Soccer is often called “the beautiful game.” It could also be compared to a symphony if the coach were an orchestra conductor guiding his “artists” – the players. 

Prime Video brought that metaphor to life to hype French soccer league Ligue 1 Uber Eats. As the official broadcaster of the league, Prime Video enlisted French agency Marcel to create a piece of entertainment that could rival other shows on its streaming platform: a symphony in which the maestros are Ligue 1 coaches. 

The “Ligue 1 Uber Eats Symphony” is an original composition based on the gestures and body language of soccer coaches. It premiered on Prime Video Feb. 26 and will be broadcast on stadiums screens and social media. 

The project began when Prime Video tasked Marcel with celebrating the quality and entertainment value of Ligue 1, explained the agency’s creative director Jeremie Bottiau. 

Prime Video won the broadcasting rights to Ligue 1 in 2021. In Europe, Ligue 1 has been dubbed “the farmers league” by rivals due to its perceived lack of quality and the dominance of team Paris Saint-Germain—but Prime Video wants to “elevate the stature” of the league, Bottiau said.

“We have stars and high quality of games,” he added. “We wanted to elevate that while also creating something that was entertaining.” 

From there, the idea of a symphony–one of the higher forms of music–was born. Marcel creative Alexandre Girod was watching bench cam videos from British soccer team Arsenal when he was reminded of a conductor’s gestures.

A musical challenge

Teaming up with Saycet, a French composer of electronic music and film soundtracks, Marcel created the symphony through a unique process that reversed the typical way of conducting an orchestra. Usually, a conductor translates a score into gestures. But with this, they had to create music from the coaches’ movements. 

First, the team placed a single camera in front of each coach to analyze and film their gestures. 

They then broadcast the most evocative of those movements on a screen in the Espace Niemeyer auditorium in Paris, in front of 70 musicians and choristers. The recorded gestures acted as the conductor, setting the tempo and instructing the musicians in creating the symphony. 

The resulting symphony captured the intensity and emotions of a match. “Ligue 1 Uber Eats Symphony” will run throughout the soccer season.

Importantly, it aims to appeal not only to soccer fans but also to “skeptics” and people who don’t usually watch sports, said Bottiau.

Since debuting the composition, Prime Video has received some comments online from viewers who said they were not soccer fans, but they enjoyed the music, Girod added. The track will later be available on Amazon Music.

“We wanted to create a symphony for football, by football,” Girod said. 

CREDITS:

Marketing director: Helen Cowley
Senior creative director: Xuan Pham
Marketing lead, live sports: Edouard Van Wynsberghe
Senior brand marketing manager: Gemma Mayat, Najib Messaoudi
Campaign producer: Sabrina Belaïba, Ben Walker 
PR manager sports: Elsa Gueroult
Social media manager: Antoine Gazel Jauregui
Media manager: Ian Brook
Head of sports: Bernard Chatillon
Agency: Marcel
Co-CEO: Pascal Nessim, Charles Georges-Picot
Chief creative officers: Youri Guerassimov, Gaëtan du Peloux 
Managing director: Benjamin Taïeb
Creative director: Jérémie Bottiau
Copywriter: Alexandre Girod
Art director: Julien Vergne
Business director: Lucile Wissocq 
Group managers: Quentin Seguret, Clara Bize
Account manager assistant: Camille Dangoumau
Project manager: Antoine Zago-Meyer
Social media strategy lead: Charlotte Giraud-Charreyron
Community manager: Ivana Huc
Cadreur & Monteur: Loick Tranier
Cameramen & edit: Julien Hannedouche
Production company: Allso 
Executive producer: Franck Annese
Director: Lucas Posson
Director of photography: Ludovic Zuili
Producer: Louise Morand
Key set decorator: Rudy Annese
Post-production director: Romuald Carruesco
Image post production: Allso + Firm
Sound post production: Durango Studio + Kouz 
Sound mix: Romain Clisson
Composer: Saycet
Orchestrator: Moritz