Barclays and MEC launch football vignette series

Barclays, in partnership with MEC and MEC Access, has rolled out a regional vignette series leveraging its global title sponsorship of the FA Premier League.

The vignette series, titled 'Barclays - Blueprint for Success in Football', is comprised of ten four-minute films that leverage the bank's global title sponsorship of the FA Premier League by taking a behind-the-scenes business angle of the most successful football league in the world.

The vignettes will initially air on BBC World News, then to Bloomberg and CNBC. This will then be followed by online coverage through key media partners including Wall Street Journal, Economist and CNBC. Additional focus has also been placed on mobile activation which will see an interactive mobile site hosting Barclays bespoke content in a second phase of activity in partnership with The TMS Way in Hong Kong, enabling The Economist, WSJ, FT and IHT readers to access the content via mobile devices.

The series features interviews with prominent football figures, including the likes of Richard Scudamore, Harry Redknapp, Ian Ayre, David Gill and Ron Gourlay, drawing often overlooked parallels between business success and football. Featured topics include 'Growth of a global product', 'Maximising potential', 'Motivating a team' and 'Building a competitive brand'.

"Simple association was not enough for Barclays, hence the creation of unique and engaging content that was relevant to Barclays audience of corporates and high net worth individuals," said Mike Jackson, managing director of MEC Access Asia Pacific. "We also had to ensure this content was available to our audience through multiple touchpoints."

"This is a fundamental part of an integrated marketing initiative across Asia-Pacific to increase awareness of the Barclays Investment Banking and Wealth management businesses in the region," said Simon Page, director of corporate communications at Barclays Capital Asia Limited.

"We wanted to make strong, relevant connections to our target audience by leveraging the power and the passion of the Barclays Premier League in a captivating format that both complements and enhances our advertising campaign."

The series will also be distributed on in-flight platforms.