Leo Messi’s debut fragrance hits global stage in new campaign via BCM Group + Born Bred Talent

The debut fragrance from the world’s greatest ever footballer and one of the most recognisable athletes globally – Leo Messi – has this week launched internationally via an integrated social, advertising, digital and POS campaign from Australia’s BCM Group, in partnership with Born Bred Talent.

The campaign is a result of a global collaboration between BCM Group, industry leading product development and licensing specialists Game On Product Group, global studio and production company, Smuggler, Australian talent agency Born Bred Talent, and renowned director and world- class choreographer C Prinz, who has worked with the likes of Zendaya, Billie Eilish and Charli XCX.

Messi The Fragrance, the bespoke men’s perfume by Game On encapsulated in a bold, sleek deep blue bottle, takes centre stage alongside the legend himself, in the global campaign which features rapid scenes of mirrored reflections and a moving narration to capture the many sides of Messi.

‘A footballer… a world champion… a father… a gentleman… a legend’ plays throughout the campaign to portray the essence of both Leo’s personality and his global Messi brand, having much more than we see.

Says Shaun Egan, BCM Group’s Co-Creative Director: “Messi’s brand speaks for itself, but the campaign peels back the layers and public perceptions to convey the unseen sides of the athlete we all know and love.” Sam Boyd, BCM Group’s Co-Creative Director added, “We’ve used a really simple but powerful duality in ‘more than we see’ to connect the unseen sides of Messi with the product itself as a scent that says something to the world about you, without being visible or seen.”

Says Phil McDonald, Partner & MD at BCM Group: “It’s not every day that you are entrusted with bringing a global brand to life, in partnership with the greatest footballer in history, but the Game

On team did and for that we are extremely grateful. I can’t wait to see this brand fly off shelves around the world.”

Says Ann Reilly, BCM Group’s Head of Broadcast and Content Production: “This was a demanding and logistically complex production from day one, and we really relished the challenge. We shot the campaign over two days in Miami, filming Messi inside a mirrored set which was purpose-built to show his different sides as reflections in the space. The build itself was also inspired by the fragrance’s bottle design, so the entire production felt interconnected,” she added. “Our production approach felt fitting for a global footballing legend too, with our partners spanning the UK, the US, Australia and Argentina. This made it an incredible international team effort.”

Says Stephanie Scicchitano, General Manager of Born Bred Talent: “It’s not everyday you get the opportunity to do a global launch campaign with one of the world’s greatest athletes. Collaborating on this with BCM and such a globally renowned team, has meant we’ve been able to create something really quite incredible.”

Says Daryl Czarny, Game On Product Group Managing Director: “A huge part of the importance and success of a fragrance is the advertising campaign, so there was an enormous task at hand to create something that represented both the fragrance and Messi’s own brand. The final creative shows exactly that coming to life, which has been a real team effort with experts from all corners of the globe coming together to make magic happen.”

Adds Elliot Rubenstein, Game On Product Group Managing Director: “We are extremely proud of what we have all accomplished here. Everyone worked tirelessly to create a world class advertising campaign with the results truly surpassing all expectations”.

The campaign is launching internationally across North and South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and NZ, with the fragrance to be sold across major retailers such as JC Penney and exclusively at Chemist Warehouse in Australia. The full campaign can be viewed here.

Client: Game On Product Group
CEO Chemist Warehouse: Damien Gance
Managing Director: Daryl Czarny
Managing Director: Elliot Rubenstein
Creative Lead: Rhian Joseph

Creative Agency: BCM GROUP
Managing Director: Phil McDonald
Creative Director: Shaun Egan
Creative Director: Sam Boyd
Head of Broadcast & Content Production: Ann Reilly
Group Account Director: Jana Tann
Digital Design Lead: Max McDonald

Born Bred Talent
General Manager: Steph Scicchitano

Production Company: SMUGGLER
Director: C Prinz
Executive Producers: Patrick Milling-Smith, Brian Carmody, Carlin Wilson-Webb
Head of Production: Alex Hughes
Producer: Ashley Roberts
Production Supervisor: Chad ‘Frenchie’ Alburtis
Commercial Co-ordinators: Patty Courtland, Shauna Womack
1st AD: Shawn Thomas
Director of Photography: Xiaolong Liu
Production Designer: John Richoux
Key Costumer (Celeb): Veronica Volpi
Offline Editing: Cabin Edit, London
Editor: Amber Saunders
Edit Assistants: Aiden Jordan, Chris Day
Edit Producers: Dave Frost, Caylee Banz, Amber Clayton, Joanna Dawson
Executive Producers: Ruth Minkley, Kayt Hall

VFX & Online: Cutting Edge, Brisbane
Creative Director: Zenon Kohler
VFX Supervisor/Lead Compositor: Steve Leacey
Compositors: Benjamin Ying and Bruno Ribeiro Profeta
Motion Designers: Brad Coomber, Victor Bandeira
3D Artists: Phil Jackson, Leyton Brown
Executive Producer: Trelise Blade
VFX Producer: Sarah Taylor
VFX Coordinator: Rylee Bannan

Music / Audio:
Composer: Joaquin Pastor
Sound Design & Mix: Joaquin Pastor
Strings performed by: Simone Porter
Additional Sound: Cutting Edge, Brisbane & Ark One Studios, Buenos Aires
Grade: Blacksmith.TV New York
Colorist: Mikey Pehanich
Color Assist: Matt Gehl
Color Producer: Adam Vevang

Photography
Photographer: Israel Rivera
Stills Producer: Carolina Gesser
Stills Assistant: Julio Carlos
Digi Tech: Andrew Claridge
Senior Retoucher: Rebekka Lee Johnson
Additional Product Photography: Chris Crawford