Football prodigy Kiyan Prince is brought back to virtual life in powerful and groundbreaking anti-knife crime campaign by Kiyan Prince Foundation, EA Sports FIFA 21, Match Attax, Adidas, JD and agency Engine.
Territory: UK
Agency: Engine
Objectives
Launched to mark the 15th anniversary of the 15-year-old Queens Park Rangers player’s death, the Kiyan Prince Foundation (run by his father Mark Prince OBE) worked with the company behind the world’s most popular sports game and the London based creative agency on an integrated, pro-bono initiative which set out to honour the young player, raise awareness of the anti-knife crime mission by engaging vulnerable youngsters and the communities they live and to raise funds for the foundation.
Activation
Kiyan Prince was a schoolboy football prodigy who was tragically stabbed to death aged 15 and this blend of football, charity, gaming and sponsorship rolled out on 18 May and saw Prince sign for his former club QPR, given the squad number 30 to reflect the age he would be today and introduced as a playable character in FIFA 21, plus Topps’ Match Attax issued a Kiyan Prince playing card and sportswear brands Adidas and JD made him the face of their brand in a pair of ad campaigns.
The multi-partnership initiative spanned PR, OOH, owned and earned online media and the campaign was spearheaded by a hero spot amplified across the digital and social channels of all involved brands and organisations, supported by press, out-of-home and PR.
The content includes copy reading: “On May 18 2006, Kiyan Prince lost his life. Today we honour the player he was destined to become. Help us help young people. To donate, text KPF £5 (or another amount) to 70490. #longlivetheprince”.
As well as the lead video, the campaign imagery was shot by photographer David Clerihew and was further supported by footballers (including Raheem Sterling and QPR Director of Football Les Ferdinand) and influencers (including F2Freestylers) who shared their support on social media using the hashtag #longlivetheprince.
“I want my son to be remembered not for the tragedy of his death but for the triumph of his achievements,” Mark Prince explained. “Through this campaign, the world finally gets to glimpse Kiyan’s incredible potential fulfilled. And hopefully we can inspire other kids to be the best version of themselves too.”
To create a virtual likeness of Kiyan as a 30-year-old, Engine Creative worked with EA software designers, Framestore and artist Chris Scalf with input from the Prince family and friends and with Professor Hassan Ugail of the University of Bradford using cutting edge aging-projection software, photoreal art and AI technology, plus images from his teen years to develop on-pitch characteristics, skills and style of play.
Billy Faithfull, chief creative officer at ENGINE, added: “This isn’t a story about death, it’s a story about life. An ambitious, hardworking, talented boy and the man he could have become. The kind of man he can inspire boys to be. The younger and more marginalised an audience are, the harder they are to reach, so our starting point was to think about how to connect Kiyan’s powerful story with kids who are virtually immune to traditional knife-crime advertising. Getting to them through gaming, influence networks and sponsorship felt like a unique and effective medium to speak to them and help The Kiyan Prince Foundation continue its vital work.”
James Salmon, marketing director, EA Sports FIFA Brand, commented: “By adding Kiyan in-game this year, we not only want to celebrate what an incredibly talented footballer he was and should have been, but also continue to offer EA SPORTS FIFA as a platform to raise awareness of the Kiyan Prince Foundation.”
The campaign was created for the Kiyan Prince Foundation by a team at agency Engine Creative which included Chief Creative Director Billy Faithful, Creative Directors Richard Nott, Orlando Warner and David Dearlove, Head Of Project Management and Executive Producer Katie Farmer, Project Director Seb Roskell, Producer Debbie Impett, Assistant Producer Jakub Pieta, Editor Sam Hopkins and Motion Graphics Designer Jamie Thodesen, Account Manager Leo Birch, Client Managing Director Ed Norrington, Business Director Matt Kiernan and Content Strategist Leo Birch.
The group working on the initiative at Framestore included Chief Creative Officer Mike Mcgee, Global Real-Time Director Karl Woolley, Creative Technologist Johannes Saams, Global Head Of Creatures Markus Schmidt and Senior Designer David Lochhead with Artist Chris Scalf, Matt Hermans of Electric Lens Co and David Clerihew of Icon.
Post production and Grade was handled by Nineteen Twenty, with sound design and music by String and Tins with Audio Producer Laura-Leigh Smith and DOPs Oliver Schofield and Steve Montgomery.
Outcome
This was more than just a marketing campaign; it was a moment of integrity, ambition and an alliance with a lasting educational effect.
KPF raised three times its normal annual revenue within 24 hours of the campaign launch and the funds raised by the campaign helped the foundation to take its message to schools nationwide and set up a permanent base for the charity’s activities.
The campaign featured in every major UK newspaper and was also covered by many broadcasters including the BBC, ITV and Sky News.
Comment:
Deep fakes are more often seen as gimmicks, tricks, or as warnings about an uncertain future, but this project proves the potential to use Deep Fake technology for good.
The Kiyan Prince Foundation was set up by Kiyan’s dad in 2007 who draws on his own experiences around the tragic death of his son and his background as a world-title challenging boxer to work with at-risk children by instilling a positive mindset in order to lead them away from knife crime and towards achieving their full potential.
His work saw him awarded an OBE in 2019 and that same year QPR renamed its West London stadium in honour of his work.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.