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Kayo shows that ‘Nowhere is safe from footy’ this winter in first campaign by Special Group

Foxtel’s sports streaming service Kayo has kicked off its winter sports marketing push with a campaign featuring AFL players Dion Prestia and Sam Walsh, and NRL players Alex Glenn and Luke Keary.

Kayo’s push for its winter sports comes after parent company News Corp’s financial results revealed the company was relying in an uptick in subscribers during the AFL and NRL seasons

CEO of News Corp Robert Thomson said cricket, which is available on Kayo and a key part of its summer marketing, “is not as compelling to Australian viewers” as AFL and NRL, and the company expects subscribers to increase in the peak winter selling season.

The campaign promoting Kayo’s winter offering is the first campaign from Special Group since it won the creative account for Kayo last year.

The AFL-focused TVC shows Walsh taking a mark off the back of Prestia in the middle of the supermarket, with the pair falling into a crate of lettuces. The NRL spot features Glenn tackling Keary through the glass panelling of a bus shelter.

The campaign is pushing the line ‘Nowhere is safe from footy’, demonstrating Kayo customers’ ability to stream the every game of the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season and 2020 NRL Telstra Premiership Season anywhere they are.

Kayo Sports CCO, Ant Hearne, said: “Footy is back and there is no better way to enjoy watching every game live and on demand than with Kayo. Our sports line-up over the winter months is incredible – along with every AFL and NRL game, fans can follow all the live action from the Formula OneTM, Supercars, Super Rugby, The Masters, Wimbledon and the NBA Finals just to name a few.

“We’re particularly excited to debut our first of many campaigns with Special Group. The team at Special Group have a proven track record of achieving incredible results for their clients through impactful creativity that cuts through the noise. We are loving having their creative minds focused on the Kayo brand and we are looking forward to the journey together.”

The campaign is also appearing across radio and OOH. The radio execution narrates Walsh running through a wedding to mark the bouquet toss, and Keary dodging disgruntled shoppers at a furniture store (that has Swedish meatballs) to dive into a double bed.

Special Group managing director, Cade Heyde, said: “We wanted to create a simple but impactful way to dramatise that nowhere is safe from this season’s footy and if we’re lucky, hurt some lettuce along the way. We’re delighted to be partnering with Kayo, the agency has been chomping at the bit to work with this brand for some time and we’re looking forward to helping build a brand with plenty of creative highlights across the year.”

Hearne said no footy players were harmed in the making of the ads.

“No need to worry for Broncos and Roosters fans, no footy star was harmed in the making of these TVCs, although kudos to our stunt doubles who managed to get the bus stop shot in one take,” Hearn said.

“It was a lot of fun shooting with these guys, Dion Prestia couldn’t wipe the smile off his face all day, to the point where we had to ask him to put his game face on. Their enthusiasm really comes across in the finished product and I hope people get a laugh watching it.”

The OOH execution

Credits

Creative Agency: Special Group
Executive Creative Director: Julian Schreiber, Tom Martin
Creative: Nick Cole, Pat Allenby
Design: Director Adam Shear
Executive Producer: Paul Johnston
Producer: Emily Willis
Strategy Director: Dave Hartmann
CEO: Lindsey Evans
Managing Director: Cade Heyde
Business Director: Jake Stopper
Business Manager: Meri Stewart

Media Agency: Havas Media
Client Services Director: Damien Terakes
Account Director: Catherine Edghill
Head of Investment: John Lynch
Investment Director: Stefan Klukowski
Senior Investment Executive: Fraser Johnston
Investment Assistant: Rob Oxley

Media Strategy and Channel Planning: The Hallway

Production Company: Revolver
Director: Matt Devine
Executive Producer: Pip Smart
Producer: Serena Paull, Alex Kember
Edit: Arc Edit
Editor: Daniel Lee
Post-Production: Heckler
Audio: Rumble Studios

Client: Kayo Sports
Head of Marketing, Kayo Sports: Joel Moran
Senior Brand Manager: Stephanie Lukin
Senior Manager Marketing Operations: Tim Micallef

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