The GennY Award recognizes best practices of those who have applied new and innovative techniques to connect and communicate with youth. The 2012 award will be given to one exceptional marketing campaign at the Millennial Mega Mashup next week, but we want to highlight the finalists to showcase the unique ways they’ve Millennialized their marketing efforts to reach this influential generation.
Category: Sports Marketing
Alloy Media + Marketing and Puma
The ‘My Day, My Life: Women’s Soccer’ campaign, sponsored by Puma, is a digital campaign telling the story of four international professional soccer athletes and their compelling journeys to the World Cup in Germany. Leveraging Alloy’s expertise in creating video content that young girls love and Puma’s reputation as a cool pop culture and lifestyle brand, the campaign motivated, inspired, and encouraged young women through stories of star female athletes. Along with videos, girls could also explore player bios from the Women’s World Cup team, see behind-the-scenes photos, and check out their favorite Puma gear.
Ypulse: Millennials expect an all-access pass to celebrities. How did this campaign leverage that interest, while simultaneously showing that athletes are like them, ordinary people?
Alloy: The ‘My Day, My Life’ campaign offered an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look into the daily lives of pro-athletes — from sunrise to sunset. From morning routines to team practice and hanging out with friends, this series gave a unique, first-person view into the lives of these celeb athletes. Millennials experienced every unscripted moment within the 24 hour time period, allowing for a personal and engaging experience
By showcasing four female athletes, each from a different culture and background, viewers had the chance to see how they interact in daily life with peers, their sport, and get a true insight into each of their personalities while leading up to their end goal of the World Cup game — creating an influential and memorable experience.
YP: Why did you choose athletes from four different countries?
Alloy: Four athletes from different countries were chosen for this series to showcase a variety of culture and background, adding to the relatability and bonding factors of the series. Each of the athletes provided their own insight and point of views, keeping the series exciting and engaging. The series showcased the unique insight and individuality each of these women possessed, all while working toward one end goal — The World Cup game.
YP: The athletes themselves took this campaign to the next level by blogging and tweeting about their involvement; how important was that to the success of the campaign?
Alloy: The social aspect of the ‘My Day, My Life’ campaign gave even more insight into these women’s lives and portrayed them as real-life, hard-working women both on and off the field. Millennials were able to follow each of the athletes and be involved in each of their journeys to the World Cup game.
YP: How did this campaign differ from other Alloy-based web series?
Alloy: The ‘My Day, My Life’ campaign was a unique, unscripted, documentary series that focused on goal-achievement, individuality, and determination. This reality series differed from other Alloy series by giving an up-front and personal view to professional celebrity athletes with an all-access pass to their lives. It’s not often that viewers get the opportunity to be up close and personal with celebrities, and Alloy provided this opportunity through this series.
YP: Can you tell us about the decision to incorporate style guides?
Alloy: Style Guides, portrayed on the ‘My Day, My Life’ web hub on Teen.com, were created to showcase specific Puma sportswear items featured in the series. As Puma is a sports-lifestyle brand, the style guides offered items that would appeal to the aspirational and motivated young consumer.
YP: Finally, we like to end each interview with the same question: What is an important thing for the world to understand about Millennials?
Alloy: Millennials are constantly evolving, growing, and searching for new and exciting causes, technology, and opportunities. They want to be understood and treated as individuals in society. This generation has so much to offer and are a huge contribution to the world — in particular, the digital world.
YP: Stay tuned for more on the GennY Award finalists and winner; and check out our Meet the GennY 2012 Finalists: Part 1 and Part 2.
