Faaez Samadi
Dec 2, 2016

ESPN, TCL inspire with latest SEA football story

The third instalment of the ‘Inspiring Bonding Moments’ series covers Indonesia, the tsunami, and Cristiano Ronaldo.

ESPN and TCL’s partnership to create inspiring, emotive sports content released its third video yesterday, as part of its ‘Inspiring Bonding Moments’ series telling powerful Southeast Asian sports stories.

Following two videos from the Philippines and Thailand, this latest takes places in Indonesia, charting the story of footballer Martunis. The three-minute video opens with the heartbreaking aftermath of the 2004 tsunami, in which Martunis was found alone on a beach amid the wreckage.

Rescued wearing his beloved Portugal football shirt, the young boy soon finds himself in that very country, shaking hands with his idol, Cristiano Ronaldo. Things look up from there.

Ranjit Gopi, director and head of overseas marketing at TCL, said he was “humbled” by the more than 100 million views and positive responses to the Thailand and Philippines videos.

“The power of ESPN’s compelling story telling and TCL’s Digital Marketing approach has enabled us to credibly connect TCL’s brand tagline of ‘The Creative Life’ with our global communication big idea of ‘Inspiring Bonding Moments’ to deliver upon our differentiated sports marketing strategy of ‘Unifying Athletes, Families and Countries through Technology and Sport’,” he told Campaign Asia-Pacific

“This has translated into an increase in TCL’s brand awareness and conversion in our overseas markets. With ESPN’s expertise and partnership we look forward to driving the future of purpose-driven content-marketing.”

Campaign Asia-Pacific comments: This is one of those cases where the story sells itself. The arc follows that of an almost-too-Hollywood script, but the story’s authenticity is its power, and EPSN and TCL do a good job of getting out of the way. Agencies and brands are constantly talking about connecting with consumers emotionally, and a tragedy-cum-victory like this will always resonate well. 

Source:
Campaign Asia

Related Articles

Just Published

12 hours ago

How smarter mobile ads are beating big-budget ...

Based on $2.4 billion in ad spend across 1,300 apps, AppsFlyer’s latest report reveals why emotional storytelling, tutorials and platform-native talent now outperform big-budget creative in mobile marketing.

13 hours ago

EssenceMediacom retains top spot in April's APAC ...

OMD holds strong in second position while Publicis' Starcom climbs the highest after retaining Dabur's media mandate.

13 hours ago

Why it’s time we took Singaporean content creators ...

Hazel Yap, co-founder of influencer marketing agency Serious Media, unpacks the business behind the buzz—arguing that content creation isn’t just Gen Z’s latest phase, but a viable career reshaping Asia’s marketing economy.

13 hours ago

Changi Airport ropes in Aussie influencers to ...

A three-part video series sees Changi Airport positioning itself as the gateway for travellers to discover Southeast Asia’s rich food culture.