Foot in a pink and purple football boot rests on an orange ball on grass, with the Smart Ball logo reading "SMART"
Submitted by Viral Talent

Smart Ball Skills Ball Creator Launch

Influencer Marketing

Viral Talent launched the Smart Ball Skills Ball in the UK through YouTube, Instagram and TikTok creator videos, and the agency reports the activations achieved over 3M views.

3MViews

Case in 60 seconds

Smart Ball needed to introduce its new Skills Ball, a football designed to help users perfect their football skills, to the UK market, and the brief set the task as raising awareness among young males aged 5-11.

Young males aged 5-11 learn football skills by watching high-energy video from football personalities, so the casting had to turn on fit with the brand and product rather than on product messaging, because that fit is what the page credits for the result.

Viral Talent built a multi-format strategy across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok around high-energy video creatives, so the Skills Ball reached its young audience through mega influencers and a female footballer rather than through brand-led advertising.

Mega influencers SV2 and Arat Hosseini and female footballer Jess Watkins fronted high-energy video creatives across YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, while the client received usage rights for its own digital channels and an in-house editor produced additional content for further campaigns.

Viral Talent reports that the activations achieved over 3 million views, and the page states that the additional content used for further advertising reinforced the fit between the selected influencers and the brand and product.

Strategy Breakdown

Young males aged 5-11 in the UK, the group the brief named for raising awareness of the new Skills Ball.
A new football product entering the UK market had no existing awareness among young males aged 5-11, so the brief treated the launch as an awareness task delivered through video platforms rather than a sales push.
The page positions the Skills Ball as a tool for perfecting football skills, so the campaign placed it in the hands of influencers and a footballer whose high-energy videos could show it in use rather than describe it.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • TikTok

Partners

  • Viral Talent

Creator role

  • SV2 — creator
  • Arat Hosseini — creator
  • Jess Watkins — talent

Results & Evidence

MetricValue
Viewsover 3M views

Why Viral Talent's strategy worked

  1. 1

    Securing usage rights at the outset lets one round of influencer production serve both the creators' posts and the brand's own digital channels, which extends the working life of each video beyond its first posting.

  2. 2

    Casting a female footballer alongside mega influencers gives a skills product a playing credential next to entertainment reach, so the ball is shown in use by someone who plays rather than only promoted by personalities.

  3. 3

    Having an in-house editor cut additional content from the same creator work gives the client material for further marketing campaigns, so the influencer budget feeds later advertising rather than ending when the posts go live.

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