Sky Deutschland: SKY FOOTBALL OPERA

Credits & Description:

Category: Publications & Media
Advertiser: SKY DEUTSCHLAND FERNSEHEN
Product/Service: FOOTBALL LEAGUE COVERAGE
Agency: SERVICEPLAN
Date of First Appearance: Dec 4 2010
Entrant Company: SERVICEPLAN, Munich, GERMANY
Chief Creative Officer: Alex Schill
Creative Director: Christoph Everke/Matthias Mittermüller/Tim Strathus
Copywriter: Tim Strathus/Juliana Hirsing/Tobias Blineder
Art Director: Matthias Mittermüller/Monika Steiner/Basma Attalla
Account Supervisor: Diana Günder/Marco Wendt
Photographer: Christoph Mittermüller
Producer: Sky Deutschland Fernsehen & Co.
Director: Alexander Geissler
Camera: Roman Lipah
Music: Andreas Dellert/Benno Vogel/Michael Armann/Sybilla Duffe/Verena Barth
Media placement: TV, PR - TV, PR - 04.12.2010
Insights, Strategy & the Idea
“See something special with Sky” – that was the promise of Germany’s biggest pay-TV channel. Sky wanted its primary broadcast, the German Soccer League, (German Bundesliga) to live up to this claim by means of a truly unique promotion. The already well-served target group of regular football fans should be expanded and opened up to a broader and more intellectual audience. The result was the world’s first merging of football and opera: The Sky Football Opera.
Creative Execution
Sky turns soccer into opera: The goal was to create an event that would really spread discussions about the German Bundesliga and awaken interest throughout Germany. For this unique experiment we chose the top match-up Bayern Munich vs. Schalke 04. A renowned opera ensemble composed and improvised live for 90 minutes. Every protagonist’s part – players, referees, audience, goal posts and ball – was sung. This extraordinary staging was simulcast on a second channel for football fans, opera enthusiasts and the simply curious. We proved not only the sports side, but also the technological side of the claim “See something special with Sky”.
Results and Effectiveness
Even before the actual event, this German Bundesliga highlight-of-the-year made major headlines. The results exceeded all expectations: For the first time ever, Sky posted a record audience of over 1,000,000 viewers for a German Bundesliga game! After the final whistle, this unusual football event was talked about by bloggers and newspapers throughout the world.