Manchester City FC in Tokyo — Branded Content with Etihad
Manchester City came to Japan on their summer 2023 pre-season tour, and City Football Group hired us to produce branded content for the club's partnership with Etihad Airways. The films show Tokyo as a premier travel destination through the eyes of Phil Foden, Jack Grealish and then-City defender Nathan Aké. Branded content production in Tokyo with one of the world's biggest clubs meant planning everything to the minute.
The brief
We worked with City's in-house marketing team and Etihad Airways' marketing team to plan a series of short films. The players would enjoy Tokyo's food and culture, and the partnership would run through every scene. Aligning a football club, an airline and Tokyo's locations meant keeping every party clear on exactly what would happen, where and when.
How we produced it
We had the players for 90 minutes in total, and not a second longer. Their time is guarded closely, which is understandable: City had signed Grealish for a then-British-record £100 million. So the day moved fast through five locations: a sushi restaurant, Tsukiji market, a temple, the Ginza shopping district and Hamarikyu Gardens.
We applied for and received permits and permission for every location well in advance. Crowds formed, but we stayed ahead of them. City's two bodyguards looked after the players while we kept moving, and when a location got too busy, we left. Japanese crowds are polite, which helped. We filmed on two DJI Ronin 4Ds for a cinematic, premium look while staying light enough to move quickly.
What we delivered
From the shoot we delivered around five films for social media.
See more of our film and video production in Tokyo. For more sport, see UFC in Okinawa.
Client: Manchester City FC (City Football Group), direct
Partner: Etihad Airways
Featuring: Phil Foden, Jack Grealish, Nathan Aké
Location: Tsukiji, Ginza, Hamarikyu Gardens and a temple, Tokyo, Japan
Services: Production, location permits, scheduling, filming, editing
Crew: Director/DOP Andrew Goldie, producer and crew
Kit: 2 × DJI Ronin 4D
Deliverables: Around five films for social media
