2019 Winners & Shortlists

THE UNOFFICIAL ANTHEM

Short List
BrandTUNISIE TELECOM
Product/ServiceBRAND COMMUNICATION
EntrantJ. WALTER THOMPSON TUNIS, TUNISIA
CategoryUse of Licensed or Adapted Music
Idea Creation J. WALTER THOMPSON TUNIS, TUNISIA
Media Placement MINDSHARE Tunis, TUNISIA
PR J. WALTER THOMPSON TUNIS, TUNISIA
Production PROPAGANDA Tunis, TUNISIA
Production 2 WHITE BENCH STUDIO Tunis, TUNISIA
Production 3 CREDO PRODUCTIONS Moscow, RUSSIA

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

This case illustrates how Tunisie Telecom created a world cup soundtrack for fans, who in turn owned it and made it the unofficial anthem for Tunisia. To catch attention, we remastered the iconic Kalinka immersing fans in the Russian atmosphere. We added Tunisian lyrics & instruments for fans to make it their own, singing “Russia Here We come”. The song hype was so high that its views count exceeded the Tunisian population. We even reached Russia with our biggest fan delegation ever, whose cheers made them “Best Fans” according to FIFATV.

Background.

Amongst 3 players, Tunisie Telecom is mostly recognized as the Telco that has been here the longest, has the widest product offer, better infrastructure and most shops: Very impersonal attributes. As a remedy, Tunisie Telecom relies on sport & cultural sponsorship to connect with Tunisians emotionally: As such, one of the key partnerships is its sponsoring of the Tunisian football team that has been ongoing since 2002. However, as Russia2018 approached, competitor Ooredoo overbid and claimed the sponsorship away. For the first time in almost 2 decades, TT was left behind during the most expected football period of the year. How could we maintain relevance for the worldcup despite losing the legitimacy of being an official sponsor?

Describe the creative idea.

The essence of our come-back is a video clip that illustrates a fictional alternative: Typical Russian characters filmed in Russia, cheering the arrival of the Tunisian fans for the world cup; taking it to reinventing their illustrious Kalinka with Tunisian lyrics, rewritten and remastered with oriental instruments. An unbelievable tale, but the tune of Kalinka is truly ingrained in all our minds which made remembering the song childplay for people. It becoming the unofficial fan anthem was only the natural next step.

Describe the strategy

The best part of the worldcup is not match-time, it’s the frenzy and the atmosphere that reigns before, during and after the game. For a brand to leverage the worldcup successfully, it doesn’t need its logo on the players shirts, but should find a way to enrich the experience and allow people to have more fun. Tunisie Telecom aimed to reach every Tunisian during world cup moments by giving them a fan anthem to cheer on. To increase the reach of our tune, we’ve distributed it to media outlets as prime world cup content, instead of just another ad starring football players.

Describe the execution

In Ramadan, at peak TV penetration, we aired a remastered version of the catchy «Kalinka» in order to immerse fans in the Russian atmosphere.  We rewrote it with Tunisian lyrics to celebrate and announce that Tunisians were on their way to Russia welcomed by Russian themselves. The music video was shot in the streets of Moscow, where a Baboushka, a bearded lumberjack and other Russian personas sing about the Tunisian fans getting famous and coming to Russia in masses.  The lyrics expresses in all its splendor, the Tunisian heritage and its authentic uses in the preparations for the participation of Tunisia in the 2018 World Cup Russia. The clip starts with a strong Slavic setting and as the rhythm increases, the beat turns to Darbouka (Tunisian drums) and the Russians get swept away on the Tunisian vibes.

Describe the outcome

Tunisie Telecom was the n°1 brand associated with the Russia 2018 worldcup for Tunisians. Thanks to “Russia Here We Come” we gained +4points in brand appreciation and ranked 1st before competition. The Tunisian national team ended up going home after its 3 games. The Tunisian fans on the other hand won the heart of Russia: BIGGEST DELEGATION: More than 22k Tunisians took our word literally and flew to Russia BEST AMBIANCE: The Tunisian fans cheers were so contagious that the FIFA TV elected them as “Best Fans” A FAN ANTHEM: +13M video views (compared to 7M connected Tunisians): the songs were so popular that +50 streaming links (published by fans) were associated to it. +400K interactions on social media 90% organic reach International reach: Egypt, Morocco, France, Saudi, Russia…

Credits

Name Company Role
JWT Tunis JWT Tunis Art Director
Links
Video URL