AFL launches new ‘Believe’ campaign ahead of 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season via AFL Media
Ahead of 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season opener on Thursday 19 March, the AFL has today released Believe, its season launch campaign featuring fan-generated content and some of the biggest names in the game.
Produced in-house by AFL Media, the campaign centres around the premise of belief, leveraging the League’s previous Don’t Believe in Never positioning. For the first time ever, the season launch campaign has been tailored to market, with bespoke television commercials produced for QLD and NSW, to ensure an audience led approach to engage with different markets.
Believe takes a fresh approach to create a sense of excitement and optimism about the upcoming season. Throughout the TVCs, iconic on-field moments and supporter content unite to create a series of rich and entertaining moments that will charm fans and capture the attention of those less engaged in the game.
Says Darren Birch, general manager growth digital and audiences, AFL: “We’re excited to launch such a contemporary campaign that communicates the on and off-ground experience to elevate our brand and appeal to a broader audience.
This work is quite different to what we’ve done in the past – shifting focus to our fans, and using their content to help tell our story, unlocks many opportunities to connect with our audiences in new ways.”
Says Andrew Hutchison, creative director, AFL Media: “We were thrilled to land the opportunity to lead this program of work in 2020; we have really challenged what’s been done previously and we feel we’ve executed a campaign that truly brings to life the essence of the AFL brand.
“We look forward to rolling out an integrated program of work in 2020, with multiple key campaigns throughout the year aligned to the Believe platform.”
The Believe season launch campaign will run across TV, digital, social, OOH, press and at matches throughout the 2020 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
Heath Walker – Head of Marketing, AFL
Katie Hynes – Marketing Manager, AFL Fans & Clubs
Rita Khouri – Marketing Programs Lead, AFL Fans
Jack Gray – Marketing & Player Engagement Lead
Leigh Dunston – Project Management, AFL Media
Andrew Hutchison – Creative Director, AFL Media
Sam Russell – Art Director, AFL Media
Chris Nardo – Deputy Art Director, AFL Media
Christopher Bell – Vision, AFL Media
Jarrad Gardner – Research, AFL Media
Mark Farrow- Audio, AFL Media
Production Company: Riot
Dave Christison – Riot Executive Producer
Marty Moynihan – Riot Director
Scarlett Maloney – Riot Research
Aaron Carroll – Riot Editor and Colour Grade
Carl Whitbread – Riot Motion Graphics, Animation
Donald Mayes – Creative Producer
Hayley Campbell – CAD
48 Comments
So Clemenger lost this account after one season?
@I’ll go first,
Seems like it. And this is the result.
They may have dodged a massive bullet.
Do you really think so? I think this year’s campaign is a huge improvement on previous years. It’s getting a lot of love online, I guess the people will be the judge.
@And then I totally agree!
Agree, loving this work
Me too, I think the AFL have nailed it this time round
Horrific art direction.
Complete lack of focus. I didn’t know where to look, what to read. It’s a complete mess.
I never have a dig and in-house work, but this is atrocious.
And crossing out the previous campaign line to hero yours? Who are yas, Donald Trump?
Have you seen what they’ve done in the past?! This is a massive improvement, so much cleaner.
I actually think this campaign looks amazing. Usually AFL advertising is packed with logos and way too busy in my opinion… heaps better this year.
Obvious what you’re trying to do.
Equally obvious you don’t have the experience or budget to actually achieve it.
Agree with Gross. This is truly all over the shop.
Why does De Goey have a subtitle with his name, but the other players don’t?
Sorry, but this looks a little ameteur compared to the NRL ad.
No way! The AFL have smashed this one out of the park.
I thought this was a Ch 7 promo for the game.
Ch7 wishes!
I like this…its fresh. NRL ad is way too political- Sport should be neutral.
I believe this is a poor effort
Actually disagree with the above, good to see work from the AFL we haven’t seen a thousand times before. And that TVC, spot on.
I agree, this is good work from AFL Media. Their fans are going mad for it on Social, no doubt that’s what they care about most!
Kills it over NRL
It’s fresh! I like it a lot.
Polished work by AFL Media really like this campaign
Love my AFL and don’t care much for the NRL.
But if we’re comparing, I hate to say it, the NRL ad is better.
The NRL ad feels big, has emotion and the production qualities are great. It makes a statement and has intent.
This feels cheap. The use of social media in a sporting ad is such an overused technique, and all the other moments, as good as some are, just feels like I’m watching a cheap promo crammed with stuff.
The NRL ad makes me feel excited about the game – this one didn’t.
And what’s with the track?
Whatever, it won’t stop the Tigers from going back to back! Let’s go!
To me the NRL have tried too hard, this definitely feels cooler.
I am a huge afl fan living in Sydney.The NRL spot gave me goosebumps.The music track has a connection with the past but is also timeless.The AFL music track is crap.
So is the art direction and the editing.
The whole thing is embarrassing.
Most of the commentary I’ve seen comparing AFL/NRL paints the AFL as the stand-out winner. I have to say I agree – their spot is a lot cooler and less heavily produced. The NRL have tried too hard to tick the boxes.
@Leah, me too. Some people are saying it’s ticking boxes, but I imagine this is hard to avoid when they have to represent all the clubs and so forth. I think they’ve achieved this and maintained an engaging piece of work that their fans will love. Even I like it and I don’t even really like footy all that much.
At last an AFL spot that’s going to have some cut through up here in Sydney!
This is barely reheated garbage.
It’s an ad trying to be loads of things: be cool, include the mandatory footy action, be social media savvy look wise and contemporary wise too and also vibey. And it fails.Why? Because it tries way too hard. It doesn’t commit to any particular idea/direction – call it what you like. It feels like it may have started out on a braver path, but maybe it got diluted down into what is let’s be honest a broadcaster’s promo. If ad agencies / or media agencies have any relevance they must have a strong point of view and sell it and deliver it. That’s how great advertising historically has always delivered. This kind of spot makes ideas kinda irrelevant, for now. I say for now, because hopefully the ad industry wakes up and fights for the ideas it is still capable of delivering, otherwise it may vanish into a promo/social/bland space.
Are people being paid to comment positive stuff here? That video is objectively bad. If i submitted that as an assignment at a local TAFE, i’d get just a Pass. The press ads, maybe not so bad. But people frothin’ over that crap excuse for a TVC is highly suss.
Soundtrack – annoying
Graphics – boring
Split screen technique – bad 1970’s
Content – bit of everything
Response to big thick research document – include a nod to everything
Creators – a committee
I don’t like AFL but I like this film. It may just get me watching the game.
Well done to all.
Imagine being so offended by the NRL ad that you felt the need to praise this load of rubbish.
This literally feels like the mood video you would whack together in a few days to present what the ad would feel like once you actually put some time, attention, love and craft into it.
Sure it will do a good enough job, but it is enormously forgettable. The only decision they got right was the soundtrack which is a genuinely ace track (and that I am mildly annoyed they used as I was trying to get it up on a project of mine)
So bad
So good
That’s a hype video made by people working at the AFL for people who work at the AFL. Not sure why you’d PR it here where people have a strong appreciation for craft and concept. This piece of film has neither and is a testament to why agencies exist.
Pretty impressive hype reel if you ask me, it’s doing a strong job for the AFL already if you take a look through the online sentiment. Chill out man.
This is farken shithouse. I’d rather be quarantined on the Diamond Princess than have to watch this again.
Spot on. This is a hype reel at best.
So it’s nice that the AFL media people are supporting their work on here with comments but really – it’s an in-house hype reel. Nothing about it is impressive. No finesse. Not exciting. It’s a dogs breakfast to look at.
You really honestly think this compares to the epic, memorable launch ads created by George Patts? Or Cummins? If you believe this work if ‘the best thing in years’ you’re kidding yourself.
Geez mate, what happened to your brand? There has been incredible work made during your time in AFL House. You used to love big Nike-types of campaigns. This is appalling. And you’ve got the in-house people sticking the boot into the old work.
The game is better than this garbage.
Even I can see this is terrible.
This is a simple case of judging the creative based on the cost it took to produce.
Well done. You’ve achieved complacency, and haven’t grown the game.
Of course it worked well for the fans on your social media. You preached to them. With basic-ness.
Ask someone who’s on the fence about footy – this spot would do sweet f.a.
But research costs money. So let’s not do that… GREAT JOB TEAM! YOU SAVED US SOME CASH!
Ive always thought the AFL produced campaigns that had an inherent magic about them. The previous one featuring girls grabbed my attention. Not only did it stand for something on a societal level for those uninterested in AFL (such as myself), but it challenged its own captive audience to break out of the conventional way of looking at the game, who participates it, who wants to be involved, who dreams about it. There was magic in it, it was captivating, crafted, contemporary, and challenging. This is none of that. It’s cheap, amateurish and as someone mentioned above, a complete ‘dogs breakfast’. Zero craft, zero polish. The magic has definitely left the building.
Probably should have stuck with the tagline ‘Don’t Believe In Never’.
What is the “Menigen?” and where do I get some?
Feelin’ a little flat.