2021 saw the highest number of teenage murders on the streets of London on record. Knife crime has been on the rise in the capital for a number of years and cuts in government budgets have seen 750 youth centres close.

Arsenal & adidas are uniquely placed to play a vital role within London to help provide alternative pathways. Through an initial proactive proposal, Iris developed "No More Red" as a campaign to tackle knife crime in partnership with the Brand & Football Club. “No More Red” is a long-term initiative for young Londoners to help them stay away from youth violence through active mentorship and the creation of safe spaces.

To generate noise around the initiative we created a moment that got the Nation talking. The campaign kicked off with a bold statement as we removed the iconic red from the Arsenal home kit, to create an all-white kit symbolic of an ambition to eradicate bloodshed amongst London’s youth. Adidas and Arsenal teamed up with lifelong Arsenal fan Idris Elba and Arsenal legend Ian Wright to help launch the kit.

The special white kit was worn by Arsenal on pitch on live National TV in one of the biggest moments in the sporting calendar, the FA Cup. The broadcast included a 10-minute pitch side discussion about the campaign with Idris Elba and Ian Wright before the game kicked off, and our hero film was played live during the live TV segment too.

The campaign had zero paid media, so we needed to create a clear, multi-channel launch window to ensure we got people talking, and understanding, what No More Red was about.

To ensure the wider initiative caught people's attention, the campaign’s execution centred around the free-to air TV coverage of Arsenal’s FA Cup match. In the lead up to the match, our launch film went live across owned social, complemented by case studies of young people in the community and how the No More Red initiative is supporting them.

The launch film was broadcast live as part of the pre-match build up and was fronted by Ian Wright and Idris Elba, both of whom also had featured articles in the press on their involvement and why the campaign was important to them. Both of these celebrity endorsers appeared on the pre-game panel for unprecedented

To launch the initiative, we created a hero film which was published across Social with support from current and ex- Arsenal players including Ian Wright and Bukayo Saka, as well as the legendary Arsenal fan Idris Elba.

The film gained organic media coverage on ITV News and a dedicated segment in the pre-match coverage of the FA Cup Game. This was supported by a series of longer-form films that further highlighted issues & discussed how role models and creative mentorship can form part of the solution with kids from the No More Red Collective. They ran across Adidas & Arsenal social channels and .com. In addition, Idris Elba and Ian Wright were interviewed for feature press articles where they discussed the campaign and why they’re proud to support it.

All this meant that when Arsenal walked onto the pitch in a historic unprecedented all-white kit, everyone watching already understood why.

The film gained organic media coverage on ITV with a dedicated segment in the live pre-match coverage of the FA Cup Game as well as a dedicated 3 minute segment in the ITV 6 o’clock national news.

The campaign & initiative received support & commentary across social with some highlights below:

‘Hugely powerful campaign, which I applaud as Home Secretary’ - Priti Patel Home Secretary

‘I'll be cheering on @Arsenal as they go out on the pitch in all white’ - Sadiq Kahn, Mayor of London

‘We welcome @Arsenal’s initiative No More Red’ - Metropolitian Police

‘Great initiative 👏🏻👏🏻 ‘- David Beckham

Results:

- Seen by 20% of UK population

- And 33+ million people worldwide

- 1500+ pieces of global coverage

- Debated in UK parliament

- £0 spent on paid media