How could JD Sports create an authentic, standout cultural moment which would cut through the noise of the first ever Christmas World Cup?

We went back to JD’s roots as a brand built by and for those driven to compete, creating a huge global integrated campaign, leveraging the brand’s ‘King of' iconography and inviting the audience to Take the Crown.

The creative was built in the one truly ubiquitous urban battle ground, the arcade, and centred around an epic 120’ TVC featuring 30+ heroes of youth culture, directed by Rollo Jackson and chocked full of easter eggs.

We made the campaign playable through a custom-built arcade on Meta and invited the audience to take part through custom Snap filters, TikTok challenges and even AR playable shop windows.

We enlisted stars of sport, music and entertainment to go head-to-head in our Take the Crown content series and toured a live version of the arcade around retail spots in the UK, giving people a chance to win prizes and enjoy live performances.

The huge OOH campaign featured additional spots including a 3D billboard in Piccadilly Circus and bus and taxi wraps, while the campaign creative adorned the windows and interiors of over 3,000 stores worldwide.

The campaign was viewed over 25M times through YouTube and voted the No.1 most authentic Christmas campaign by the Diversity Standards Council.

Most importantly it was loved by the audience, helping to drive a 20% YOY profit growth for JD.

ROLE: Strategy, Creative Strategy, Manifesto, Concept, Script, Creative Direction