The creative campaign was designed to strategically announce and promote the highly anticipated showdown between Devin "The Dream" Haney and Vasiliy Lomachenko, as they vied for the Undisputed lightweight crown. With an event of this magnitude, we were challenged with creating a spark - something to jump start a campaign for the most prestigious title in boxing.
The challenge? While both fighters were respected amongst boxing fans, they lacked the flash that certain other matchups had. While Devin Haney was quickly becoming one of the best fighters in the sport and Vasiliy Lomachenko had held that distinction for close to a decade, neither were power punchers that could draw in fans with a single shot.
So the challenge of the creative became, how do we still capture excitement that translates to a more casual audience? How do we still convey that this a must-watch fight?
We knew the theme was the most important aspect for our Devin Haney vs. Vasiliy Lomachenko creative. The concept of a chess board had been often contemplated within Top Rank offices, but it required the right fighters and captivating visuals to ensure excitement. We decided this was that moment. Our strategy was to convey the precision and calculated nature of both fighters' striking prowess by drawing parallels to the intricate game of chess. Each element of the creative, originating from the event poster, was meticulously designed to reflect the strategic and purposeful characteristics of Haney and Lomachenko inside the ring. These two men aren't knockout artists - they are tacticians who dominate their fights by knowing what their opponent is going to do - just as the great chess players do.
The initial step involved organizing custom photo shoots with both athletes, meticulously capturing poses that mirrored chess pieces. The goal was to seamlessly integrate the regal nature of the event within the chess board concept. From there our creative agency went to work - creating a hybrid of boxing and chess with a board surrounded by gold ropes, signifying the importance of the upcoming battle.
Simultaneously, the social media team presented a challenge to the creative team, envisioning a 3D chess animation to reveal the fight. This ambitious concept involved illustrating the career moves of the fighters leading to a climactic showdown in the middle of the chessboard. As the kings, Haney and Lomachenko, traversed the board, they would strategically eliminate pawns, with each pawn representing a former opponent defeated by the fighters. The challenge was in the render time, with every iteration and modification demanding additional hours to output the latest design. The team faced a tight time crunch to finalize the animation before the official announcement, managing to accomplish this feat with mere moments to spare.
The announcement, featuring the 3D animation and poster, garnered a staggering 7,400,000 million impressions, marking it as the second-largest event announcement on Top Rank's social media platforms to date. The creative surpassed all expectations, particularly in fan sentiment. Despite initial concerns about the potential perception of "chess is boring," the response from the audience was overwhelmingly positive. Comments such as "Top Rank Boxing posters are better than movie posters" and "Modern art" showed a love and appreciation for what the team accomplished.
