Harnessing the energy of EURO 2020, Sports Direct proved football is more than ‘just a game!?’ galvanising millions of fans and players across the country to show what it means to them.

Spearheaded by cult icon Eric Cantona, who played St Luigi Scrosoppi, the Patron Saint of Football, the campaign mobilised football evangelists everywhere, racking up over 5.6BN views across social and enabling real-world play for over half a million school children.

Anchored in football insight, the campaign created a paradigm shift in brand sentiment, showing fans that Sports Direct truly understands them, elevating its credibility in football.

Whilst the UK’s No. 1 sports retailer in sales, Sports Direct brand image was at an all-time low. Voted in May 2021 by consumers as ‘worst sports shop in Britain’ and routinely criticised by the media, we needed a campaign that would kick start a new era for the brand, using football as a vehicle to improve brand perception and drive its credibility among its consumer-base.

Capitalising on the energy and positivity of EURO 2020, we wanted to elevate the brand and land Sports Direct as the go-to football destination for young players and fans across the country to drive:

- Brand reappraisal - positively disrupting EURO 2020 forcing consumers to reassess what Sports Direct means to them

- Credibility in football - driving relevance by showing it understands football better than anyone else

- Salience of Sports Direct - be the first port of call for all football needs

We brought to life the character of St Luigi Scrosoppi, the Patron Saint of Football, played by the enigmatic Eric Cantona, to lead the rallying cry for the game.

In the hero film he took football atheist ‘Dave’ on a journey through football, filled with unexpected cameos from the best players in the world, the most passionate real-life fans and inspiring communities, with a powerful speech on the true meaning of football.

He spearheaded Monster Kickabout, launching a football event in schools facilitated by Sports Direct, calling on millions of children to dust off their lockdown legs and play.

Whilst bringing the Just A Game message to social through a plethora of player and fan-led content. The #NeverJustAGame challenge invited fans to say why football is more than just a game without saying it. Native to the platform, fans showed their own reasons for why football means everything to them.

We defined our target audience as ‘The Football Evangelists’. United in their belief in football, regardless of location, age or gender. They shopped in Sports Direct but wouldn’t admit it.

We needed to show players and fans that Sports Direct understood the game they love and the nuanced reasons why. We created an enemy, ‘The Football Atheist’ - those who didn’t believe in football's power, dismissing it as ‘just a game’.

Through the atheist, we could position the brand as the evangelist, subverting negative perspectives on football and turn it into a celebration of everything that defines the identity of millions around the country to achieve in-depth emotional equity for Sports Direct.

Knowing international tournaments can inspire a new generation of ballers, we also wanted to create a vehicle that would enable play and give young soon-to-be evangelists a positive brand experience from an early age driving longer-term brand equity.

Understanding football fans, cameos were detailed with ‘if you know, you know’ insights they’d love. Maguire was seen buying an inflatable unicorn, made famous as a warm down tool in the 2018 World Cup, chess fan Alexander-Arnold was seen mid-contest and Grealish inspired the haircut of the summer with his iconic trim. The spot also featured community teams and real-world heroes including SE Dons, Hashtag United and Iqra Ismail.

Through editorial and print, we extended the storytelling; how Forest Green Rovers are ‘just a club… who can change the world’ as the world’s 1st carbon-neutral club. Alexander-Arnold is ‘just a right back… who’s redefined the game’. This extended to product too; how a boot is never ‘just a boot’ highlighting its USPs.

Through Monster Kickabout, schools could sign up to take part and would automatically be sent £1,000 worth of free equipment and programming including lesson plans.

The campaign hit the back of the net.

With brand sentiment at the start solidly negative, a YouGov Brand Index score of -9.2, this rose to exactly 0 midway through the tournament - the point of perfect neutrality.

This sentiment was reflected in social; ‘Annoyingly, that Sports Direct advert is great’ as one Tweet put it embodying the sentiment. The campaign forced an uncomfortable reappraisal of the brand, with consumers unexpectedly having to associate Sports Direct with quality, progress and even ‘class’, with comparisons online to historic Nike spots of the past.

And 3,188 schools participated in Monster Kickabout resulting in over half a million kids playing the game, having a positive football experience delivered to them by Sports Direct.

Brand consideration results were considered "best in class” by YouTube and #NeverJustAGame stirred debate and ignited feeds, racking up 5.6bn campaign views across social channels alone.