🏅 nutmeg fc d'or 2024. Part 1.
nutmeg fc #58.
A new tradition begins today. From now on, between 16 and 18 December each year, the nutmeg fc d'or will be held, an awards ceremony to recognise the most creative ideas linked to the world and industry of football.
Each edition will recognise ten ideas, each representing a different category. Although perhaps in the future this will change, as they are not the Nobel Prizes either.
There will be ten because the 10 is, with few exceptions, the most creative footballer on the team. Just think of Messi, Maradona, Pelé, Modrić, Hagi, Ronaldinho, Neymar, James Rodríguez, Pibe Valderrama, Román Riquelme, Roberto Baggio and a long etcetera.
Today we will meet the first five winners and, to introduce them, we welcome David Robert Joseph Beckham, who this year was part of three ideas (with Stella Artois, Just Eat and Lay's) awarded at the Cannes Lions advertising creativity festival.
Lamine Yamal, custom braces (TwoJeys).
Just when it seemed that we had run out of places to advertise, TwoJeys, the two stars' jewellery shop that also makes clothes, came along and created the first ad in teeth.
It couldn't have gone better.
Lamine Yamal was the perfect ambassador and El Clasico was an unbeatable moment, but then it was up to the ball to do its thing. If Barça had not won 0-4 and Lamine had not become the youngest scorer in the history of the great Spanish derby, the idea would have been just as creative, but it wouldn't be here.
Bonus point for finding the exact right gesture to show the braces in the celebration that was noticeable, without being exaggerated or distasteful.
The Everyday Tactician (Xbox).
Much more than a promo, The Everyday Tactician broke the barrier between pixel and reality to prove that Football Manager doesn't have to have the best graphics to be the most realistic football videogame.
The idea was to search among the FM2024 players for the best tactician to become the data analyst of a real English promotion team: Bromley FC, winners of the FA Trophy 2022.
The promo is aimed exclusively at active gamers, because this is a very complex game to master quickly, but to reach a wider audience they created a documentary with the experience of the winner.
And it is precisely because of the documentary that it becomes branded content.
125th anniversary (FC Barcelona).
Anniversaries of round numbers are always an opportunity to generate content and activations that highlight the value of a club's brand. But it's not an opportunity that is always well taken advantage of.
One club that did, despite Beckham, was FC Barcelona, which for its 125th anniversary did a creative tiki-taka to communicate it from different angles and reaching a wide range of audiences.
They published a print ad to show the modesty of their origins, created a mascot with many well thought-out details (the shape of the head like the crest, the reference to a local animal, the name linked to Catalonia), created content that is more art than advertising, held a competition to choose the anniversary anthem, organised a gala, reconnected with legends who had left poorly (such as Messi, Xavi or Koeman) and took advantage of the date to activate sponsorships (such as with Cupra).
The flag (Granada CF).
The season ticket holders' campaigns are important because, for many clubs, it is the only time they have the money to produce something of their own.
This year's winner is not perfect, but I chose it for one objective and one subjective reason. On the one hand, I think it is the way forward, with more stories that connect through emotions and less rational speeches. On the other hand, I thought/wrote it and I wanted to win an award.
Ego aside, the results support the decision. Granada surpassed the number of season ticket holders from the previous season, despite being relegated; they surpassed the all-time record number of season ticket holders in the second division; and they reached the second highest number in their history.
And, all this, despite missing a key scene that was in the script, but did not make it into the final edit: when the father sees his son taking the flag down from his bedroom wall and thinks he doesn't want to be a Granada fan anymore.
Clean sponsorship (Consul + Juventus Brazil).
Jersey designs with storytelling are one of my weaknesses, however, the winner of the nutmeg fc d'or is rather an executional one.
Consul, the washing machine brand and main sponsor of Juventus Brazil, chose to buy all the advertising space on the jersey (which in the land of Pelé is more than one would imagine) and left it clean. Just like their product does.
The result is a beautiful jersey that shines in its simplicity and cleanliness.
This Wednesday we continue with the second part of the nutmeg fc d'ors, giving out the awards for the best Signing Announcement, Product, Traditional Advertising, Re-branding and Social Awareness Action.