Dettol, the Official Hygiene Partner of The Football Association (The FA) and of Wembley Stadium connected by EE, championed safe hygiene protocols with sanitising stations and outdoor messaging around the stadium to serve returning fans for The Emirates FA Cup Final.
The Reckitt-owned business, the UK’s leading disinfectant brand, leveraged its partnerships with the stadium and with English football’s governing body to play an important role at the 2021 Final – the largest UK pilot sporting fan event of the year to date.
Dettol’s mission was simple: to help keep fans, staff and players safe as Chelsea Fc and Leicester FC played the match in front of 21,000 supporters – the largest attendance at a UK sports event since the start of the pandemic.
The activation was built around installing 433 Dettol hand sanitiser stations in and around the stadium: with additional sanitisation points erected along the fans’ journey to the ground including at Wembley Park and Wembley Central stations.
The stations came with out-of-home safety messaging.
Plus, prior to the game, Wembley staff gave the stadium a deep clean using both Dettol expertise and products (including surface wipes and multi-purpose cleaners around communal and hospitality areas).
“Football needs fans. After a tough year it’s great to see them returning in large numbers, and we are honoured to play a role in giving them confidence to come back,” said Dettol’s UK/Europe Marketing Director Luca Tamagni. “We encourage all fans attending the game to continue practising good hygiene, using the hand sanitiser stations available as part of their matchday ritual, wearing masks and following social distancing advice.”
Wembley Stadium Director Liam Boylan added: “Our teams have been working closely with Dettol to ensure that our cleaning and hygiene practices – both ahead of the day and at the game itself – are of the highest standards, allowing people to feel confident and comfortable as they return to watch live football at our iconic venue. We would ask fans to please follow the hygiene guidance inside the stadium and please never hesitate to ask a member of our team for assistance.”
The Final activation ran under Dettol’s FA marketing campaign ‘Dettol Up: Play On’ which is hubbed around a microsite at www.playon.dettol.co.uk and which aims to establishing the brand as the UK’s go-to disinfectant of choice by engaging and educating fans, players and parents from grassroots to the elite game on how to reinforce best-practice hygiene protocols so that the football community can continue to enjoy the game they love.
The brand’s FA Cup work followed on from its end of March #PlayOn ‘Dettol Football Rituals’ campaign which was spearheaded by a 30-second social spot and supporting content amplified across its digital channels.
The campaign idea is that we all have our football rituals – from grassroots to the elite game – whether it’s being first out on the pitch, or always having clean boots and, as football returns, Dettol aims to be a new part of football’s ritual.
Comment:
The 2021 Emirates FA Cup Final was a pilot event used to learn lessons on the way to enabling fans can return to stadiums in large numbers. So incorporating cleaning and hygiene practices into everyday match rituals is a key step: especially considering that England and Wembley will host multiple major matches in June and July including the semi-finals and final of UEFA Euro 2020.
Indeed, a further FA-linked activation strand launched around the final but focused on the international game is Dettol’s ‘Win An England Shirt’ contest: a list building initiative which incentives viewers to sign up to the Dettol newsletter for a chance to win an England Shirt.
Dettol signed up as the official hygiene partner of the FA partner in late February 2021 in a tie-up aimed at helping to reinforce good hygiene across every level of the game from participants to supporters.
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