Studs Up

I’ve written before about how impressed I’ve been with Aon’s attempts to approach their upcoming sponsorship with Manchester United a little differently to most. Of course, it helps that their VP of Global PR, David Prosperi, has been reaching out to me himself to let me know the ins and outs of their efforts. Most companies simply send out press releases (99% of which I promptly ignore) but the fact that a high ranking executive of a global corporation is taking the time to personally update a football cartoonist about their gazillion dollar marketing projects kinda underlines their approach.

Different. I like different.

This time, Aon has sponsored an opportunity with MOFILM asking fans to create a 30 second ad for Aon and Manchester United. The prize? The winner gets his ad on MUTV, collects a cash prize of US$6,000 and earns a 4-day trip to the London Film Festival with hotel and airfare taken care of.

I read the brief for submissions out of interest and there’s a peculiar quirk in there. Aon doesn’t become United’s sponsor until 2010 and so they can’t legally link their brands together in any official productions. Thus, you’ll have to express everything conceptually and without using any United imagery.

So if you’re a budding film maker and fancy a chance at a pretty great prize, check out the competitions’ official site and make sure you download and read the brief very carefully.

- CT