The Campaign

Football had a unique problem in Australia. It’s now the most played sport amongst kids under fifteen; but more than half still don't support a Hyundai A-League team. YOU'VE GOTTA HAVE A TEAM Meet Yoshi: A 10-year-old football-crazy kid who didn’t have a Hyundai A-League team. Yoshi visited all 10 clubs and had them competitively pitch for his support. The clubs tailored ‘once in a lifetime’ experiences to show off their unique strengths and win him over. He had a goal scoring master-class with Tim Cahill in Melbourne; a Maouri welcome in Wellington; sat in a RAF fighter jet in Newcastle; had Melbourne Victory #1 George Calombaris cook him lunch; re-enacted John Aloisi’s famous World Cup penalty in Brisbane; held the Grand Final trophy in Adelaide; fired a cannon with the Mariners; flew in a chopper over Sydney Harbour.

Execution

The campaign pulled together PR, digital, social and broadcast media in one narrative thread – Yoshi’s journey to chose his HAL team. Pre-reveal: liaised with marque media under embargo to tee up tailored behind-the-scenes access, interviews and photo opportunities. Reveal week: Brokered a series of exclusives and carved up the content to ensure optimum publicity Day1: Exclusive interview in the Australian Financial Review with FFA chairman. Day2: Pre-Launch: Series of bespoke weather crosses with Sunrise, featuring key HAL players. Launch: Official Season kick-off Event with 10 club captains and Yoshi; 1-2-1 interview access and photo opportunities, followed by a live interview with Tim Cahill for The Project. Day3: Pre-secured exclusive with Tim Cahill in the Herald Sun and syndicated across the News Corp. Day4: Yoshi guest panellist on FOX Sports’ show, Shootout. PR ensured momentum was sustained, turning a football story into a general consumer news story.

The campaign generated nationwide buzz with over 238 million earned media impressions. Earned media and PR delivered over $10million in value. 420 total hits (12 TV hits, 7 radio hits, 88 print and 313 online). Key influencers interacted with campaign socially: Tim Cahill, Alessandro Del Piero, Mark Bosnich. Broadcast coverage: Sunrise x 2, FOX Sports, The Project, Channel 9, ABC Radio, Nova 91.9, Mix 102.3. Hyundai A-League fans followed Yoshi’s journey on www.a-league.com.au/youve-gotta-have-a-team, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Youtube and generated be-spoke content to amplify the campaign. Fans made over 400,000 social posts. Yoshi was trending on Twitter on launch day. Twitter engagement increased by 670%. 6% increase in social following. HAL game attendances increased by 34% YOY; TV viewership by 46% YOY. The A- League broke its all time club membership record (6% increase in club membership YOY). According to Gemba Research, HAL brand impact across young families (Dec 2015 vs. Dec 2016): - Awareness: 10% increase YOY - Familiarity: 57% increase YOY - Passion: 46.5% increase YOY - Favouritism: 556% increase YOY The campaign’s impact helped secure the value of FFA’s biggest TV deal in the history of the league in the value of AUD$346million. Yoshi revealed which team had won him over on Sunrise live on air and the via Facebook Live for the HAL FB page in an interview to Shootout host, Tara Rushton. Yoshi chose Melbourne City. But with the most incredible stats in the HAL’s history, it turned out every club was a winner.

The Situation

In 2016, the Hyundai A-League converted a new generation of fans. Before the season kicked off, of 2.18 million young grassroots players, just 42% supported a HAL team. We had to turn participation to fandom. Enter Yoshi, a 10-year-old, football-crazy kid who didn’t have a Hyundai A-League (HAL) team. All ten clubs competitively pitched for his support, developing bespoke content pieces along the way. Yoshi became an overnight sensation. He showed Australia that ‘You’ve Gotta Have a Team’ and helped clinch the strongest broadcast deal in the FFA’s history. Most importantly, thousands more players now have a HAL team.

The Strategy

PR STRATEGIC PILLARS: 1. CLOSE THE GAP BETWEEN PARTICIPATING AND SUPPORTING: Make kids feel that choosing and supporting a HAL team was as thrilling as participating. 2. INTIMACY AT SCALE: An idea that felt intensely personal…for each and every one of our 2.18m grassroots players. On a tight budget… 3. GO STORY NOT SPORT: To reveal the authentic stories, heroes, and local insights behind each unique HAL team to drive a real connection beyond legacy or postcode. 4. A LIVE, COMPETITIVE, RAW, UNSCRIPTED PITCH: All 10 clubs competed for the loyalty of one kid. They showed off their unique strengths while the league as a whole could shine. 5. IDEA AND EXECUTION DESIGNED TO EARN, BORROW AND STEAL EARNED MEDIA: Yoshi’s journey was real. And our grassroots audience, clubs, players and crucially the media were interested in his choice. Fuel their fire, by letting it be a wildfire.