Here’s a post from the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi Netherlands, Arjan Kapteijns, musing on the silver lining of a recent defeat.
Is it possible to win, when everything is lost? Yes, even that appears to be possible.
At the European Championship in Poland and Ukraine, Vice World Champion Holland lost all 3 matches. Chanceless! Despite this historical defeat the Dutch were able to win anyway because the famous Orange legion won the hearts of the people of Charkov. With the last match against Portugal, 10,000 Orange fans went to the Ukraine to support their team on a hopeless mission. But with their seductive madness the colourful Dutch made this day again an unforgettable experience.
When the Dutch, after an all day long party in a big square viewed by Lenin, started their last march to the football stadium, it became clear the Orange fans leap frogged the German, Portuguese and Danish fans in popularity enormously. Thousands of Ukrainian people came to the streets to cheer and thank the Dutch fans for the crazy uplifting atmosphere they brought to this grey former Soviet city. And even after Ronaldo and friends scattered the last hopes of a new Dutch football success, the spirit in the city stayed positive and many Dutch and Ukrainian boys and girls partied until the sun came up, celebrating their new emotional bond.
