More than 32 million people in Spain (70%) say that they are interested in football. It is an industry in which brands invest more than 350 million euros annually on sponsorship.

Seville's cross-town rivalry, known as "El Gran Derby", stands among the world's greatest football classics. The rivalry transcends football, forming part of the society and culture of a city, Seville, where everything is done in a very passionate way: religion, and leisure, with its world-famous Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Feria de Abril (April Fair), social relationships and, of course, football.

The challenge was to leverage the sponsorship of Sevilla FC and Real Betis, considering Uber’s football narrative: “There is football, let’s go” putting rivalry aside through values like respect, tolerance and diversity, aiming to improve the taxi sector’s low brand sentiment and the constant negative mentions of Uber.

Taking advantage of "El Gran Derby" in April 2019, Uber launched a communication campaign that revolved around a short film directed by the renowned, award-winning Spanish filmmaker Fernando Colomo. It tells the story of Romeo and Julio, two gay Sevillians who decide to marry despite their respective families' opposition.

At first the piece plays with the viewer's prejudices, as he is lured to assume that the conflict hinges on the couple's homosexuality. In the end it is revealed that the real problem is that their two families are fans of rival teams.

The campaign introduces a taboo subject in the world of football - homosexuality - and promotes a pluralistic and inclusive vision, prevailing over any type of rivalry or exclusive sentiment.

The best way of "putting rivalry aside" was to make it the core of the narrative. There is no attempt to disguise or mask it with an advertising message that could be adequate, but not very credible. The content does not even address Uber, or its products or services, but rather what is relevant to the target: football. It uses passion, typical of the city of Seville, and football, as the element fostering emotional connection with fans.

The launch was carried out in twophases:

• On April 5, the movie's trailer was published on Uber's SM pages to generate excitement. It was reinforced with content on Instagram stories encouraging people to participate, giving their opinion on what the end of the story would be.

• On April 10, the full short film was released on the SM pages of Uber, SevillaFC and Real Betis.

• A dissemination plan was carried out that consisted of

o PR in sports, cinema and lifestylemedia.

o Social boost.

o Digital display

o Spots and radio.

o Influencers.

o Uber-owned channels: email to riders, in-app notifications and blog.

o Film amplification interacting with users' mentions.

o Broadcast of the short film at the SanchezPizjuan Stadium before the more than 44Kfans, minutes before the start of the derby. Also, at the RealBetis Stadium, where the women's derby was held, with more than 23Kfans

In a period of 17 days (from 05/04 to 22/04)

• BRAND SENTIMENT: 95% of the mentions of the campaign were positive, vs the 12% that the brand usually obtains as an average in Spain.

• 3M + views

• 7K + mentions

• Reach: 13M +

In a period of 4 days (from 10/04 to 13/04)

• Great impact, with 15 minutes of presence on national and international TV channels.

• Coverage in the 4 Top Spanish sports publications: AS, Marca, Mundo Deportivo and Sport.

• Online brand presence: Uber is mentioned in 96% of online publications: Headlines (48%), Body (90%).

• Embedded video: "Romeo & Julio" appears in 92% of online news sources (46 out of 51 publications).

• Impact outside the Spanish media world, with more than 20 publications in international media.