The One Show
The One Show is the world's most prestigious award show in advertising and design. For over 50 years, the Gold Pencil has been regarded as one of the top prizes in the creative industry. The One Show has a rich legacy of honoring some of the most groundbreaking ideas, created by some of the most remarkable minds in creativity.
Learn more about The One Show 2026
Unsilence the Crowd
Agency Sela X Newcastle United / Jeddah + VML UK / London + Spectacle Partners / London + CuteCircuit / London
Category
Radio & Audio for Good
Annual ID
OS25_RA033M
Background
As a company renowned for delivering spectacular experiences, Sela’s partnership with Newcastle United is based on a philosophy that football isn’t a sport to be watched, but an experience to be felt.
St. James’ Park stadium, NUFC’s home ground, is regularly voted as having one of the best atmospheres in the Premier League where you can experience some of the loudest football fans.
Research conducted by Sela and charity partner RNID mapped the experience for deaf fans revealing that 71% of people surveyed believe new technology can be used to make live sports events more accessible.
Sela and RNID aimed to showcase a new level of accessibility in football for those who are deaf of have hearing loss to ‘feel the noise’. The campaign also set out to amplify Sela’s event and technological capabilities to forge business growth and new relationships with European football’s event organisers.
Clear target audiences were established with objectives:
Community and fans engagement
• Ensuring fans who are deaf and have hearing loss have an enhanced experience at a live sports event, making them feel that full stadium experience is more accessible.
• A tangible legacy for the local community, from disability, sport and wellbeing programmes were able to benefit from.
Sports rightsholders
• As a new entity in the European sports, Sela set out to enhance its reputation as a value additive partner Europe’s most competitive leagues.
• A large part of the campaign was designed to build B2B relationships with the biggest institutions in football, including UEFA, FIFA and European football clubs.
Global football community
• Sela’s brand visibility across the global football community was siloed to countries across the Middle East. Sela used the campaign to position itself as a leading club sponsor.
St. James’ Park stadium, NUFC’s home ground, is regularly voted as having one of the best atmospheres in the Premier League where you can experience some of the loudest football fans.
Research conducted by Sela and charity partner RNID mapped the experience for deaf fans revealing that 71% of people surveyed believe new technology can be used to make live sports events more accessible.
Sela and RNID aimed to showcase a new level of accessibility in football for those who are deaf of have hearing loss to ‘feel the noise’. The campaign also set out to amplify Sela’s event and technological capabilities to forge business growth and new relationships with European football’s event organisers.
Clear target audiences were established with objectives:
Community and fans engagement
• Ensuring fans who are deaf and have hearing loss have an enhanced experience at a live sports event, making them feel that full stadium experience is more accessible.
• A tangible legacy for the local community, from disability, sport and wellbeing programmes were able to benefit from.
Sports rightsholders
• As a new entity in the European sports, Sela set out to enhance its reputation as a value additive partner Europe’s most competitive leagues.
• A large part of the campaign was designed to build B2B relationships with the biggest institutions in football, including UEFA, FIFA and European football clubs.
Global football community
• Sela’s brand visibility across the global football community was siloed to countries across the Middle East. Sela used the campaign to position itself as a leading club sponsor.
Creative Idea
Sela and technology provider, CuteCircuit, incorporated haptic technology into replica NUFC match shirts that transform the noise of the stadium into real-time touch sensations, allowing deaf fans and fans with hearing loss to experience the atmosphere of a live football match like never before. The entire soundscape came to life as a language composed of a series of touch-like sensations across the torso of the person wearing the shirt.
The Sela SoundShirt features 28 micro-actuators embedded in the fabric. These actuators receive wirelessly the sound of the stadium which is transformed into data that is captured on the stage while the live game is action in real-time. In this way, the atmosphere can be felt creating a fully immersive feeling for a deaf spectator.
The Sela SoundShirt features 28 micro-actuators embedded in the fabric. These actuators receive wirelessly the sound of the stadium which is transformed into data that is captured on the stage while the live game is action in real-time. In this way, the atmosphere can be felt creating a fully immersive feeling for a deaf spectator.
Insights & Strategy
From the outset, Sela, RNID and NUFC set out to design a case study that was relevant to all sports, with the objective of setting a new benchmark for accessibility in sports and entertainment to encourage wider adoption of the technology.
Underpinning the creative execution of the execution was research conducted by Sela into how fans experience football differently.
The research showed 55% of people enjoy watching live sport events less due to their hearing loss. Sela sought to introduce new technologies for fans who are deaf or have hearing loss to enhance their experience of the atmosphere at St. James’ Park.
Underpinning the creative execution of the execution was research conducted by Sela into how fans experience football differently.
The research showed 55% of people enjoy watching live sport events less due to their hearing loss. Sela sought to introduce new technologies for fans who are deaf or have hearing loss to enhance their experience of the atmosphere at St. James’ Park.
Execution
The technology debuted at NUFC’s Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur in front of 50,000 people, with millions more on TV and with a match take over to bring the campaign to life.
11 junior Deaf Football Club children were given a surprise invite to be mascots on game day from two Newcastle United players. The children taught the players how to celebrate in sign language, with Dan Burn going on to enact the celebration during the game on live global broadcast. The footage went viral, showcasing the impact of Sela’s campaign beyond just the technology itself.
Key media were briefed in advance to trail the news, which was split up into ‘tentpole’ moments including: the logo donation, the name of the charity partner, the haptic shirt technology and the key protagonists who would be wearing them.
Deaf fan, David Wilson commented: “What a game, what a day, what a shirt. I felt part of the singing, part of the stadium. The vibrations just continued through the full game. We felt involved in all the goals and all the singing, so I just want to say thank you.”
Sela also donated its sponsorship for the match to RNID - a historic occasion marking the first time a hearing loss charity has been promoted on a Premier League front-of-shirt.
Sela collaborated with local supporters’ group Wor Flags to fill the stadium with a flag emblazoned with words that perfectly captured the essence of the campaign: “It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging.”
Representatives from the world’s largest institutions travelled to witness the technology first-hand including the Premier League, European Club Association, The UK Government, UEFA and FIFA to explore how the technology can be incorporated into wider football.
11 junior Deaf Football Club children were given a surprise invite to be mascots on game day from two Newcastle United players. The children taught the players how to celebrate in sign language, with Dan Burn going on to enact the celebration during the game on live global broadcast. The footage went viral, showcasing the impact of Sela’s campaign beyond just the technology itself.
Key media were briefed in advance to trail the news, which was split up into ‘tentpole’ moments including: the logo donation, the name of the charity partner, the haptic shirt technology and the key protagonists who would be wearing them.
Deaf fan, David Wilson commented: “What a game, what a day, what a shirt. I felt part of the singing, part of the stadium. The vibrations just continued through the full game. We felt involved in all the goals and all the singing, so I just want to say thank you.”
Sela also donated its sponsorship for the match to RNID - a historic occasion marking the first time a hearing loss charity has been promoted on a Premier League front-of-shirt.
Sela collaborated with local supporters’ group Wor Flags to fill the stadium with a flag emblazoned with words that perfectly captured the essence of the campaign: “It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging.”
Representatives from the world’s largest institutions travelled to witness the technology first-hand including the Premier League, European Club Association, The UK Government, UEFA and FIFA to explore how the technology can be incorporated into wider football.
Results
Unsilence The Crowd has been described by the global football community, sports industry and global sports media as a “game changer”, “revolutionary” and an example of “raising the bar”.
The campaign delivered on Sela’s strategic sponsorship activation pillars – to be seen, be known, be loved - building positive sentiment and capability reputation, whilst driving visibility, understanding, resonance and credibility of the Sela brand within global football.
Bespoke Sela Sound Shirts were have been created for the Spanish & Italian Super Cups, that took place in Jeddah and Riyadh, respectively, they are also looking to implement the shirts at other tournaments and matches across the globe.
The numbers:
• Sela achieved its goal of increasing market coverage rising to become the lead share of voice vs top 6 EPL club sponsors
• 60,000 fans participated in the experience during the live launch of the technology
• 1000+ opportunities for hearing loss community to enjoy the shirts over the next year.
• Unsilence The Crowd was covered by a total of 771 media outlets headquartered in 37 countries
• A consolidated reach of 5.08b (3.35bn broadcast, 1.3bn online & print media and 435m social media)
• 200+ countries & territories with 104 broadcast minutes and 869 original articles.
• 523% increase in views to Sela Social Media channels and a reach of over 1 million on NUFC & RNID’s Instagram accounts alone.
• Notable features included CNN, Sky News, Al Arabiya, The Sun, The Guardian, Süddeutsche Zeitung, L’Equipe, Daily Mail and Marca.
• Dan Burn’s celebration in sign language during the game went viral across all social channels.
The campaign delivered on Sela’s strategic sponsorship activation pillars – to be seen, be known, be loved - building positive sentiment and capability reputation, whilst driving visibility, understanding, resonance and credibility of the Sela brand within global football.
Bespoke Sela Sound Shirts were have been created for the Spanish & Italian Super Cups, that took place in Jeddah and Riyadh, respectively, they are also looking to implement the shirts at other tournaments and matches across the globe.
The numbers:
• Sela achieved its goal of increasing market coverage rising to become the lead share of voice vs top 6 EPL club sponsors
• 60,000 fans participated in the experience during the live launch of the technology
• 1000+ opportunities for hearing loss community to enjoy the shirts over the next year.
• Unsilence The Crowd was covered by a total of 771 media outlets headquartered in 37 countries
• A consolidated reach of 5.08b (3.35bn broadcast, 1.3bn online & print media and 435m social media)
• 200+ countries & territories with 104 broadcast minutes and 869 original articles.
• 523% increase in views to Sela Social Media channels and a reach of over 1 million on NUFC & RNID’s Instagram accounts alone.
• Notable features included CNN, Sky News, Al Arabiya, The Sun, The Guardian, Süddeutsche Zeitung, L’Equipe, Daily Mail and Marca.
• Dan Burn’s celebration in sign language during the game went viral across all social channels.
2025 Awards
Total Points: 3
Merit
Credits
Agency
VML UK / London
PR / Marketing Agency
Spectacle Partners / London
Client / Brand
Sela X Newcastle United / Jeddah
Production Company
CuteCircuit / London
Chief Creative Officer
Ryan McManus
Creative Director
Lee Jobling
Global Chief Creative Officer
Debbi Vandeven
Brand Partnerships Director
Nick Mott
Chief Creative Director and Co-Founder
Francesca Rosella
Co-Founder
Ryan Genz
Commercial Partnerships Manager
James Newbigin
Head of Partner Marketing
Georgie Simmons
Managing Partner
Richard Conway
Scott Bowers
Program Strategy and Development
Ghassan Mroue
Project Development Director
Nazih Elhajj
Senior Creative
Alessio Laudato
Senior Vice President
Ibrahim Mohtaseb
Related Awards
