The Campaign

StarHub has been the jersey sponsor of the biggest football club in Singapore for the last four years. For the new 2013/2014 season, StarHub wanted to reaffirm its commitment to stand with, and stand for, the LionsXII team and all its supporters. And through that, create value for its season-long jersey sponsorship. So, for the new season, StarHub decided to put its money where its mouth is. By putting the fans where their money was: the sponsorship entitlement on the LionsXII jersey. The insight: despite spending millions of advertising dollars, advertisers are not nearly the biggest sponsors of football: fans are. While sponsors invest money, fans invest everything: time, money, effort, passion and emotion. Fans put in more than sponsors ever will. If a brand were more than a sponsor, if a brand were a fellow fan, it would understand exactly that. And for season 2013/14 we wanted StarHub to be more than a sponsor talking to the fans of the LionsXII, we wanted StarHub to be engaging them, while standing shoulder to shoulder with them. Together with the Football Association of Singapore, StarHub identified the ultimate fan, Akbar Hashim, who has never missed a single LionsXII match in the last 42 years. To salute his undying passion, we switched out the StarHub brand on all the team jerseys and emblazoned them with his name instead. The grand reveal of the jersey took place before a capacity crowd at a LionsXII match on home ground.

The Brief

For the new 2013/2014 season, StarHub wanted to make a public statement of its commitment to stand with, and stand for, the LionsXII team and all its supporters. And through that, create greater value for its season-long jersey sponsorship.

Results

Free sports media coverage worth over $40,000. •An unprecedented six minutes of free airtime before the match •Featured by Singapore's most popular football newspaper – The New Paper. •50% more Facebook Likes than the average post •5X more Facebook Shares than the average post

Execution

For the new 2013/2014 season, StarHub decided to put its money where its mouth is. By putting the fans where their money was: the sponsorship entitlement on the LionsXII jersey. Together with the Football Association of Singapore, StarHub identified the ultimate fan, Akbar Hashim, who has never missed a single LionsXII match in the last 42 years. To salute his undying passion, we switched out the StarHub brand on all the team jerseys and emblazoned them with his name instead. It is about the biggest advertiser of the team (StarHub) paying tribute to the biggest sponsor of the team (the fan). The grand reveal of the jersey took place before a capacity crowd at a LionsXII match on home ground.

The Situation

Advertisers pump millions of dollars into the world's favourite sport, jostling for branding space on team paraphernalia in an attempt to win fans' hearts. But they inevitably face the million-dollar question of how to elevate those sponsorships beyond mere logo placements to meaningful relationships with fans. Our client, StarHub, was facing the same question. StarHub is the jersey sponsor of the biggest football club in Singapore, The LionsXII – a name that represents the 12th man on the team, the fan. After being a sponsor for four consecutive years, the StarHub branding on the jersey has become a blind spot.

The Strategy

The insight: despite spending millions of advertising dollars, advertisers are not nearly the biggest sponsors of football: fans are. While sponsors invest money, fans invest everything: time, money, effort, passion and emotion. Fans put in more than sponsors ever will. If a brand were more than a sponsor, if a brand were a fellow fan, it would understand exactly that. And for season 2013/14 we wanted StarHub to be more than a sponsor talking to the fans of the LionsXII, we wanted StarHub to be engaging them, while standing shoulder to shoulder with them.