Sky: Sky x British and Irish Lions

The Brief

To drive talkability and cultural relevance for Sky Sports' coverage of the Lions tour, specifically highlighting the NOW Sports Membership, among a younger, under-35 audience. The goal was to use a social-first, highly entertaining content campaign to engage this digitally savvy demographic while seamlessly reinforcing brand and product messaging.

Campaign Execution

We reimagined traditional Lions storytelling by creating a humorous, behind-the-scenes mockumentary that brought fans closer to the squad than ever before. Working with James Kibbey from Black Shark Media to develop relatable, comedic scripts, we deployed creator Paul Olima (aka Rolling Thunder) as a rogue cameraman to capture the players' off-duty chaos.

Key campaign elements included:

  • Unscripted Player Access: We captured hilarious, relatable moments with key stars like Tom Curry, Tadhg Beirne, and Ollie Chessum - ranging from gym sessions and meticulous skincare routines to surprise Zoolander impressions.

  • Seamless Brand Integration: Oranges & Lemons Production navigated a massive three-day shoot around the players' schedules and Sky Sports' live recordings. We wove on-screen pundits into the narrative, ensuring Sky’s broadcast expertise was highlighted in a fun, shareable format.

  • Multi-Channel Amplification: The mockumentary was distributed across Sky Sports’ owned channels, Paul Olima’s platforms, and the official Lions channels, supported by a targeted earned PR strategy to build a multi-channel ecosystem around the tour.

Results 

The campaign successfully humanised the players, strengthening emotional connection and brand affinity with a younger audience through culturally relevant humour.

  • Massive Social Reach: The content delivered over 1.4 million impressions, a reach of 950k, and a stellar 12.4% top-tier engagement rate across Sky-owned channels.

  • Earned Media Impact: Secured 18 pieces of earned coverage, with 88% of articles embedding the campaign video and driving above-average inclusion of NOW Sports messaging.

  • Audience Resonance: Fans responded overwhelmingly positively to the authenticity and exclusivity, proving the power of a well-executed, social-led mockumentary to capture the under-35 demographic.

 
Lisa Parfitt