Messi Inside

Background

The Messi biography by Guillem Balague was released one month prior to the FIFA World Cup in Brazil, a global event, which prompted an increase in football boot sales, especially those endorsed by one of the game's most famous figures. This was the perfect opportunity to use football boots as a medium to reach avid Messi fans likely to spend money on goods related with their idol.

Idea

Brief quotes from the book were juxtaposed with basic information about the book itself and placed on the shoes' removable insoles. Quotes about Messi ('he is too small' and 'put him on, put him on') could also be read as remarks about the shoes, thus prompting a reaction by the customer.

When pulled out, the inserts revealed more content from the book, encouraging people buying the boots to buy the books as well.

The campaign ran all the time Argentina remained in the World Cup, which turned out to be all the way to the final against Germany.

Results

Sales of Messi's biography were up by over 30% for the duration of the campaign. For weeks the book made it into various German bestseller lists. It also got into Amazon.de's top 100 bestselling books of the year.

Our Thoughts

Everything is media these days. Everything, including the insoles of shoes, it seems. Because this is a funny idea it obscures some really shrewd thinking. I often talk about ‘moments that matter’ in the lives of potential customers. If you can work out precisely the right place and the right time to reach them, then you have done nine-tenths of the job.

It was smart of the agency to identify precisely where and when Messi fans were feeling most connected to their hero so they could invite them to broaden their experience of the twinkle-toed genius.