ITV’s promotional campaign for Euro 2020 launches the build up to the tournament with the message “The Good Times Start Here”.

A preview of the promotional film, featuring Ian Wright in full pre-tournament excitement mode, can be found at the following link and embedded on your platforms: https://youtu.be/IDtx6JFxC-U

Shot in black and white, overlaid with colourful animation by Grizzle and directed by BAFTA winning Claire Norowzian, the premise of the campaign is to get the nation pumped: 'The Good Times Start Here'. It will launch on-air on 28th May and appear across social media and OOH [out of home] in the coming days.

The film reflects Britain heading out of lockdown into the summer with the easing of restrictions and the prospect of a major football tournament with Home Nations involved and games played on home soil. Ian Wright delivers his characteristic infectious enthusiasm setting off an explosion of technicolour action as a grey lockdown backdrop is lit up by the brightness of the pre-Euros buzz. As Ian says in the clip, “Nice one.”

The creative was conceived by ITV Executive Creative Director, Tony Pipes, who said "We were thinking, how do you show that explosion of football joy the Euros will bring? Well, you light the touch paper of Ian Wright, stand back and watch the fireworks."

Claire Norowzian said: “It has been a thrill to work on the Euros with the ITV Creative dream team. Directing Ian Wright was a pure joy and bringing his euphoric vibes to screen with the beauty of Grizzle's genius and stunning animation was seamless. Good Times!”

Rachel King, Creative Director, ITV Creative said: “With this campaign we wanted to connect authentically with fans and look forward to things to come. The fact we have waited for over a year for this tournament means that fans have lots of pent up excitement to share and we wanted to tap into that. Ian Wright is the perfect embodiment of joy. His passion for the game is what we wanted to communicate from the screen onto fans and Claire and the team at Grizzle really made this stand out on screen in an original way, aesthetically.”

Freddie at Grizzle says: “This was a really exciting project to work on. We don’t get the chance to come on shoots often, so it was great to be able to offer our insight on set and to help make sure everything was shot with the animation already in mind. We worked with a fantastic team of freelancers, including Kervin Brisseaux, an amazingly talented illustrator from NYC whose unique style really added another level to the design and animation. We're especially proud of the sequence with the animals leaping out of the phone which was nothing but pure frame by frame animation. It was a mammoth undertaking, especially as we were working at the full 25 frames per second to really help the animation live in the same world as the filmed footage. It was a pleasure to work with ITV Creative on this campaign, as the process was smooth and enjoyable from beginning to end. We couldn't be happier with the result.”

The promo launch follows ITV’s announcement earlier this week of its coverage plans and pundit line up for the Euros which sees Ian Wright joined by a stellar squad drawn from across football for the much anticipated tournament on ITV and ITV Hub.

Credits:

Director - Claire Norowzian
Executive Creative Director - Tony Pipes
Creative Director - Rachel King
Head of Production - Deborah Stewart
Producer - Simon Sanderson
Campaign Management Lead - Emma Reith
Campaign Manager - Charlotte Berman
Lead Strategist - James Hillhouse
Director Of Photography: Nick Bennett
Production Designer: Liz El-Kadhi Brown
Editor: Tim Hardy@Stitch (EP: Kirsty Oldfield)
Animation: Grizzle (Director: Tom Carpenter; Animation Director: Freddie Littlewood)
Design Lead - Harry Thornbury
Colourist: Kai van Beers@nineteentwenty (Producer: Claire Cullen)
Audio Post: Will Cohen@String & Tins (Producer: Charlie Howard)
Music Track: Ocean Wisdom (Artist) 'Don' (Title)
Media Planning Lead - Ben Yacobi
Media Planner - Maddy Wordsworth
Head of Content Marketing - Ed Ross
Marketing Manager - Chris Anstey
Marketing Executive - Alexandra Baker