Sony Xperia activated its UEFA Champions League rights around the final via multiple initiatives ranging from an at-final, on-site #MyXperiaSelfie booth and an at-home real fans #ChampionsSofa social feed, to a predictor app and web UEFA Champions League Challenge’ competition and a multi-part online soccer series revolving around the 2016 tournament’s final host city – ‘Road To Milan’.
With the core of objective of driving awareness of Sony Xperia’s sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League among fans and highlighting the brand’s role in football, the centrepiece campaign saw Sony Xperia work with agency Octagon on a brief to create a digital content series focusing on the road to the 2016 UEFA Champions League Final in Milan.
The idea behind the campaign was built around the final host city of Milan and to bring together two icons of Milanese football, and former UCL winners, Javier Zanetti and Gennaro Gattuso to discuss what the UEFA Champions League means to players, and look back on some of the most iconic moments in recent history, including their own experiences.
The activation was primarily based on the digital, social and mobile platforms of both the UEFA Champions League and Sony Mobile and the April/May campaign timeline was built around three phases – the semi final first and second leg games and the final itself.
The series started on on 26 April with ‘Milan Rivalries’: a spot that sees two superstars of European football, Zanetti and Gattuso, share their insider thoughts on playing big games under the pressure, the pain, glory and rivalry of Milan’s famous San Siro stadium – host stadium of this year’s Champions League Final.
The video also challenges fans to ‘call the scores’ for this year’s semi-finals by driving them to the ‘UEFA Champions League Challenge’ site and ‘Predictor App’ (in the online Xperia Lounge at https://xperialounge.sonymobile.com/e…) to make predictions in order to be in with a chance of scooping some top brand/property prizes.
This was followed on 3 May, ahead of the semi-finals round, with the next series spot called ‘Iconic Semi Finals’.
Again, Zanetti and Gattuso, former stars of the two city rivals who play in the San Siro (Inter and AC Milan), revisit epic UEFA Champions League semi-final showdowns and offer their thoughts on this year’s last four.
The final film in the series, rolled out on 26 May to leverage the Champions League climax between Atletico and Real Madrid, saw the two Milan titans, Zanetti and Gattuso, look at the city itself and its icononic stadium, explore what it means to compete in the final of football’s most elite club competition and give their tuppence worth on who might lift the 2016 trophy.
The predictor competition and video content were also amplified across Sony Xperia’s social sites such as Facebook,
and Twitter.
As we gear up for the #UCLFinal, Zanetti and Gattuso relive their memories of San Siro and #UCL glory: https://t.co/Y6pQTGVKgb
— Sony Xperia (@sonyxperia) May 28, 2016
Another social media strand of Sony Xperia’s activation was its Madrid derby rivals #ChampionsSofa’ thread: which saw five sets of UEFA Champions League fans from across Europe invite viewers into their homes (via the medium of live feed cameras linked to Sony social sites) to watch them watching the final action as it unfolds (http://www.sonymobile.com/gb/champions-sofa/).
Ronaldo scores the decisive penalty as #RMA win a record 11th UEFA Champions League title! #UCLFinal #ChampionsSofahttps://t.co/rg414HmXtb
— Sony Xperia (@sonyxperia) May 29, 2016
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It’s all square with three minutes to go! Can #Atleti snatch it at the death? #UCLFinal #ChampionsSofa https://t.co/0ZwS7ceoe9
— Sony Xperia (@sonyxperia) May 28, 2016
While Sony Xperia’s at-event work on the ground in Milan also included branded spaces and #MyXperiaSelfie booths (a strand also attached to a competition).
Head to our photobooths at the #UCL festival & win exclusive prizes using #MyXperiaSelfie pic.twitter.com/0A2FNh1589
— Sony Xperia (@sonyxperia) May 28, 2016
Check out #MyXperiaSelfie at the #UCLFinal Champions Festival in Milan! pic.twitter.com/WXO6o9jBjs
— Sophie Pontifex (@SophiePontifex) May 26, 2016
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In terms of results, by the end of May the first ‘Milan Rivalries’ film has notched up 18,374 YouTube views, while the second ‘Iconic Semi Finals’ spot has been seen 15,600 times and the last video in the series boasts 21,750 views.
The tactic of using a short, online video series of longer form films to drive awareness and engagement around the final was one chosen not only by Sony, but also by fellow sponsor MasterCard (see case study) for this year’s Champions League activation.
Back in May 2015, Sony Mobile and Sony Computer Entertainment Group extended its UEFA Champions League’s partnership for a further three season: the deal includes the UEFA Super Cup in 2015, 2016 and 2017, as well as the UEFA Women’s Champions League final and UEFA Youth League finals.
This sponsorship saw ‘Xperia’ join ‘PlayStation’ – the two sub-brands holding the titles of official mobile partner and official gaming partner.
This year’s work continues Sony’s umbrella strategy behind its partnership with Europe’s most prestigious club football competition of bringing to life its products and services.
‘Our relationship with UEFA and the UEFA Champions League is incredibly important to us, and we see it as a very natural fit for our brand and audience,’ said Jim Ryan, president and chief executive officer, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, when the deal was unveiled.
‘We are excited to continue this relationship for another three years and look forward to bringing something new, fun and exciting to our gamers that will be a uniquely PlayStation approach to the UEFA Champions League.’
Links
Sony Xperia YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/SonyXperia
Sony Xperia Twitter:
https://twitter.com/sonyxperia
Sony Xperia Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/sonymobile
Sony Xperia ‘Champions League Challenge’:
http://xperialounge.sonymobile.com/experiences/56b081b6e4b06a5877dacc09?lc=en
Sony Mobile Web:
http://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/
UEFA Champions League:
http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/
