Orchestrating a moving World Premiere for sportswear brand On’s The Right to Race on World Refugee Day at Cannes Lions 2023
Winning hearts and minds at the Olympic Games of Marketing
“What does it mean to have an identity - not just as an athlete but as a human? “
That is the question at the heart of Swiss sportswear brand On’s documentary feature film, The Right to Race, which follows refugee and long distance runner Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu’s remarkable journey from a war-torn region in South Sudan to the snow-covered slopes of Switzerland - where he is fighting for the right to race and represent his new country on the world stage.
Watch the short trailer for The Right to Race here
Written and directed by award-winning filmmaker Richard Bullock in association with Hungry Man Productions, the film centres around the special relationship forged between Dominic and his Swiss coach, Markus Hagmann, alongside Lobalu's struggle to be recognized by World Athletics as an international contender representing his home country.
To bring the documentary to life in front of influential industry leaders and journalists, and to generate buzz around the brand and kick off the PR campaign underpinning the film, we
conceived and produced the worldwide premiere of the documentary on World Refugee Day - at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2023, one of the largest and most prestigious gatherings of creative minds, major brands and advertising professionals.
“We used the power of the film - and its protagonists talking directly with the audience - to land an important message on World Refugee Day”
We also prepared a post-screening, interactive Q&A session with Dominic, Markus and Richard Bullock to ensure maximum impact with the audience and to provide a masterclass in authentic storytelling and unconventional marketing.
Our first challenge was simple: would people turn up to - let alone watch - a 31-minute film and Q&A, which went head to head with some of the biggest events in advertising?
Our second challenge was the context for the film - with World Refugee Day being the polar opposite in mood and meaning to the glitzy, glamorous and rather exclusive backdrop of Cannes Lions. We needed to strike the right tone and land a powerful message about refugees, citizenship and identity without being too heavy-handed and alienating the audience.
So we embraced the contradiction: developing a PR strategy focused on powerful and authentic storytelling which led with the story, not with the brand or its products. Our goal was to create a truly powerful and meaningful moment that had not just emotion, but also soul - an unforgettable antidote to the superficial grandstanding seen in other parts of the festival.
‘Tears and cheers’
The film was screened at the Contagious Villa, to a private audience of 60 guests made up of VIPs from the world of brands, advertising agencies, film companies, journalists (20.33%) and even a representative from World Athletics.
For 31 minutes, we pressed pause on Cannes Lions and played Dominic’s story instead.
And, for those 31 minutes, the audience watched with rapt attention, complete silence - and full-on emotion (there were tears, and then cheers). Right until the credits rolled.
Watch the whole feature film here - it’s more than worth 31 minutes of your time…
The power of showing the film live, and then having the team there in person to engage with the audience, made the event unforgettable. As well as captivating the audience, the film became a major topic of conversation at the festival and was even referenced in panel discussions as part of the official programming.
The premiere was the kick-off for a global PR campaign where our strategy was to build the brand and its values through the film and its protagonist's unique story. We worked closely with our US PR expert Elliott, and German PR specialist Ruth to orchestrate interviews with the stars of the film and of course the creator behind it, director Richard Bullock and the team at On.
As a joint effort we secured 59 pieces of coverage across all media - creative and film press but also leading news titles including the Guardian, CNN and Forbes; as well as interviews in German mainstream media such as Die Welt, reaching an audience of 4.08 billion globally. We were happy to help generate the biggest audience yet for an On film feature - a testament to what’s possible when film craft and authentic storytelling is supercharged by a robust and considered PR strategy.