The Sound of Football

Background

Pepsi was funding new ideas that had a positive impact on the community, state or nation. It was called Pepsi Refresh Project and had been very successful in the U.S. They wanted to extend the initiative into Sweden.

Idea

“The Sound of Football” project was a Pro’s v Jo’s event, retired professionals taking on a team of amateurs. But with a  difference.

Players were fitted with a blackout visor and a mounted iPhone that fed them audio cues as to where other players, the ball, and the goals were. Created along with creative technology company Society 46 and using 3-D camera technology from Tracab, the project aimed to give visually impaired football players a more intense sporting experience using tracking technology and sound.

As a test, a football match was arranged between a team of visually impaired players and a team of former professional footballers.

The intention was to see how they would perform under equal conditions in a match where no one can see. The match, and the technology behind it, was documented on The Sound of Football website and spread through social media to journalists and influential bloggers.

Åkestam Holst creative director Martin Cedergren said, "We wanted to show that everyone can realise his or her dreams, even if they happen to be young with a disability."

Results

• 525.000 hits on Google (0 before campaign start)
• Exclusive 30 min documentary aired on Discovery Network worldwide (+100 countries)
• +5000 articles worldwide (including Fast Company, Wired, Business Insider, Engadget and Contagious)
• +30.000 tweets and shares reaching over 100 million followers in total.
• Most shared viral on Viral Video Chart and most seen beverage spot all time, in Sweden.

Our Thoughts

We may have just seen the beginnings of a new para-Olympics event. A very inspiring use of technology contributing to a platform which Pepsi really needs to put more effort behind, or else continue to lose ground to the big red ‘happiness’ machine.