A fun new spot from Allianz Direct in Germany sees Jamaican sprint super star Usain Bolt step out of his comfort zone and take on new disciplines up against young athletes destined to be champions in the future.
Amongst the sports which Bolt tries in the German financial service company campaign are basketball, swimming and table tennis, as well as the 1500m.
The comic campaign was created by independent agency Alfred and produced by Hobby Film with Director Oskar Bård and ran across TV, digital and social platforms.
“We were looking for an internationally recognized superstar in the world of sports and we found Usain Bolt. He has retired from sport and now has all the time in the world to reinvent himself,” explained Alfred Creative Lead Jorn Kruijsen. “Allianz Direct sees itself as a company that gives people the ability to live to the fullest without having to deal with extraordinarily slow insurance companies, so Usain is the perfect brand ambassador.”
The campaign is supported by a behind-the-scenes spot in which Bolt defeats Hobby Director Oskar Bård, DOP Snorre Ruhe and Nigel (the child from the ad’s running sequence and an age-group champion) in a friendly race during a filming break.
“Bolt won quite easily, but only because I gave up halfway and returned to the set,” commented Bård. “I very much regret that. Should have given my best and beaten Usain.”
The campaign was created for Allianz Direct by a team at Alfred International which included Account Managers Daniëlle Boskemper and Stéphanie Freitag, Creatives Jorn Kruijsen, Jeroen van de Sande and Rogier Mahieu, Art Director Jorn Kruijsen, Copywriters Jeroen van de Sande and Rogier Mahieu and Agency Producer Carmen Ramsaran.
Production was by Hobby Film with line production by Chubby Unicorn with Director Oskar Bård, Executive Producer Remco den Hartog, Line Producer Dace Siatkovska, PDO Snorre Fuglsang Ruhe, Set Editor Gatis Belogrudovs and Editors Martin Heijgelaar, Jorien Voogt and Pim van der Pas.
Music was handled by MassiveMusic with sound and post from Ambassadors and grading by Jean-Clément Soret MPC.
Comment:
Accidentally or deliberately, Allianz seems to have chosen an on-trend approach which is also currently being leveraged by Nike in its global, multi-phase ‘Play New’ marketing platform.
This campaign sees Bolt take a leaf out of Bo Jackson’s multi-sport playbook and linked cross-training Nike ads from back in the 1990s.
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