At the end of last year, Decathlon opened a competition for the overhaul of its leading advertising agency. The management of its campaigns in this area has been in the hands of the Fuego Camina Conmigo agency since 2013, although it is common for the brand to work by combining several components of its poolas is the case of SAMY, in charge of brand communication in Influencer Marketing, Social Media and PR; or that of Ogilvy Madrid, which was chosen as a creative agency in the competition launched by the company in 2021.
On this occasion, several Spanish agencies have participated in the process, including Fuego itself. After several months of processing, the account has finally been assigned to PS21.
The importance of knowing how to lose
In this context, the Fuego agency has decided to communicate the loss of the Decathlon account by publishing a video on Linkedin in which some statements from renowned athletes and fragments of speeches about the failure that have become popular globally in recent years are collected. Thus, the agency highlights the importance of facing these situations as something motivating and naturally, despite the pain.
The video includes quarterback Tom Brady’s comments after the defeat in the 2018 Super Bowl, when he pointed out that “Losing sucks, but it’s part of the game”; or the intervention of basketball player Kobe Bryant in 2016 when he said: “There will be times when you will succeed and times when you will fail.” Also reflected in the piece are Serena Williams’ comments about cheating to win.
Fuego conveys its brand philosophy with this piece, also relying on statements by Rafa Nadal in which he stated: “We go out to play with the feeling that we can lose every day”. The agency thus reinforces its vision of the link between defeat and learning by resorting to the lessons shared by tennis player Roger Federer at Dartmouth University: “The best in the world are not the best because they win every point. They are because they know they are going to lose again and again and they have learned to deal with it.” These phrases They reaffirm Fuego’s mentality and its approach to learning as a result of its work with Decathlon, a client that has strengthened the agency. Thus, the video ends with a forceful phrase:
Thanks for everything. And for this too.
In response to this video, PS21 has also published a post on Linkedin, in its case consisting of an image. In it, you can see the typical scene of a trash can surrounded by balls of paper that have not managed to fit into the container. “After 13 years fascinated with the work of Fuego Camina Conmigo for Decathlon, we are taking over. We will try to score”is the statement that accompanies said publication.
