Same but different

They're doing the same sport, yet a little differently. When Vendula Dušková, Czech national swimmer, hears the national anthem at a race, she remains seated in her wheelchair. But otherwise, nothing changes for her - parasport brings the exact same emotions as any other sport. It is on this insight that we built a campaign for the Czech Paralympic Committee for the upcoming Paralympic Games at the Summer Olympics in Paris. The aim was to raise interest in the paralympic movement among the wider public and at the same time, to highlight with exaggeration and humour the various obstacles faced by disabled athletes.

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For a small country, we have a lot of top athletes we cheer for at world championships, whether it's hockey, tennis, biathlon or shooting sports. All these achievements attract millions of viewers to their screens. Unfortunately, this is not the case for para-athletes. In line with the Czech Paralympic Committee's vision, we therefore came up with the strategic approach Sport is just one, which builds on the Czech penchant for cheering and shows that para sport brings the same thrill and anticipation.

Tereza Košt'álková

Strategic Planner, VML

Even though Czechs like watching sports and cheering can be considered a national sport, they are not that interested in para sports. The aim of the campaign is to get Czechs interested in the Paralympic movement and the upcoming Paralympic Games in Paris and to show them that parasport brings the same emotions as any other sport.

From conducted focus groups, we found that what Czechs enjoy most about cheering is the emotions associated with it. We used this to connect two seemingly different worlds and to highlight the differences between them. We were also inspired by the humour and exaggeration inherent in Paralympians.

The creative idea is based on nine inspiring stories of leading Czech Paralympians. These stories show what para sport and regular sport have in common, as well as what makes them different. In cooperation with Stink Films, two spots were created based mainly on the emotions associated with para sport. The TV spots were complemented by visuals in digital, print and outdoor environments and a special Paralympic tram, which appeared on the streets of Prague for the first time in spring.

The "Same but different" campaign was launched at the beginning of July and has appeared both in the public media (Česká televize and Český rozhlas) and in many mainstream media outlets, from print to online. Česká televize covered the topic in its morning broadcast and on its website. The total media coverage of the campaign in the active phase so far amounts to 5.27 million.