The final week of August saw Facebook parent company Meta release a metaverse focused campaign championing its support for East African professional cycling squad ‘Team Amani’: a 12-person team of male and female cyclists from several African countries (including Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda) dedicated to promoting inclusivity and opportunity.
‘Amani’ means ‘peace’ in Swahili and this spirit shines through the short film led campaign created by agency Droga5 and helmed by Directors Aus Taylor and Marleaux Desiré of Illimiteworld with production company Love Song.
The video blends music-video and mini-documentary styles and seeks to show how Meta products and the metaverse help the team train, connect and overcome barriers.
The campaign was spearheaded by a hero short film showcasing members of the team using Meta’s WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram apps to connect with one another and with fans for camaraderie and training. The aim was to explore the future possibilities of the metaverse and how it may be used for improving physical and technical skills, communicating across borders and experiencing entertainment in new ways.
The 60-second spot, deployed across Meta platforms from 22 August, encouraged viewers to ‘Meet Team Amani’ and depict how its members ‘use technology to connect beyond boundaries and compete’ and how ‘someday the metaverse will help them, and all of us, do so much more.’
It also seeks to convey the hope cycling brings to the lives of underserved people striving for dignity, identity and a better place in the world.
The campaign was created in collaboration with US advertising agency Droga5 and ran across Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, as well as across broadcast television (including US networks ABC, NBC and CBS), as well as on connected TV and online video, plus Wired and Condé Nast properties.
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Tragically, as the campaign rolled out globally, Kenyan cyclist and Team Armani captain Sule Kangangi died after a crash during The Overland gravel race in Vermont, USA. To commemorate the rider, the short film was edited to close with an end-card memorializing Kangangi.
Following the Kangangi tragedy, Droga5 senior art director Ben Muckensturm commented that “Team Amani remains committed to realizing his ambitions which include seeing squad members race in the Tour de France (a topic discussed in the film)”.
Plus, on the day after his death, the team posted a tribute on Instagram, while Meta also contributed to a GoFundMe supporting Kangangi’s family.
The ‘Team Amani’ is something of a sequel to Meta’s 2021 Emmy-nominated ‘Skate Nation Ghana’ campaign – also by Droga5 and Love Song – which won a 2022 Gold Clio Award for excellence in editing.
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