The One Show
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Category
Events / Virtual
Annual ID
OS25_EX037M
Background
Launched in 2012, Clash of Clans is one of the longest-running mobile games, challenging players to build and defend villages while raiding others for resources.
Despite its loyal fanbase, the game faces an ongoing challenge: staying relevant and attracting new players while keeping existing ones engaged.
Erling Haaland’s background as a fan of the game as well as his massive following in the football community made him the perfect cast to achieve both objectives.
Despite its loyal fanbase, the game faces an ongoing challenge: staying relevant and attracting new players while keeping existing ones engaged.
Erling Haaland’s background as a fan of the game as well as his massive following in the football community made him the perfect cast to achieve both objectives.
Creative Idea
In 2024, we turned Erling Haaland, a longtime Clash of Clans fan, into the first real person featured in the game—giving his fans a reason to play. But what about his millions of haters?
To recruit them, we gave them exactly what they had always wanted: revenge. The Payback Time Challenge let Haaland’s rivals raid and destroy the village he had spent over a decade building in the game. We fueled the rivalry with billboards near rival stadiums and real-time ads reacting to his performances. Even rival football stars encouraged fans to take him down in-game.
Unlike other brands, we didn’t just use a celebrity to engage his fans—we also leveraged his haters to turn them into Clash of Clans lovers.
To recruit them, we gave them exactly what they had always wanted: revenge. The Payback Time Challenge let Haaland’s rivals raid and destroy the village he had spent over a decade building in the game. We fueled the rivalry with billboards near rival stadiums and real-time ads reacting to his performances. Even rival football stars encouraged fans to take him down in-game.
Unlike other brands, we didn’t just use a celebrity to engage his fans—we also leveraged his haters to turn them into Clash of Clans lovers.
Insights & Strategy
Erling Haaland wasn’t just a global football star—he had been a dedicated Clash of Clans player since he was a teenager, making him the perfect fit to authentically connect with gamers.
His massive fanbase offered a new audience to tap into, but his even larger group of haters presented an unexpected and untapped opportunity to drive engagement on a whole new level.
His massive fanbase offered a new audience to tap into, but his even larger group of haters presented an unexpected and untapped opportunity to drive engagement on a whole new level.
Execution
Explain critical elements of the final execution of the work including craft, placement, tone, and other specific aspects of the creation and implementation of the work.
We turned raiding Haaland’s village in the game and stealing his ressources into an official challenge in the game: the Payback Time Challenge.
- We then tapped into different media to recruit Haaland’s biggest rivals and haters across the globe:
All across Europe, billboards near Haaland’s biggest rivals’ stadiums invitied haters to destroy Haaland in the game.
- Print ads reacting live to Haaland’s performances on the field dared his rivals to bring him down in the game.
- Rival players like Jose Garcia (a goalkeeper who conceded 9 goals to Haaland in a single match) or football legends whose legacy and records Haaland is breaking fueled the conversation on social media.
- And when Manchester United (Haaland’s team’s biggest rival) premiered its new documentary, we stole the show with an ad launched at the event.
We turned raiding Haaland’s village in the game and stealing his ressources into an official challenge in the game: the Payback Time Challenge.
- We then tapped into different media to recruit Haaland’s biggest rivals and haters across the globe:
All across Europe, billboards near Haaland’s biggest rivals’ stadiums invitied haters to destroy Haaland in the game.
- Print ads reacting live to Haaland’s performances on the field dared his rivals to bring him down in the game.
- Rival players like Jose Garcia (a goalkeeper who conceded 9 goals to Haaland in a single match) or football legends whose legacy and records Haaland is breaking fueled the conversation on social media.
- And when Manchester United (Haaland’s team’s biggest rival) premiered its new documentary, we stole the show with an ad launched at the event.
Results
Payback Time was the game’s most successful campaign in years:
- The campaign made over 7.9B impressions
- 34 million players joined the challenge and raided Haaland’s village in the game.
- Clash of Clans registered an increase of 150% new players with over 6M installs of the game in only a week.
- The campaign made over 7.9B impressions
- 34 million players joined the challenge and raided Haaland’s village in the game.
- Clash of Clans registered an increase of 150% new players with over 6M installs of the game in only a week.
2025 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
DAVID / New York
Client / Brand
Supercell / Helsinki
Associate Creative Director
Guilherme Pinheiro
Chief Creative Officer
André Toledo
Chief Marketing Officer
Fernanda Romano
Creative Director
Sébastien Rouvière
Pedro Sattin
Linus Oura
Global Chief Creative Officer
Pancho Cassis
Global Chief Strategy Officer
Paula Vampre
Strategist
Brooklyn Carey
Strategy Director
James Mitchell
Associate Producer
Sophie Freid
Executive Producer
Natasha Louckevitch
Account Supervisor
Irene León
Business Affairs Manager
Catalina Peña
Chief Creative Officer North America
Daniel Lobaton
Clash of Clans Marketing Lead
Anna Bouveng
Director of Business Affairs
Barbara Karalis
Global COO
Sylvia Panico
Global PR Director
Sandra Azedo
Group Account Director
Brett Niebling
Growth Marketing
David Edwards
Head of Global Live Games Marketing
Iwo Zakowski
Head of Media & Ops
Kasim Zorlu
Head of Production
Brenda Morrison Fell
Managing Director
Luiza Prata Carvalho
Carolina Vieira
Marketing Producer
Yuri Yoshimura
PR manager
Jonathan Howard
Product Marketing
Ana Martins
UA Creative Producer
Peter McLaughlin
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