For the past few years we’ve had the privilege of being involved in Les Mills’ Fight Night. Fight Night, organised primarily by the power duo Mark and Tanya Michaels, is a charity event that involves everyday kiwis boxing to help raise money for charity.
For participating fighters, the challenge is gruelling – involving months of high-performance training that ultimately culminates in a no-holds-bar boxing match at the Langham Hotel. However, the reward is worth it – not only do the fighters get a chance to improve themselves physically, but they also stand to make a real positive difference for a New Zealand charity. Each fighter is paired with a ‘charity ambassador’ – often an individual that has undergone incredible hardship – such as a disability or illness. Over the months, the fighter will build a relationship with their ambassador, who inspires them to keep pushing through the pain and rise to the occasion.
Each year, we partner with Kate Humphries and her Media Design School advertising students to produce a video campaign advertising the Fight Night story. The creative that comes from Kate and her team is always evocative, insightful, and brave in the risks it takes and the ways in which it works to communicate the significance of supporting the partner charity.
FIGHT NIGHT 13 – TRASH-TALKING CANCER (ABOVE)
In our first year of Fight Night, we worked with MDS students Tom Anderson and Will Towle on their “Trash-Talking Cancer” project. The concept used the idea of trash-talking that traditionally happens in the boxing ring, and asked the question: “If you could trash-talk cancer, what would you say?”. What made the project so unique is the script itself – developed from interviews with real cancer victims from Canteen as they opened up about their experience with the disease. The final video was used on the night to help push fighters to go even harder – and was ultimately selected to be in Campaign Brief’s The Work 2016 (a record of the best creative work from Asian, Australia and New Zealand) under the “Work For Good category” (alongside heavy-hitters like McWhopper and Brewtroleum).
FIGHT NIGHT 14 – BIGGER THAN MY BLACK EYE
For our second year, we worked with Josh Foley and Brooke Wiley on their “Bigger Than My Black Eye” campaign. This creative team focused on the physical hardship that the Fight Night fighters experience in their training and compared that to the trying experience their Cure Kids ambassadors live every day. The final concept explored the idea that no matter how difficult the fighters get hit or are hurting, their hardship is nothing compared to going through a serious and often terminal illness. The final video used jarring imagery of different fighters and their injuries to help drive the concept home.
Overall, we’ve had an amazing experience working with both Media Design School and Les Mills to promote this event. We are extremely grateful to have been involved in a project that’s not only an opportunity for creative expression, but also a chance to affect a real, positive difference in the world.