Intro

From the Outer Hebrides to the Kent coast, we spent the two thirds of 2023 travelling the length and breadth of the country for the Sky Bet Real Football’s Number Ones campaign.

The biggest and most significant project on which we have worked alongside Sky Bet, the multi-platform, through-the-line campaign, (devised by agency Who Wot Why) set out to unearth those untold stories of those unsung heroes who go above and beyond to make football across the country better.

From pre-production and planning to delivery – the campaign highlighted JMP’s growth and status as trusted partner for the nation’s number one betting company. 

Listen

Real Football’s Number Ones is the biggest collaboration we have undertaken with Sky Bet. As the UK’s No 1 bookmaker, Sky Bet set out on a mission to find those unsung heroes from the world of football. Those who aren’t always on the pitch – but constantly make a difference for others.

The brief for this was to show the nominees true characters and elevate the strength of their story, adding context and evoking an emotional engagement from Sky Bet’s social audience.

This meant using our journalistic approach and really digging into the background of the story, ensuring that we build true connections with the nominees and bringing out that authenticity required to showcase such strong stories. Our research included using several people close to the main subject – team-mates, friends,  family members, and fellow volunteers – who could speak with honesty and add weight and insight to the story.

As part of the initial planning and pre-production preparation, our team would suss out suitable location options along with a site-recce. Filming at the locations included either a 1 or 2 day shoot with a series of interviews, live-action footage and B-roll to capture as much of the story as possible.

Create

Once filmed, the footage is/was passed to our post-production team, who worked their magic to process and produce multi-format edits, including delivering an incredible final 140 edits across the two stages of the campaign, created and shot for multi platform use, and to ensure it took into account user behaviour across the different platforms.

For the five nominees included in the second phase of the campaign, our team was also tasked with shooting footage for the main TVC. This was a major coup for us as an agency and it will be a proud moment when we see the final work. The ads featured on a range of content streams including Sky TV (Football, Non-Football Sport, Entertainment), Sky Video on Demand, TNT Sport TV, ITV and on the Sky Sports YouTube channel

Showcasing the depth and range of our services, from our pre-production and planning team spending days sifting through, researching and selecting stories, through to choosing locations, organising shoot timetables, production of interviews, action footage, drone shots and more, as well as our post-production team delivering high-quality edit after high-quality edit, this really was a full agency effort. 

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed working on what was such a rewarding project, meeting truly inspiring people, and giving them the spotlight they deserve. 

Deliver

With over 900 entries to the competition, Sky Bet entrusted an expert panel, hosted by Soccer Saturday mainstay Jeff Stelling, of Liverpool legend Graeme Souness and ex-Crystal Palace star Clinton Morison, to determine the winner, crowning Alex, who founded Sands United West Yorkshire as their victor

Alex channeled his own personal grief – having lost three of his own babies in separate pregnancies – to create a football club as a safe space for men to discuss infant loss. 

The main 30-second pre-record TVC sees Morrison surprise Alex alongside his teammates, announcing him as the winner and revealing his prizes, including a guest of honour spot at the 2023/24 Sky Bet Championship Play-Off final.

The results:

  • 936 nominations 
  • 14 stories told
  • 1 winner
  • Eight-month campaign 
  • Twenty-two shoot days
  • Over 140 social videos created 
  • Over 5,500 miles covered

What they said

Leigh Peacock-Goodwin, Head of Brand and Sponsorship at Sky Bet

 “I’m so thrilled to announce that Alex Walmsley is our first official Real Football No.1. and to turn the announcement into a TV advert for all to see is something we’re proud of.  

“It’s been a privilege to work on this campaign, and we have been in awe at the remarkable people who have shared their stories. Working with JMP UK, as well as our in-house production team to be able to tell the country about these unsung footballing heroes has been a huge team effort.”

What they said

Joe Meredith, Managing Director at JMP

“For me, this was a true indication of the growth JMP has made and the agency we are becoming. I was incredibly proud to see every member of the JMP team being able to play their part in the delivery of this campaign. The campaign itself became bigger than everyone anticipated and our role grew significantly very quickly, – picking up the production of two stretches of TVC for Sky Bet as well as our digital activation – . The way the team were able to adapt and implement creative and execute in what was a relatively quick turn around at times was truly rewarding to see. 

On a personal note projects like this really excite me, we all love football and the ability to find some of the unsung heroes and untold stories that sit in the different layers of football was an absolute pleasure. We were able to meet some incredible people and saw some great sites. 

I think we managed to almost touch every corner of the UK throughout the project so it shows how far and wide the campaign reached”

Services Used

Strategy Scriptwriting Creative Video Photography PR Branded Content

Related Projects

JMP is a true partner for us. They have embraced our ambition and are able to offer us a full service from research to pre and post-production. In a world where brands are looking more and more for fast turnaround ‘premium social’ output that is affordable, JMP could not be better placed.

Kevin Brain, Head of Social & Content

Sky Bet

We’re really pleased with not only the end product but the entire process. The team clearly understand our industry and demonstrated why they are regarded as industry leaders throughout the journey. The final videos have gone down really well with clubs and fans alike, and deliver on all of our initial objectives and beyond.

Ben Rigby, Marketing Manager

EFL iFollow

They took genuine time to embed themselves into our company values and our business as a whole to understand how and where they could help us achieve our objectives. We are truly proud of the content they produce which is invaluable for us.

Jon Bland, Director

Verde

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