The next stage, the ticket competition phase, of Carlsberg’s UEFA Euro 2012 sponsorship activation is a Facebook-led competition which invites consumers and fans to a set of football challenges to earn the chance to win tickets.
This latest stage of the beer brand’s integrated, multi-tired activation strategy, is offering a top prize for one fan – the chance to present the Carlsberg man of the match award to the winning player at the final of next summer’s tournament in Poland and Ukraine.
Digital lies at the heart of the creative, with Facebook at its centre. But later it will be further supported by TV work, outdoor executions, on-pack designations and point of sale material.
Advertising will drive fans to visit www.facebook.com/Carlsberg where they will be asked to “Like” the page and then take on a series of challenges to demonstrate what they would do in order to get tickets to the big European international showcase tournament.
Each challenge that is completed successfully will be rewarded with a virtual Carlsberg UEFA Euro 2012 Fan Challenge trophy and the more trophies each fan earns the more chances they will have to win tickets in the monthly competitions. Each challenges tests a mixture of each players’ football knowledge and Euro’s passion. Successful entries will also reflect Carlsberg’s commitment to responsible behaviour.
As the tournament draws closer, participants will then compete amongst themselves to win the top prize – presenting the Carlsberg Man of the Match Award.
This phase was rolled out in early October to leverage the interest in the competition during the period in which the final qualifying matches occurred. While the tournament is already a sell-out, the Carlsberg Fan Challenge offers supporters the chance to win tickets to group games and Carlsberg Euro 2012 merchandise via monthly competitions.
This Facebook initiative follows the brand’s first phase of its campaign in the UK, called ‘Get Behind England’, which aimed to ramp up support for the national team.
This earlier phase, created by marketing communications agency Billington Cartmell, encouraged fans to upload photos of themselves onto Carlsberg’s Facebook page and these images were subsequently superimposed onto other official England team pictures so that each fan actually appears behind the players.
This stage was communicated on packs, via point-of-sale and through press and billboard executions. It was also timed to coincide with England’s final three qualifying games.
The activity is just part of the brand’s wider “Be the difference” initiative which promotes Carlsberg’s status as the official beer of Euro 2012 and of the England football team.
Comment:
Football is one of the most crowded spaces for sponsors and to cut through the clutter, especially in the drinks sector. Witness Budweiser’s June deal in the sector when it replaced E.on as title sponsor of the FA Cup (something of a direct challenge to Carlsberg’s rights).
In this space, perhaps more than any other, brands need to have both a long term commitment and a portfolio of interests if they are to successfully connect nationally and internationally.
Indeed, Keld Strudahl, Carlsberg’s international marketing activation director, says “no one else” can offer football fans such “amazing” experiences.”
Certainly Carlsberg is one of the longest serving UEFA Euro sponsors and it first sponsored the European Football Championships back in 1988. The 2012 tournament will be the Danish beer brand’s seventh consecutive tournament as Official Sponsor.
Indeed, in recent years it has been further ramping up its football rights, with a raft of sponsorship deals such as its backing of the England football team and its official beer partner deal with Arsenal (which saw it replace Heineken in August 20122).
This latter deal at The Emirates not only sees pouring rights of Carslberg’s brand family at the stadium, but also the creation of a lounge experience for corporate guests and competition winners before and after each game, similar to that it has just unveiled at Liverpool’s Anfield stadium.
The brand is also using its European football sponsorships not only engage locally, but also to reach out and connect with Arsenal and Liverpool fans in Asia.
Vinai Venkatesham, Arsenal’s head of global partnerships, says: “Following our Asia tour, as we focus on further engaging with our international fanbase, Carlsberg are a perfect brand to be partnering with given their strength and reach in over 140 different markets worldwide.”
This Euro activation fits neatly with the brand’s new international umbrella positioning, rolled out in Spring 2011, which revolves around the idea of encouraging people to step up and do the right thing using the universal strapline “That calls for a Carlsberg”. The aim was to reposition in a way that boosts the lager brand’s appeal to younger drinkers and it launched by a campaign that offered rewards to those in 140 different markets who “step up and do the right thing”.
This increased football sponsorship investment comes despite Carlsbeerg axing its dedicated UK sponsorship team and transferring sponsorship and activation responsibilities to individual brand teams responsible for activating partnerships.
Links:
www.carlsberggroup.com/investor/news/Pages/PR_05_06102011_Euro2012.aspx
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