What it had to solve
OPPO, an official UEFA Champions League sponsor, needed a global campaign to celebrate the final's return to Istanbul while expressing its 'Inspiration Ahead' brand positioning.
The idea
Have Kaká — who lost the 2005 final in Istanbul and won the 2007 rematch — argue miracles are no accident but years of precision, mirroring OPPO's tech story.
How it works
A 90-second hero film mixing archive footage and live shoots, launched globally on May 30, 2023, with print, press and online media; from May 31 Kaká challenged TikTok users to a skills duet under #MakeYourMiracle.
What it did
The campaign ran globally across film, print, press, online and TikTok. The material reports no view, sales or engagement figures; its stated payoff was showcasing OPPO's UCL partnership through the 'Inspiration Ahead' positioning.
Background
When the UEFA Champions League final returned to Istanbul in 2023 — the scene of Liverpool's 2005 comeback win over AC Milan, nicknamed 'The Miracle of Istanbul' — sponsor OPPO and agency Sid Lee built a global campaign around that history. Their film stars OPPO's global brand ambassador Ricardo Kaká, the former Ballon d'Or winner who was on AC Milan's bench-to-pitch wrong side in 2005 and on the right side when Milan beat Liverpool for the 2007 title.
The argument of the film is that miracles don't just happen: they are made of years of hard work, expertise, professionalism and perseverance — exactly the claim OPPO makes for its mobile technology. Kaká narrates the miraculous moments of his career from both sides, and the brand line lands as 'you can't just wait for a miracle to happen, you need to work hard and make it happen yourself.'
Sid Lee mixed archive footage with live shoots to keep the craft level high, per ECD Stéphane Soussan. The 90-second hero film launched globally on May 30, 2023, supported by print, press and online media. From May 31, a TikTok challenge had Kaká duetting users on skills under #MakeYourMiracle, letting fans perform the 'made, not waited for' thesis rather than just watch it.
Why it lands
The venue's own football history — the Miracle of Istanbul — is borrowed as the brand metaphor, with an ambassador who experienced both the miracle and its revenge.
The #MakeYourMiracle duet challenge turns a sponsor film into participation: fans answer Kaká with their own skills rather than passively viewing.
Mixing 2005/2007 archive with new live footage let a phone brand tell a twenty-year-old football story without faking it.
What you can take
Sponsorship creative works hardest when the property's own history carries the brand's argument: the venue's 2005 story did the metaphorical work for a phone maker's perseverance pitch.
Since then
The material records only the launch: film live worldwide from May 30, 2023 and the TikTok challenge from May 31, with print, press and online support. No follow-up performance data appears in the source.
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