Emirates leveraged its primary football club partnerships with AC Milan, Arsenal and Real Madrid to surprise some of their most deserving fans and reconnect them with the teams they love after most of the year European football had been played in empty stadiums.
The idea was to create a New Year virtual surprise the supporters’ would never forget and the unsuspecting fans were invited to join a teleconference under the guise that they were there to recap their experiences of the year and reinforce their passion for sport.
Instead, they were surprised to find that on the other end of the video call was a line-up of star players from their favourite clubs including Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos and AC Milan’s Alessio Romagnoli.
Not only did the fans have a chance to chat to the players, but the stars also gifted them with flights and match tickets courtesy of Emirates.
The trio of fan surprise video calls were posted separately across the airline’s social channels – including Twitter, Facebook and YouTube – but they were all linked under a single, uniting message based around reconnecting with the world in 2021 and joining family, friends and football together in the New Year.
Arsenal FC
Emirates and Arsenal scoured the globe for the most deserving club supporters and surprised them with two flight tickets to London and two tickets to watch an Arsenal game of their choice at Emirates Stadium.
The fans included Qalid, Josh, Kenny and Assil from Arsenal’s Community Kicks programme in the UK who had spent over 200 hours during lockdown volunteering at foodbanks in London.
Plus, lifelong Arsenal fan Chris, who is based in Dubai and who was nominated by the Arsenal UAE Supporters Club after spending the year championing mental health and supporting more than 500 individuals.
Singapore-based fans James and Tricia were nominated by the Arsenal Singapore Supporters Club. The parents-to-be have had a particularly difficult year, separated from their families in the UK where James’ father is battling cancer.
The fans were surprised when their video calls were joined by ‘technical support assistants’ Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Thomas Partey, Bernd Leno, Granit Xhaka.
Real Madrid FC
Real Madrid FC and Emirates recruited stars Thibaut Courtois, Toni Kroos, Eden Hazard and Marco Asensio to reconnect fans Naved in Dubai and Jandro based in Rio De Janeiro with their loved ones.
Naved’s passion for the club led him to learn Spanish and he was meant to travel to meet his friend Yoa Tamoyo, another die-hard Madridista this year but had their plans cancelled because of the pandemic. Jandro also had his travel plans halted and has been separated from his family in Madrid.
The Real Madrid stars interrupted their video call to present the fans with flight tickets to meet in Madrid and a special invitation to watch them play.
AC Milan FC
AC Milan players Alessio Romagnoli, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Franck Kessié made a surprise appearance with a flight ticket and invitation for New York based Alberto and his Milan-based father Paolo who have been apart since the pandemic. Alberto and Paolo thought they were only discussing their Rossoneri passion over video call when Alberto to come back to Milan and catch a match with his father in the near future.
Comment:
2020 was a year filled with sports sponsor video calls, so why not squeeze in one final virtual meeting before the end of the year?
Emirates has been a sponsor of Real Madrid, AC Milan, Arsenal for nine, 13, and 16 years respectively and its tie-ups are focused on connecting fans with their shared passion for the game.
Throughout 2020 Emirates has worked with its sponsors to engage and connect sports communities around the world through activations that have kept them linked to their passions and to the people their care most about.
Links:
Emirates
AC Milan
https://www.acmilan.com
Arsenal
Real Madrid
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