needed to be fun and engaging and be super easy for the teachers and staff to deliver whilst fitting in with the curriculum.

The creative needed to represent the new proposition that we created and appeal whilst utilising the updated Soccer Aid branding for 2024 and linking to cause.

The Work

We wanted to produce an event where a new community of pupils and staff can be involved in the Soccer Aid experience, to fundraise alongside their heroes, and offer an event that would be too good to miss! And thus, Soccer Aid Academy was born. We envisioned the academy as a weeklong event in the lead up to the Soccer Aid match, with the flexibility for teachers to do a short activity everyday or combine them into an all-day event.

The Product

Our weeklong event starts with our “Kick Off Video” which introduces the exciting activities. We would introduce some of our most notable talent and ramp up the expectation of what was to come.

Each day a new video will ‘drop’, showcasing the activity and will be hosted by a famous face from the Soccer Aid team. The activities range from football focused, with goal celebrations and a top bins challenge, to educational, a quiz including facts from around the world.

We end with the “Final Whistle” broadcast which is the big finale to round of the week! Here we’ll have questions from the children taking part as well as a showcase or highlight reel from the week.

We wanted to make sure that UNICEF’s cause was front and centre, so we created bespoke activities which related back to the work UNICEF do as well as showcasing their impactful case studies. It was important that we educate the children taking part but also incorporate soccer skills, global knowledge and of course bring the fun!

The Creative

The focus of our creative concept was to drill home the new Soccer Aid Academy product to schools and head teachers. We wanted to create something that looks fun and educational but that pupils would like to be involved in. Fundamentally our brief was to get schools to sign up. This meant it needed to look easy and create a kudos by sitting alongside the master SoccerAid brand. The creative also needed to work as a standalone with and without celebrities to flagship the campaign.