Telling Meta’s Rugby Sponsorship Story on 3 Phones and Across 3 Apps
The Rugby World Cup France 2023 was the first time social media leviathan Meta had sponsored a sporting event, so it had to go big in its marketing around the tournament. Going traditional wouldn’t have been right for a company with so much innovation at its heart. So the challenge for agency BETC Paris was to do something unprecedented.
The result was a campaign that would live on all of Meta’s apps, bringing larger-than-life ‘superfan’ characters to life – one for each of the competing teams – on Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, as well in a new format TV ad, filmed entirely on smartphones, where the classic TV screen became three vertical smartphone-style screens.
Inspired by the way fans celebrate, the film features content and conversations between eager fans and their superfan as they interact with Meta's essential features (filters, stickers, interactions, etc.) and feed off the fans' energy to literally grow. There’s even a three-screen experience that comes to life when you put phones side by side.
To find out more about how they made it happen, LBB’s Alex Reeves caught up with Olivier Apers, vice president and executive creative director at BETC Paris, and ALBERT ALBERT (aka Thierry Albert), director at Iconoclast.
LBB> Where did this idea begin? What did Meta want to do around the Rugby World Cup?
Olivier> This was Meta’s first sport sponsorship, so with our friends at Creative X and my team at BETC, we immediately thought we shouldn’t do something academic and instead, we pushed to create a piece of work never seen before. Something that only Meta could do.
Thierry> And when you think about sharing, Meta’s apps are at the centre of it all. People share their passion via Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook. So we decided to use the apps to tell our story and show how rugby fever can spread around the world. Plus the superfans were the perfect metaphor for that fever with the idea of them evolving.
LBB> Why did you decide to shoot completely vertically on iPhones and only for Meta apps?
Olivier> We really dug Albert Albert’s music promo ‘Tense’. Using the POV of a smartphone, it was telling a whole story via social media and Meta’s apps.
Thierry> But it was vertical when the Meta film was meant to be on TV! Fortunately, I had the idea of using three mobile phones to tell the story on TV. Something that had never been done before. Exciting!
LBB> How did that solution dictate what you could and couldn't include?
Olivier> It didn’t really dictatewhat we could and couldn’t include per se. But it definitely changed the way we built the story as everything had to be told via the Meta apps and how we use them in real life.
Thierry> Which was pretty rad! Suddenly, we didn’t have one screen to play with but three! For example, if you get a WhatsApp call, one screen is on, and when you pick up the call, both screens are on, and then we could even film the hero girl riding the superfan whilst on the call via the third screen!
LBB> Thierry, what were your thoughts when you first heard about this idea? And what were you most excited to make into a reality?
Thierry> I’m a huge fan of WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram, I even worked on the campaign that launched the Stories feature back in the days, so I embraced the idea of only using the Meta apps straight away. No weird ‘Minority Report’-like gizmos but instead, real authentic in-app interactions. And as a director, being able to play with three screens was a blast.
Olivier> It was a true collab between us all to select what app was doing what with the characters, the superfans and how we’d use the three screens in a real way.
LBB> When shooting on an iPhone and outputting vertically, there must be a lot to figure out. What were the biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
Thierry> The biggest thing to figure out was the storytelling on three screens. So which character is doing what on what app, and how do we re-jump from one screen to another, from one POV to another, whilst keeping the storyline clear and easy to follow.
Olivier> Thierry had storyboarded the whole film with which app was on at what time, it helped a lot. We knew exactly what to shoot with the iPhones. Still, the biggest challenge when you shoot on a phone is to have the cast frame the action when they are the one holding the phone.
Thierry> Although, they are so used to doing it in real life, it’s bang-on most of the time.
LBB> How did the interactive experience for three phones work? What were the important decisions to make that work?
Olivier> When you put three phones side by side and press play, the film works seamlessly on the three screens. We developed this three-screen experience with our IT department at BETC.
Thierry> Again, the main decision we had to make was to stay real to how the Meta apps work in real life and use them as they are. Between WhatsApp calls, Instagram Stories, Reels and Facebook Live, we had a lot of toys to play with.
Olivier> It’s an experience but also a good product demo.
LBB> Is there anything else that you really want our readers to know about this job?
Thierry> I wish all directors on the planet have the chance to work with creatives as brilliant as the ones at BETC and Meta. It was such a special collaboration that I’ve made them bespoke ALBERT ALBERT blue worker jackets.
Olivier> This was our first collaboration with META and ALBERT ALBERT. Now, we need to find another idea to have the chance to work together again. But even if I would like to keep ALBERT ALBERT for ourselves, I suggest all agencies call him. He is an amazing director and an incredible partner to work with.
