The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2024–2025
Tusker streams Kenyan fans' cheers live on Team Kenya's kit — Loeries 2025 Grand Prix
Tusker's kit embeds micro-LED strips that stream real-time messages from Kenyan fans to athletes in Paris.
Tusker Lager · Diageo Kenya · Dentsu Creative Kenya
What it had to solve
The Olympics have never been held in Africa; Kenyan fans were thousands of miles away from Team Kenya in Paris, and Paralympians received almost no national attention. Tusker, Team Kenya's official beer, wanted to bring the country's cheering to the Games.
How it works
Kenya's athletes compete in Paris while their fans sit thousands of miles away, and the country's Paralympians receive barely any national media attention. Tusker Lager, the official beer of Team Kenya, briefed Dentsu Creative Kenya to close that distance.
The answer was Stitched With Cheer: a bespoke Team Kenya kit embedded with micro-LED strips. Fans sent messages of encouragement through a companion app, and the messages streamed live across the fabric worn by the athletes — turning the kit from clothing into a live medium.
The campaign went beyond the kit: fan messages also reached athletes through other channels, and the system meant every Tusker supporter could claim a literal place in the team's story. At the Paris Games, over 4,000 live messages were sent through the platform.
Stitched With Cheer won the Grand Prix at Loeries 2025 — the first for a Kenyan agency — along with a Clio and a Cannes Lions shortlist, and it was built by a collaboration between Dentsu Creative Kenya and Dentsu Creative Design.
Why it lands
- The creative target is emotional distance, not attention: fans who cannot be in Paris get their voice physically worn by their athletes.
- Micro-LED fabric turns a passive object (a team kit) into a live two-way channel, which no broadcast ad can do.
- The campaign centered on Paralympians, the athletes who received almost no coverage, so the attention it created was aimed where it mattered most.
- It gave every individual fan a tangible contribution — their own words on an athlete's chest — rather than a hashtag to share.
What it did
Over 4,000 live fan messages reached athletes; the campaign won the Loeries 2025 Grand Prix and a Clio and was shortlisted at Cannes Lions.
What you can take
When your audience is physically absent, don't broadcast at them — give their voice a physical place in the event, and the brand becomes the channel that makes presence possible.
Since then
The kit was worn by Kenyan athletes at the Paris Games, where Kenya set three new world records and ranked first in Africa. The campaign won a Grand Prix at Loeries 2025 and a Clio, was shortlisted at Cannes Lions, and was praised as a historic first for a Kenyan agency.
Sources
- Stitched With Cheer — Loeries 2025 award winner entry
- 2025 Global WiM Awards Shortlist — Michelle Marais
- The Loeries 2025: Winners Announced
- Tusker Triumphs! Dentsu Kenya Wins Gold & Grand Prix, Redefining African Creativity
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