In 2006, inventor Tim Jahnigen was watching news footage about traumatized refugee youth in Darfur playing soccer on dirt, using a ball they had made by tying trash together with twine. That’s when he decided he needed to create an ultra-durable ball to bring the transformative power of play to the hundreds of millions of youth who don’t even have something as simple as a ball.
In 2010, with the help of his musician friend, Sting, and founding sponsor Chevrolet, One World Fútbol Project launched and the universal power of play began to spread across the planet. Through their “buy one, give one” program, the goal is to bring the power of play to the 45 million children who need it most.
We started by recognizing that the organization has a much bigger mission than just putting more soccer balls on the ground. They strive to create more active, inclusive, and positive communities around the globe. However, we didn’t want to do something too radical that would detract from the brand equity One World Fútbol Project had already garnered.
To encompass the larger mission of increased activity, community, and play around the globe, we changed the name to One World Play Project.
The videos are where we tell the One World Play Project story from start to finish. We show off everything from how the indestructible balls are carefully engineered to withstand even the harshest impact, to how much fun kids around the globe are having through the #powerofplay. VO guides viewers through the story and explains the brand’s mission.
On the website, we maintained the concept that the Fútbol itself is only part of the broader mission. On the homepage, we separated categories into “About Play,” “The Fútbol,” “Our Impact,” and “Partnerships” to show the breadth of the mission right away. Once users choose a category, they’re able to get much more detailed information about each. Beyond the site, we helped create hashtags that would garner attention and usage around the globe.
