Worcestershire-based creative agency DRPG was keen to promote its role as an official partner to the Birmingham Commonwealth Games as well as its sponsorship of local athlete Delicious Orie (DJ), and so it turned to one its specialities: film.
The launch of the film, The Boxer, marked the start of a year-long campaign ahead of the Games, building up excitement among colleagues, and, through them, with clients.
With DJ’s training commitments, plus a hectic schedule involving joining Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics, DRPG had just one evening and the following morning to shoot the film. It meant that every minute and frame needed to matter, which involved much pre-planning, particularly as The Boxer was filmed across multiple locations in Birmingham.
DRPG also had to work closely with DJ’s management team and the Commonwealth Games’ brand team, to ensure it met partner guidelines, which added to the timeframe of the editing and approval process.
The film builds slowly. It starts with an alarm clock sounding at 6am, and shows DJ making his way to the gym. The alarm clock makes several appearances, emphasising the routine involved in a boxer’s life, but also, as the tempo increases, the dedication – day in, day out – involved to become world class.
Over the 80-second film, viewers watch the intensity of the training programme develop and the commitment required – but when there’s a momentary pause to catch breath or an incentive to give up – DJ’s voiceover reminds viewers that that’s when he needs to ‘dig right back in, because if you want that Gold, you’ve got to give it all that you’ve got’.
DRPG said that the voiceover delivery was also ‘key to accentuating the mood of the piece, with the objective of portraying the rawness and intensity of DJ and his journey. The final scene shows DJ, with his training team, resting on the ropes, with the message: Own the moment.
The agency said that the film has acted as a prompt to conversations about its official partnership across its offices, while the messaging ‘Own the Moment’ has been repurposed for a wider internal campaign to encourage its colleagues to own everything they do and drive them to success.
The judges felt the ‘highly engaging film’ was ‘just the right length’, and was ‘impactful and memorable’.
