Cannes Lions

Ligue 1 Symphony

MARCEL, Paris / PRIME / 2023

Case Film
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Case Film

Overview

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Credits

Overview

Background

In 2021, Prime became the official broadcaster of the French football league. French football fans were skeptical that Prime was legitimate and expert enough to be the official broadcaster of the Ligue 1.

After the first year, Prime proved its expertise in terms of broadcasting quality. However, to completely change the minds of French football fans, Prime wanted to celebrate French football while staying true to its values and ambitions.

Idea

"Football is often called “the beautiful game.” It could also be compared to a symphony if the coaches were orchestra conductors guiding their “artists” – the players. With the Ligue 1 Symphony, Prime brought that metaphor to life.

Prime first filmed each coach during league matches, collecting more than 19 hours of footage. From this video material, the French composer Saycet selected the most inspiring gestures as the basis for the anthem.

To perform this original composition, Prime created a unique setting in the auditorium of the "Espace Niemeyer" in Paris. Seventy musicians and a choir faced a monolithic screen that stood in place of the traditional conductor, with the footage playing on the screen. In this way, the orchestra was led by the coaches captured in the footage.

This way, Prime created a sport anthem that truly captures the intensity and the emotion of a football match.

Strategy

To truly captivate the hearts of fans, Prime needed to create something unique, vibrant, and grandiose that would capture the intensity and emotion of the Ligue 1, and leaving a lasting trademark.

Creating an anthem is an excellent way to rally fans, as seen in major sporting events like the UEFA Champions League or NFL. This inspired us to create a unique and memorable anthem for the Ligue 1. But in order to truly stand out, we needed to make it very special.

Execution

The Ligue 1 Symphony was launched live on Prime just before the 'French Classico,' the most-watched game in France between old rivals Marseille and Paris. It was also broadcast on other sports broadcasters during half-time breaks of the Champions League matches.

To directly engage with fans, the Ligue 1 Symphony is played on jumbo screens in the Ligue 1 stadiums before each game.

As an anthem is, above all, a piece of music, the Ligue 1 Symphony was also made available for streaming on Amazon Music.

Outcome

The Ligue 1 Symphony was watched on TV by over 5 million viewers and performed in stadiums in front of more than 350,000 spectators. It became the most-streamed sports song on the Amazon Music platform in France. The Ligue 1 Symphony was covered in 54 non-paid articles, reaching a total audience of 253 million viewers. Notably, it was featured in an article in L'Equipe, the largest sports newspaper in France