Juventus, one of the most internationally renowned clubs with one of the largest fanbases worldwide, has embarked on a new path to consolidate its popularity among younger audiences.
We’re talking about a TV series, Team Jay, launched in 2019 and now in its second season, which promises to become the next licensing success in Italy and internationally. At BLE, Team Jay will be one of the main highlights of the market and the Turin football club. In this article, we try to discover more details with Daniele Lunazzi, Head of Product Marketing at Juventus Football Club.
Why did a football company think about expanding into the animation field?
The main objective was to diversify and reach the kids target in an innovative and certainly original way for us and for a sports brand like Juventus. The strength of the Team Jay project is supported by a series of data that emerged in the market, demonstrating how children and young people today want to feel like protagonists of their choices and not have them imposed by others. Young people want to discover independently what is “cool” and corresponds to their tastes, rather than having adults point it out to them.
Consider that in the USA alone, 1.2 trillion dollars in annual purchases are generated by 50 million children under 11 years of age. Moreover, still in the United States, 73% of parents say they buy what their children tell them to purchase. In Europe too, the trend is similar, with 82% of adults stating they are influenced by young people in their purchases.
What we have highlighted is that there is no longer a need to teach or educate children in a didactic way. Today, the key to dialogue with this target is to help them develop and acquire empathy, also thanks to storytelling and animation, to build a bond that can last over time.
We aim to capture the attention of Generation Alpha and Z, which together make up 41% of the world’s population and will generate 20% of global turnover by 2030. With this audiovisual project, we intend to establish a lasting relationship with this target.
When did you start developing this project?
We launched the first season in 2019. We planned to continue immediately with subsequent series, but Covid forced us to take a brief pause. This year we launched new episodes on the official YouTube channel in May, and by December we will release more new episodes of the second season.
Can you remind us of some data about the launch of the first series?
Speaking of television results, the first season of Team Jay on Nick Jr. achieved an overall 2.6% share for the 4-14 year old target audience and an average monthly reach of 77K children and 215K individuals (+13% vs. the channel average), establishing Team Jay as the 3rd most-watched property on Nick Jr.
On the YouTube front, the numbers were significant. We had a peak of 14 million views in a single month – a rare organic figure for YouTube channels targeting children, reaching a total of about 361 million views and over 1.6 million subscribers, making the Team Jay channel one of the largest kid-targeted fanbases of any sports club.
Do you also plan to expand to other platforms and television channels beyond YouTube with the 2nd season?
Certainly. First of all, we are launching the episodes of the second season on YouTube, and then our goal is to find other partners to release the series on streaming platforms and television channels. I can already confirm that the serie will be globally available on Amazon Prime, while other television partners on board include Rakuten, Sling, and Pop TV. Actually, we are in negotiations for a free TV partner in Italy.
What is this TV series about and how does it reflect the values of sports and your club?
The TV series is about adventure and being together. It obviously talks about sports and friendship. It’s a series with strong storytelling and completely new characters designed for this project, with one of its main protagonists being Jay, a cartoon transposition of Juventus’ legendary mascot.
In the TV series, Jay is joined by other friends, Matteo, Cami, Duke, and Wushu, who together take us into a colorful world full of action. In each episode, there’s a challenge that often involves the “evils” – Meena, Mildew, Petunia, and Hannibal – and our team always finds the best way to overcome obstacles and adversities, discovering the magic of teamwork.
Each character in the series has its peculiarities and a well-defined profile, and together they create a unique team that children can easily identify with. It’s a special team that manages to convey the values of friendship and teamwork that overlap with individual choices.
With the mascot Jay as the protagonist, we also aim to consolidate the overall brand awareness of the parent brand, Juventus, and in some way bring young fans back to the club’s values.
What promotional actions have you recently carried out to promote Team Jay?
Last July, we had a dedicated stand at the Giffoni Film Festival. In the space dedicated to Team Jay and its world, organized in collaboration with Artissima, specifically the Artissima Junior division, we highlighted the added values of the TV series. We also organized workshops for children aged 6 to 11, with activity books to allow young participants to express their dreams.
At the end, five special dreams were chosen from those expressed by the children during the Festival days, which will be represented in some special episodes of the TV series, with a preview at Artissima in November this year. Beyond the workshops, this space was also an opportunity to interact with the young audience and broadcast episodes of the TV series already available on YouTube.
In our promotional plan, we also involved another major b-to-c event, which is Lucca Comics & Games. For the occasion, we organized a contest last July on the Juventus web platform, where children were invited to send photos and videos. The winner will become a real character in the Team Jay world and will appear in a special episode of the series that will be broadcast for the first time at the end of October in Lucca during the event.
Part of the prize for the young winner also includes a day of filming in Turin, the birthplace of Juventus, where the lucky fan will be dressed to be then transposed into an animated character. Furthermore, at Lucca Comics & Games, which is one of the most important comics events in Europe and the main pop event in Italy, the Team Jay world will be present with its own stand and there will be activities and workshops with children and families, including a “live talk” with Jay himself!
Can you give us a preview of the licensing strategy you plan to develop for Team Jay, in Italy and abroad?
The TV series targets kids with the idea of expanding licensing development to a bridge target starting from 4 years and up. The IP already starts with excellent and solid foundations, being able to count on Juventus’ worldwide brand awareness.
We will certainly focus on central categories for the target audience such as toys, apparel, games, and publishing. We look forward to sharing the news about this IP soon announcing the partners who will share this project with us.
Although the Italian market is central for us, the IP also speaks to foreign markets and intends to be global. YouTube channels will be localized, and we are already prepared for the English-speaking market. Let’s not forget that Juventus boasts one of the most extensive fan bases in the world. For this reason, we anticipate the same territorial expansion for Team Jay. To this end, we have organized a network of international agents who will oversee the development of the IP in individual territories.
What will be the next steps for Team Jay’s development?
The initial success of the Team Jay channel demonstrates that the brand is strong and loved by YouTube users and has enormous growth potential, which will also allow the Juventus world to benefit from it, creating various points of mutual business opportunities.
The YouTube channel shows significant organic traffic, as mentioned above. It should be considered that over 99% of YouTube channels targeting kids fail to reach this level. Therefore, Team Jay has already built the foundation to transform into a phenomenon for the international market.
About Team Jay
The TV series is about the adventures of Jay, a proud, mythical, and funny zebra with a pattern of black, white, and gold who is also the official team mascot of the best Football team in the world – Juventus F.C.. Together with Jay, you can find Matteo, the kid who always finds a solution to problems, Cami, an excellent soccer player, Duke the hilarious hamster, and a loveably feisty red squirrel named Wushu. Together, they form a special team and will learn the values of friendship and teamwork to overcome the odds! Team Jay is a show for children that invites them to learn the value of teamwork and friendship the same values of Juventus F.C. itself! Join Team Jay and learn while having fun!
Broadcast Partners and Platforms: Youtube Channel, Rakuten, Amazon Prime, Sling and Pop TV
