The start of the football season is the key window for selling TV sports packages to football fans.

BT therefore created a new proposition, Flex TV that answered a genuine fan frustration with the existing paid football model - namely fans having to invest in three separate and inflexible subscriptions.

With Flex TV, fans could turn each football package (BT Sport, Sky Sports and Prime Video) on and off every month.

Our goal was to use this innovation to increase first choice purchase intent of BT TV amongst sports supporters. To do this, we needed to reach as many fans as possible, and land two messages in a highly distinctive way that people would understand.

BT TV has all the football from Prime Video, BT Sport & Sky Sports.

You can flexibly sub these packages on and off on a monthly basis.

‘Unlimited Subs’, was a topical idea that landed the new product proposition, whilst showcasing BT’s in-depth understanding of football’s role within culture.

The idea was centred around the possibility of teams being able to make unlimited 'subs'. This chaotic, clever subversion was a deliberate ploy to entertain fans and highlight how BT customers could now easily switch in and out of football packages with Flex TV.

We knew that we had an enticing product, with our social listening showing that football fans were more frustrated than ever with the paid football model, and therefore open to alternative ways to engage with the game.

However, it was key that we landed ‘all the football’ before ‘flexibility’ because without the former, the latter was of no interest to fans.

Finally, to cut through the start of season noise, we explored a range of ‘product relevant’ contexts that had emerged during the pandemic. This gave us the best chance of capturing the attention of the football supporting public.

The work was live for three weeks to coincide with the hype at the start of the Premier League season in August 2020, when discussions and debates on the competition were at their peak. .

The campaign ran on TV, online video and social platforms. It included appearances from stars such as Marcus Rashford, Gareth Bale and manager Carlo Ancelotti and even featured a surprise cameo from WAG, Rebekah Vardy, alongside her husband Jamie. This wide range of talent ensured the whole footballing world got talking about unlimited subs.

Elsewhere, high impact out of home, print and social formats were used, with a procession of high-profile footballers lining up to come onto the pitch to replace others. A consistent and simple headline of ‘Unlimited subs with flexible BT TV’ ensured that the campaign felt truly integrated throughout.

The work was loved by supporters, players and the media, reaching 83% of football fans and 44 million people overall.

Other campaign tracking KPIs were equally impressive with message comprehension, comms salience and brand association consistently in the top quartile of all ads (+75 percentile) tracked for an influencer campaign.

The campaign was also picked up extensively by the national press. For example, Britain’s most popular tabloid newspaper, The Sun, ran a double page spread on the campaign after it was posted by BT’S official team of players and then shared by other high profile footballers, who weren’t even officially associated with the campaign, but just loved the idea.

And when it garnered international attention, with titles like L'Équipe and Marca running articles, we knew we were onto a winner.