Serviceplan cleverly draws attention to structural problems in women's soccer for FC Zurich

At FC Zurich Women's home match against FC Lucerne in the AXA Women's Super League, the highest league in Swiss women's football, the players wore shirts with eye-catching sponsor logos. So far, so ordinary. The logos were professionally designed and placed on the right areas - but a closer look revealed the supposed brands: Night Shift. Extra Hours. Side/Job. Endless Work. Not real companies, but the reality of players who finance their professional sport on the side and are now wearing this on their jerseys for the first time.

The idea came from the creative agencies Serviceplan Suisse, Serviceplan Hamburg and Serviceplan Culture in close collaboration with FC Zurich and its women's soccer team. It is simple, precise - and at first glance it works exactly as sponsorship should: As an image you won't forget.

Sponsorship aesthetics as a weapon

The creative foundation of the campaign make-football-my-only-job.com is an alienation that is self-explanatory. The jersey logos look like real sponsors - because that's how they were designed and placed. Night Shift could be an energy drink brand. Side/Job sounds like a fintech startup. Endless Work sounds like a productivity tool. At second glance, the picture changes: these "brands" are fictitious, they describe the everyday life of female footballers who work (night) shifts after training to make their world-class performance on the pitch financially possible.

The effect is calculated: If you look from a distance, you see supposedly normal jersey sponsorship. Anyone who reads understands the structural problem. And if you put the two together, you have a story that you want to tell.

The figures behind the campaign

The figures behind the campaign are concrete: almost every player in the AXA Women's Super League does not earn enough money from her performance on the football pitch to focus fully on it. 7 out of 10 players in the league work 20 to 40 hours a week in a part-time job - often for less than 1,000 francs a month - while training up to 25 hours a week. The consequences are measurable: less sleep, shorter recovery times, limited cognitive availability for the things that make the difference between winning and losing in competitive sport.

The fictitious logos on the jersey translate these figures into a visual language that no diagram or economic analysis could achieve.

The picture that co-writes the article

The jersey promotion is embedded in a multi-stage campaign strategy: digital out-of-home (DOOH) motifs, traditional outdoor advertising around the stadium and social media ads will attract attention in the run-up to the match. On match day itself, the campaign is reinforced by perimeter advertising in the stadium and reaches its creative climax with the jerseys on the pitch.

The accompanying microsite MakeFootballMyOnlyJob.com provides long-form content - personal insights and portraits of the players involved - and contains a direct call-to-action for potential sponsors who would like to support FC Zurich and women's football.

The argument to potential sponsors

"The crucial thing is that we haven't simply developed a campaign, but that we are reflecting reality. The jersey is not the solution - the jersey is the problem. And that's exactly why it's the solution. The logos are professionally designed because they are professional sportswomen, but they are under double pressure. What is written on the jersey is not a criticism. It's an invitation to all the brands that should actually be there," say Jakob Eckstein, Managing Director Creative at Serviceplan Hamburg, and Raul Serrat, Chief Creative Officer & Partner Serviceplan Suisse.

The growth potential of the field is documented: Women's football is booming. The UEFA Women's EURO is setting new spectator records from tournament to tournament. Those who enter today are occupying an area that will be competitive tomorrow. MakeFootballMyOnlyJob.com is not a classic awareness campaign. It is an argument in the language that attention understands best: the image.

About the initiative

MakeFootballMyOnlyJob.com is an initiative of FC Zurich Women in collaboration with the Serviceplan Group. It is aimed at sponsors, associations and media partners with the aim of establishing professional structures in women's football as the standard - not the exception.

Responsible at Serviceplan Suisse: Concept & Creation, Responsible at Serviceplan Hamburg: Design & Creation, Responsible at Serviceplan Culture: Brand & Culture PR, Client: FC Zurich