To prepare the campaign, the Czech Paralympic Committee (ČPV) joined forces with the proven agency VML, as it did last year. Dynamo design, specialists in visual presentation and communication, took care of the visual identity. "With the campaign and the new visual identity, we want to bring Paralympic sport closer to the public in an authentic way – with respect for top performance, but also with the lightness and humour that naturally belong to parasport athletes. Our main goal is to further raise awareness of parasport and attract the widest possible audience to watch the Paralympic Games," explains Tereza Eliášová, Director of Marketing and Media at the Czech Paralympic Committee.
We take sport seriously with humour
The VML campaign builds on the ambition to present athletes with disabilities as professional hard workers who put maximum energy, passion and enthusiasm into their sport. "At the same time, we wanted to highlight the admirable ability of athletes to take their disabilities in stride, and even with a good dose of self-irony," explains Head of Copy Ondřej Potůček.
The entire communication is thus permeated by the slogan "We take sport seriously with humour". The campaign includes two TV spots, two radio spots and three key visuals that will appear in both OOH media types and digital media.
The faces of the campaign are the athletes themselves: a team of para hockey players and blind cross-country skier and biathlete Simona Bubeníčková with her guide David Šrůtek. The campaign was professionally produced by Stink Film, with photography by Ondřej Szollos. "I am glad that from the beginning of the project we were in symbiosis with director Jakub Jirásek, who was able to perfectly translate the degree of exaggeration and sporting commitment not only into images, but also into music, which he also composed," adds Head of Art Aleš Pokorný.
The para hockey players themselves enjoyed their unusual roles as actors during filming. "The filming was long, but thanks to our experience from filming the film Neporazitelní, it was nothing new for us. Filip Veselý experienced it first-hand, and we felt a little sorry for him because he probably did more pull-ups during filming than he did during the entire season," laughs national team forward Václav Hečko. "After watching it for the first time, I was immediately captivated by the spot and had to watch it several more times. I like the detailed shots on the ice and the overall impression. I also enjoy the light-hearted ending with the dark humour that we love," he adds.
Fresh visual identity
The new brand identity of the Czech Paralympic Committee, created by Dynamo, gives all presentations and communications a unified look that is modern, dynamic, instantly recognisable and, above all, highly functional. "At first glance, the most striking element of the new identity is the Para Headline font, which we have customised. It features elegant notches that refer to the Paralympic symbol agitos and resonate with the idea that disability does not prevent beauty or functionality – both in terms of typographic design and athletic performance," says chief graphic designer Jan Šlégr.
In addition to the font, the new CID includes a minor facelift of the logo, motivated primarily by practical considerations, a new colour code that replaces the problematic and overly generic tricolour with a carefully tuned combination of blue and blue-violet tones with pink accents, and additional graphic elements and a new style of working with photographs. After ZPH 26, this visual style will cover all of the Czech Paralympic Committee's presentations, whether in print, on the web, on social media, in videos or in merchandising. Applications for summer sports are also in preparation, as well as major year-round projects such as Parahrátky, Para(re)start and others.
Three new partners
ČPV partners also play an important role in the long-term development of parasport. Evropa 2, EuroOil and STRABAG are now expanding the strong portfolio. "We greatly appreciate the support of partners who share the same values as us and help us bring Paralympic sport closer to people. Thanks to them, we can tell the stories of our athletes with greater reach and show parasport as a natural part of the Czech sporting environment," says Eliášová.
Radio Evropa 2 is becoming a new media partner of the Czech Paralympic Committee. This partnership will offer more space for communicating Paralympic content, not only on Evropa 2's broadcasts and social networks, but also on its partner station Frekvence 1. "We believe that this step will allow us to reach a wider audience outside our sporting bubble," adds Eliášová.
EuroOil, which supports Paralympians on their journey to sporting achievements, is becoming an official partner. The construction company STRABAG is also an official partner of the team. Its vision of modern construction and a better future is based on combining technical innovation with sustainability and creating an environment that is open and accessible to everyone without unnecessary barriers.
Source: mam.cz