The latest multi-market ‘Made Of Black’ Guinness campaign in Africa tells the stories of four inspirational individuals who demonstrate unexpected character and commitment within the world of football.
Connected to the umbrella Guinness ‘Made of More’ platform, the campaign promotes Guinness’ sponsorship of the sub-Saharan Africa television network DSTV’s coverage of English Premier League football.
The campaign, developed with agency AMV BBDO, was sourced through an in-depth search and all four inspiring stories in the series focus on issues such as gender stereotyping and overcoming disability.
The true stories, told in separate films, highlight four African footballers who have overcome adversity to thrive in both sport and in life.
The first spot, ‘Tabitha’, focuses on a Kenyan woman who recounts her tale of how, after her husband’s death, she overcame her grief and social pressures to become a professional referee.
The second film features Nigerian Goodluck, who, after losing his leg in an accident, found love, freidnship and happiness through his passion for football.
In a third video, Gaelle from Cameroon discusses how she overcame gender role conventions to achieve success in women’s international football (and shows her scoring goals against men as well).
While the fourth film revolves around Ghanaian Wisdom who, despite suddenly going blind, still pursues his passion for playing football and found a new lease of life through his team and the friendships he made through the process.
At the close of each spot, the storyteller links the obstacles they have overcome personally and their own achievements to being ‘Made of Black’.
With content pieces linked through the hashtags #MadeOfBlack #MadeOfMore, the campaign will run for the next year across sub-Saharan Africa network DSTV and local TV stations across Africa, as well as across some of the brand’s market relevant digital and social platforms such as its international YouTube channel and market relevant national Facebook pages and Twitter feeds.
Meet Tabitha, the Kenyan woman laying down the law in football refereeing. Determination walks the untrodden path https://t.co/YAQn3VowuZ #MadeOfBlack pic.twitter.com/m2opL3Okoq
— GUINNESS KENYA (@GuinnessKE) February 13, 2018
The football focused creative ties into Guinness’s DSTV EPL broadcast sponsorship,
A true icon becomes one by living and breathing for their passion. Here’s to a weekend full of football action #MadeOfBlack pic.twitter.com/cO9ulcSFXR
— GUINNESS KENYA (@GuinnessKE) February 27, 2018
and its African football activation which also sees the giant stout brand sponsor market specific fan zones
Step into the world of BLACK, where football fans are treated like royalty. The #GuinnessFanzone is back. Meru, are you ready? #MadeOfBlack pic.twitter.com/seXAHFkgVN
— GUINNESS KENYA (@GuinnessKE) March 6, 2018
and run various football related country competitions and experiences
The Guinness #BeAFrontRowFan promo begins!
It’s time to win millions of instant prizes and get a chance to watch a match with Thierry Henry pic.twitter.com/ALH8YRyhdb— Guinness Nigeria (@GuinnessNGR) October 23, 2017
Camp de présélection GUINNESS MATCH MADE OF BLACK
Montrez votre talent à la #BootCamp ce 10/02/18 au stade CICAM-Douala. Enregistrements entre 7H et 9H.
Soyez munis des éléments suivant : https://t.co/TLrZ5nabLWAccès interdit aux personnes de moins de 21 ans.#MatchMadeOfBlack pic.twitter.com/KkAf6DGQ68
— Guinness Cameroon (@GuinnessCmr) March 7, 2018
Graham Villiers-Tuthill, marketing director of Guinness, Africa explained the works aims to bring the brand purpose to life for consumers across the continent through a distinctive take on football from the ‘most distinctive beer in the world’.
“Our focus this year is on celebrating genuine ‘Made of Black’ individuals – those whose unexpected character enriches the world around them,” said AMV BBDO creative directors Richard McGrann and Andy Cloug.
“The characters in our stories are united by their love of football and real human truths. We hope they’ll inspire others to show they’re Made of Black too. The challenge with these films was to compress the life journey of these individuals into a small and powerful narrative. Finding their transformation moment was the key; the moment they are no longer victims, but heroes.”
Wilkins & Maguire added: “The challenge with these films was to compress the life journey of these individuals into a small and powerful narrative. Finding their transformation moment was the key; the moment they are no longer victims, but heroes.”
Working for the Diageo team headed by Guinnesss Africa marketing director Graham Villiers-Tuthill and which included content creation manager Jessica Lace, global influencer, advocacy and sponsorship manager Orla Nagle and planning manager Nicola Sargent, was a sizeable team from AMV BBDO.
The creative agency ECDs were Mike Schalit, Alex Grieve and Adrian Rossi, the creative directors and co-writers were Andy Clough and Richard McGrann, the planners were David Edwards and Tom Claridge, with account management handled by Michael Pring, Samantha Morgan and Tom Lawson and agency production by Miles Nathan, Charlie Thacker and Yvonne Clayton.
The media agency was Carat with audio post by 750 MPH, post production by The Mill, editing by Cut and Run, colour by Color Collective and the service company was Ginger Ink.
The films were directed by Robert Wilkins & Leo Maguire (the Bafta-nominated documentary directing duo) through production company Stink.
They were filmed by Oscar-nominated James Laxton and coloured by Alex Bickel, both of Moonlight fame.
Comment:
The ‘Made of Black’ campaign was originally launched back in 2014 through AMV BBDO and BBDO agencies across Africa with the objective of ‘connecting a bold, confident generation, with a bold and confident beer’.
Since then the creative has been built around an African expression of the global ‘Made of More’ platform and it has led to some standout advertising such as the 2014 Sapeurs spot (the Society of Elegant Persons of the Congo).
Links:
Guinness
https://www.youtube.com/user/Guinness
https://www.instagram.com/guinness/
https://www.guinness.com/en-ke/
https://twitter.com/GuinnessKE
https://twitter.com/GuinnessNGR
https://twitter.com/GuinnessCmr
https://twitter.com/GuinnessGhana
AMV BBDO
