THE IDEA
We needed to insert British Sign Language (BSL) into the heart of a common cultural touchpoint – something that brings the nation together in a shared moment of connection – and we found it in football.

Our strategy was to bring BSL to the beautiful game, placing it at the very heart of popular culture. This would not only resonate with a mass audience but bring people together to enjoy a meaningful, shared moment

Football is the most popular sport among deaf people but 55% regularly feel left out of match day experiences. So, we leveraged an existing brand partnership with Chelsea FC to create an emotional celebration of inclusivity.

We worked with deaf BSL choirs Unify and Hands 4 Voices to deliver the first ever rendition of Chelsea FC’s club anthem ‘Blue is the Colour’, entirely in BSL with the help of all 40,000 fans in the stadium.

Top Chelsea players also got in on the rousing half time performance, as well as learning a range of everyday BSL phrases themselves and rallying supporters to follow their lead.

And long-term training and inclusivity commitments were made to improve deaf inclusion across the club.

Within hours, we had secured blanket media coverage and had our campaign video shot, edited and released – bringing the emotive, Cadbury Fingers-owned experience to millions more.

THE RESULTS
Blanket coverage (61 pieces) across national, sport and lifestyle media, including TalkSport, The Sun, MSN and Daily Express
4.6 million organic views of the campaign content in one month
17% increase in the association between the Cadbury Fingers brand and its purpose of ‘everyday moments of connection’
50% of Brits would now consider learning some BSL for the purposes of inclusion
244% increase in visits to Sign With Fingers Big & Small page on the Chelsea FC website
98% positive sentiment around the campaign launch post with Chelsea FC – the highest level of positive sentiment from any Cadbury sponsorship campaign, ever