The ad is the latest in the brand’s decades long running ‘Priceless’ platform
With UEFA’s Champion’s League men’s final between Liverpool and Real Madrid slated on May 28, one of the soccer competition’s main sponsors Mastercard has released a spot featuring tournament winner Lionel Messi’s memories of leaving home to play for Barcelona as a boy.
The 1 minute 20 second spot, created by McCann, features a digitally de-aged Messi, who is a brand ambassador for Mastercard. It is the latest element of the technology and payment brand’s long-running “Priceless” platform, which began in 1997 to promote the experiences it can help provide people and the memories they can make through using their service.
During the film, Messi, in voiceover, relays his thoughts and feeling of making the journey from Argentina to Spain—and we see him experience the journey before the two eras are seen together at the airport when he lands.
“I had doubts and fears to overcome to get to where I am today—and, honestly, have done far more than I was ever able to imagine when I was a child. It was my passion and love of the sport that kept me going,” explained Messi in an interview given to Mastercard around the campaign.
“The game of football has given me so many ‘Priceless’ experiences and allowed me to accomplish much more off the pitch through the Leo Messi Foundation, other endeavors and the support of all the fans,” he said.
Messi released the film on May 12 on his own Instagram account, which has 325 million followers, with further activity through the brand’s owned social media accounts also planned.
Meanwhile, Messi described the technology, used by effect house The Mill to create his digital self, as “amazing,” saying that seeing the film for the first time and himself interacting with his younger self “gave me goose bumps.”
“It’s always a joy to interact with kids. And it is remarkable how we used technology to mirror my younger self. I wish I had the opportunity in real-life to speak with my younger self to instill confidence and let him know his hard work and sacrifices will pay off—and that he’s still playing the game he loves,” he continued.
Raja Rajamannar, chief marketing and communications officer at Mastercard, said in a statement that the film served as “an important reminder” about people being able to follow their passions and to prioritize what was important to themselves—“a sentiment which feels particularly resonant right now.”
“We are looking forward to celebrating the global appeal of football at the UEFA Champions League final in Paris later this month and bringing fans closer to their passions.”
“Mastercard and I believe in the importance of bringing people closer to their passions—connecting them to what they love. Together, we’ve been able to use football to inspire fans on and off the pitch,” said Messi of his partnership with the brand.
CREDITS:
Mastercard
Raja Rajamannar – Chief Marketing & Communications Officer and President, Healthcare and Business Monica Biagiotti – EVP, Global Consumer Consumer Marketing and Sponsorships John McDonald – SVP, Global Integrated Marketing and Communications Jennifer Stalzer – VP, Global Consumer Marketing Alison Giordan – VP, Global Sponsorships and Consumer Marketing Jennifer Ziemer – Director, Global Sponsorships and Consumer Marketing Traci, Spiegelman – VP, Global Media
McCann
Adrian Botan – Chief Creative Officer, Europe Pierre Lipton – Chief Creative Officer, New York Caprice Yu – EVP Global Executive Creative Director Pebble Goh – SVP Group Creative Director Ethan Schmidt – SVP Group Creative Director Tatjana Gall – Designer Aaron Kovan – Head of Production Judi Nierman – SVP Executive Producer Eric Johnson aka DJ Bunny Ears – SVP Executive Music Producer Oriol Bombi – EVP Global Strategy Director Danielle Noto – SVP Group Strategy Director Kim Price – VP Social Strategy Director Veronica Bertran – Chief Client Officer, McCann North America Mat Cunnell – SVP Executive Account Director Kate Burns – Account Director Cara Wang – Assistant Account Executive Karen Phillips – Business Affairs Manager
Octagon Christine Franklin, Executive Vice President Aldo Kafie, Vice President Mark Willard, Group Director Lamya Benosmane, Account Manager
Production
Director – Peter Thwaites Production Company – The Corner Shop Executive Producer – Jay Shapiro Line Producer – Nick Sutherland-Dodd DOP – Marcel Zyskind The Mill – VFX Creative Director – Matt Pascuzzi Sr Executive Producer – Camila De Biaggi Sr Producer – Sally Wnek 2D Lead – Thiago Porto 2D Team – Julien Aucouturier Tim Crean Tom McCullough Jorge Pereira Yashvardhan Jain Rajesh Kaushik Scott Winston
DMP Team: Ivo Horvat Mark Ross
Colorist – Mark Gethin Color Assistant – Nate Seymour Executive Producer Color – Meghan Lang Bice Sr Producer, Color – Caitlin Forrest, Jessica Amburgey
BANGALORE:
Producer – Gaurav Joshi VFX supervisor: Yogesh Ahire / Mahendra Reddy (roto) 2D lead: Manmohan Singh (cleanup) 2D team: Sandeep Mishra (roto) Nithish Nandaa (roto) Shailesh Madhav (cleanup) Ajith Raj (cleanup)
3D LEAD: Elangovan Ganeshan (MM) 3D TEAM: Suman Sahu (MM)
No6
Editor – James Duffy Assistant Editor – Shannon Strong Assistant Editor – Evelina Gokinayeva Executive Producer – Corina Dennison Head of Production – Laura Molinaro Producer – Charlotte Delon Producer – Elizabeth Gelhar Graphics – Dave Gerber
Sound Lounge
Mixer/Partner – Tom Jucarone Senior Producer – Dana Villarreal
JSM Music
CEO/CCO/Co Composer – Joel Simon VP/Executive Producer – Jeff Fiorello Senior Producer – Norm Felker Senior Producer – Andrew Manning Producer – Sharon Cha Co-Composer – Becca Riter
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