Building on the excitement of the tournament, the campaign predominantly features two diehard Azzurri fans, Marco and Fabio. Titled “Forza Tifosi, Forza Azzurri – Two Sides, One Goal,” both the TV and print ads cleverly portray the passion of football from both the fan and athlete points of view, stressing the apparent interdependency and mutual respect between the two parties. As their everyday lives take similar direction the cues to their different lifestyles are evident.

The commercial opens in the morning where two crazed fans prepare for their long journey by car to the stadium to watch their national team and favorite player, Buffon, take the pitch. Buffon’s day starts similarly, but his superstar status is evident by his luxury hotel room and chauffeured limo. The TV spot conveys how their activities resemble one another as they prepare for the match where their paths eventually cross.

“Football campaigns typically feature aggressive imagery, domination and hero driven messages,” said Filip Trulsson, PUMA International Football Marketing Manager. “In our campaign, Forza Tifosi, we wanted to incorporate the fans and their aspirations for their teams and leave the audience excited about football.”

The broadcast executions will air globally with 60, 45, 30 and 20 second edits. Several 10-second spots focusing the activities and lifestyles of the two Italia fanatics will also complement the longer commercials. These 10-second shorts range from Marco and Fabio singing the national anthem, chanting Buffon’s name to the exuberant emotion of meeting a player.

Five print advertising executions will launch in April. Once again the parallel lives of player and fan are portrayed. The executions feature two separate photos, one of fans and the other of the players. The images link up with similar scenarios and are joined by a football logo with the text reading “Forza Tiffosi, Forza Azzurri.” The tagline of the print ads reads, “PUMA, proud technical sponsor of the Italian National Football Team.”