The Campaign

Branded content is still relatively untapped, but has few, if any, restrictions. The main obstacle is the reluctance of clients to move away from traditional forms of communication and media.

Results

NAB (National Bank of Australia) were looking for a way to leverage sponsorship of AFL without simply riding the coat-tails of popular sport, while reaching out to the different ethnic communities their customers come from. Australia is now the world's third most multi-cultural country yet our largest sporting event is only broadcast in English. NAB wanted this to change. NAB has been long time sponsors of AFL in Australia. The National Bank of Australia is an iconic Australian business, as is Australian Rules Football, so the chance to marry the community with it's most watched spectator sport via multi-lingual commentary on Grand Final Day was unprecedented. FOOTIFYFM was created. A live broadcast of Grand Final Day in Australia's 10 most spoken languages. The commentators were passionate footy fans found via social channels, who were then trained by professional broadcasters. The aim is to make AFL a bigger game. To attract not only more Australians but also an international audience. Technology was the major obstacle. No one had ever attempted anything so audacious as a live broadcast in 10 different languages that the world could listen to. Even Google watched with interest to see if it would succeed. It did. And now the technology used is being implemented by the emergency services in rural and outback Australia.

Social media was used first, calling for amateur commentators from different ethnic backgrounds to commentate the Grand Final of Australian Rules Football (AFL) – Australia's most watched sporting event. Basically, Australia's Superbowl. The online audition videos, and the idea itself sparked media interest, so were bought to life by PR.

People from 25 countries tuned in one grand final day. Positive sentiment for NAB grew to 95% (an all time high for the bank) and when prompted, people believed that NAB was the official naming rights sponsor for Grand Final. A fact that made Toyota (the actual naming rights sponsor) more than a little peeved. The main goal wasn't sales orientated. It was to grow a game that the NAB truly believed in; within the communities of the country it's loves. In terms of results, this quote from Australia leading online news and current events website summed up the success – 'Footify FM is doing more for multiculturalism in Australia than our government seems to want to.' If that comment and sentiment were a statistic, it would be an impressive one.