Israeli company Papaya partners with Steve Jobs' adman to launch outstanding campaign

Israeli tech company Papaya has launched a large-scale advertising campaign in the UK as part of its brand entry into the British market. The campaign, centered around the message Play On, has rolled out after the company underwent an in-depth strategic process in collaboration with leading international advertisers and a series of in-depth studies to learn about the new market. At the core of the campaign’s strategy, Papaya emphasizes to the British audience the importance of incorporating play into our lives, not leaving it only to childhood. Through play, we develop personal abilities and important skills that we lose over the years, while also aiming to create a vibrant community.

The campaign, which will last until the end of March 2025, is displayed across various major platforms in England, including a commercial during Manchester City’s Premier League football game, broadcasts during Boxing Day, and billboards across the country, including a prominent illuminated 3D-format billboard in the heart of Piccadilly Circus in London. In addition to these, the campaign will be promoted on leading social media pages in the UK.

For building the strategy, the company hired James Vincent, who personally worked with Steve Jobs for years and was responsible for some of the largest campaigns for tech giant Apple. Vincent and Papaya were joined by You’re The Goods, an agency headed by Dom Goldman, one of the leading creatives and advertisers in the UK, who holds 46 Cannes Festival awards for storytelling, branding, and creative work. The production was led by one of the world’s top production companies, MJZ, and the commercial to be aired on television was directed by Nikolaj Fuglsig, a leading director in the global advertising industry, who has directed commercials for companies such as Nike and Sony.

As part of a broader vision, the company examined and studied the positive impact of “play” on our lives and found that play has key and important elements for our growth and development as human beings. The company also found that “play” has a direct impact on cognitive development and the ability to overcome the various challenges we encounter in daily life. Papaya’s research shows that play generates confidence and improves quality of life. As the company believes, the marketing campaign will encourage people to go out and play again, just like they did in childhood.

Uri Perl, Head of Marketing at Papaya, said: “Our decision to launch a brand campaign for the first time is part of a bigger vision for Papaya that the company is moving towards. Our goal with this campaign is to create an emotional connection to the Papaya brand, based on the belief that play is too important to leave behind in childhood and is critical to our development as adults. We chose to launch the campaign during Christmas, one of the best times to launch large, significant campaigns when the audience is highly attentive.”

The company has been operating and growing in the United States for some time after integrating a new category of skill-based social tournaments. Papaya intends to continue developing its operations in the UK market, alongside expansion into additional areas in the future that align with the company’s broader vision.

Behind the extensive campaign, and to facilitate the connection between the company and the leading advertisers mentioned above, Papaya collaborated with MoonShoot.inc, the Israeli startup founded by Israeli advertiser Amir Gai, which helps companies worldwide find top independent advertising agencies in the markets where they want to advertise.

Papaya, whose development center is based in Tel Aviv and has been active since 2019, developed a successful platform that transforms the world of single-player games into a diverse arena of multiplayer games. Since its inception, the company has become a market leader, with over 30 million downloads and managing around 20 million tournaments per day worldwide. The company, founded in 2019, employs over 350 people.