Euro 2016 Official Airline Partner Turkish Airlines has launched is core tournament campaign, ‘Meet Europe’s Best’, to focus the spotlight on the very best fans from around the continent – ‘those who go above and beyond to show their love and passion for their national team’.
The campaign’s approach is to reflect its support for Europe’s premier sporting and cultural events and champion fans and European cultures around France 2016 by showcasing fans and their stories about their passion for their national team.
The integrated ‘Meet Europe’s Best’ initiative spans TV, print and OOH advertising, plus ticket giveaways, a dedicated hub microsite, social activity, on-site experiences and, of course, unique plane liveries.
The initiative revolves around the specially created MeetEuropesBest.com microsite – which has multiple content strands including one which aggregates user-generated social media content around the hashtag #EuropesBest.
The microsite is available in English, French and Turkish.
These content assets are tied together with the #EuropesBest and most content pieces encourage consumers to use the hashtag to be in with a chance ‘to upgrade your UEFA EURO 2016 experience’.
Indeed, the campaign positively encourages fans to showcase the wide range of unique and diverse ways in which they support their sides and urges supporters and consumers to use the hashtag for a chance to win flights, accommodation and tickets for themselves and a friend to UEFA EURO 2016 matches.
Turkish Airlines is also giving away tickets and arranging Euro 2016 ‘airport experiences’ for passengers as well as fan zones in host cities under the deal with UEFA.
To promote the campaign and ‘generate more excitement’, Turkish Airlines worked with Hollywood music video director Grady Hall to shoot seven short TV ads highlighting the campaign and competition.
These short clips, airing across the region, offer a comic blend of professional football and the airline’s passenger experience.
The campaign launch was amplified across the airline’s social platforms.
It’s time to unveil our #EuropesBest campaign! Visit https://t.co/Ei3AT5FDGG for a chance to win #Euro2016 tickets! pic.twitter.com/hIWviqT5bb
— Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) May 23, 2016
We’re proud to be the Official Airline Partner for UEFA Euro 2016! Have you met #EuropesBest yet?https://t.co/N9CWNUhhh7
— Turkish Airlines (@TurkishAirlines) May 23, 2016
The airline’s activation will continue through the tournament itself both onboard some Turkish Airlines aircraft and on the ground in the host nation the airline is running ‘activation zones’ in four host cities, as well as rolling out OOH branding across notable sites across Paris.
Turkish Airlines is also running a series of on-ground and inflight Euro 2016 experiences: on board and in-lounge, passengers will be able to watch live matches on-board and some will have a chance to win tournament tickets during their flight through an in-air raffle.
Plus, those in the airline’s business class lounge in Istanbul will be able to play the official EURO 2016 console game which will be synchronized to reflect the tournament’s results.
These initiatives will be complimented by a specially designed menu card for Turkish Airlines passengers departing Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport.
Turkish Airlines also celebrated the competition’s final game between France and Portugal by airing it live on Turkish Airlines planes.
The carrier has also partnered with the global football network, Copa90, to discover what football means to fans across the UEFA Euro 2016 nations in an initiative to explore different cultures, experiences and passions of football fans from 10 countries in 10 days.
Fans can follow the journeys undertaken by four selected filmmakers and social creators on the airline’s social channels and its bespoke tournament ‘Meet Europe’s Best’ microsite (MeetEuropesBest.com) – which also includes a set of host city guides, competitions, the official app and even Euro 2016 related Spotify playlists.
The airline’s activation actually kicked-off in mid April when, as a tease to fans on the ground, it launched a special a UEFA EURO 2016 designed livery on one of its A330-300 passenger jets.
To reinforce Turkish Airlines’ global presence, within a few weeks the aircraft has flown to cities across the US, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa in order to reached football lovers around the world.
The paintwork was designed by the airline and UEFA, the governing body of European football.
Plus, the Turkish Airlines tournament liveried plane even slotted into a little product placement when it appeared in David Guetta’s official Euro 2015 anthem music video – ‘This One’s For You’.
Written and produced by David Guetta, the track features Swedish pop star Zara Larsson and saw one million fans take part in the recording of the song through an app created by UEFA.
Another activation strand of Turkish Airlines’ song prtnership saw the carrier ‘take’ David Guetta’s EURO 2016 anthem to the 24 competing nations in the form of bespoke music videos with a local twist.
The airline is the presenting partner of the official tournament ‘This One’s For You’ anthem, which has a bespoke digital hub (http://www.thisonesforeuro2016.com/), was first officially unveiled on 10 June via a live show at the Eiffel Tower and a digital/social release that saw it rack up 500,000 YouTube views in its first 24 hours.
On board, passengers are able to stream the track within the Turkish Airlines in-flight entertainment systems and, as part of Turkish Airline’s #EuropesBest campaign, the airline has also teamed up with music streaming service Spotify.
This partnership aims to bring to life the diversity of Europe’s footballing fans, the top-charting songs from each competing nation is aggregated into a playlist (called Europe’s Best Songs), which is available on Spotify or on the campaign’s microsite www.meeteuropesbest.com.
Ahmet Olmuştur, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Turkish Airlines, said: ‘Music has always been a big part of football. Chants that echo around stadia have brought fans together for decades, and this new song and video from David Guetta will do just that. Turkish Airlines is thrilled to be featured in the ‘This One’s For You’ video, and we’re all looking forward to a successful tournament.’
‘This One’s For You’ was written and produced by David Guetta and features Zara Larsson, the latest Swedish pop sensation. One million fans also took part in the recording of the song through a special application created by UEFA. David Guetta performed the song at a free concert under the Eiffel Tower in Paris on 10 June.
To further reflect the number of nations competing in UEFA EURO 2016TM , there will be 24 surprise videos released on Monday.
Turkish Airlines passengers will be able to stream the video on their in-flight entertainment systems.
On the ground in host nation France, Turkish Airlines also ran a banner take over on one of the world’s most famous streets – Paris’ Champs Elysees.
Parisians and tourists couldn’t miss the airline’s ‘Meet Europe’s Best’ banner which adorned the entire lenght of the boulevard’s 1.9 kilometers.
The design of the banner continues the creative approach of the carrier’s #MeetEuropesBest campaign – highlighting the best footballers and fans from across the continent and the objective is to provide an unmissable, striking visual for fans and tourists as they travel to the French capital for the competition.
‘Turkish Airlines is delighted to see our EURO 2016 campaign lining the world’s most beautiful street. Hopefully seeing the banners, which is an important element of this campaign, will encourage fans from across the continent to engage on social media with #MeetEuropesBest,’ explains Turkish Airlines chief marketing officer Ahmet Olmuştur.
The banners will be in place on the Champs Elysees for the duration of the competition.
‘The Meet Europe’s Best campaign is a celebration of UEFA EURO 2016 and of the fans that will be at the heart of the tournament, ‘explains Turkish Airlines Chief Marketing Officer Ahmet Olmuştur, said:
‘From our microsite and television adverts, to our special livery and ticket giveaways, Turkish Airlines wants to give football supporters the opportunity to celebrate with other fans from across Europe.’
‘Football is a great connector of people, breaking down social and cultural barriers and uniting people around a mutual passion for the game. We are privileged to be able to connect people from across the globe every day and are delighted to be part of this year’s Euros. This plane is one of the many things we will be doing to excite fans and our passengers in the lead up to this competition.’
Comment
It was back in December 2015 that Turkish Airlines signed up as a global tournament partner and as the UEFA EURO 2016 Official Airline Partner
The airline, which flies to 22 of the 24 competing countries, has developed a set of relevant tournament offers: from special airfares for fans to fly to France, to charter rates for competing teams to travel to and from the tournament.
‘Turkish Airlines has endorsed sports all over the world for many years, because we firmly believe in its ability to unite people from different nations and cultures on the playing field,’ said Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Avci at the announcement event.
‘The partnership with UEFA Euro 2016 is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the very best in European football with fans from all over the world. We very much look forward to the competition, and wish all the teams the best of luck! ‘
Guy-Laurent Epstein, marketing director of UEFA Events SA, added: ‘We are excited to welcome Turkish Airlines on board for UEFA EURO 2016. As Europe’s leading airline, they will be able to capitalise on the platform the newly expanded tournament offers, to build on their current success. Through exclusive offers and innovative activations, we are looking forward to working with them to bring fans together from all over the world to celebrate in France next year.’
After signing the deal with UEFA marketing agency CAA Eleven, Turkish Airlines becomes the ninth global sponsor of the UEFA Euro 2016 commercial programme for UEFA EURO 2016
The others are Adidas, Carlsberg, Coca-Cola, Continental, Hyundai-Kia, McDonald’s, Orange and Socar.
The deal sees the airline add the tournament to its expanding sponsorship portfolio in Europe that includes Euroleague Basketball, the European Tour, the European Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup, as well as deals with several leading football clubs.
Links
Meet Europe’s Best Microsite:
Turkish Airlines YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TURKISHA…
Turkish Airlines Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TurkishAirlines
Turkish Airlines Twitter:
https://twitter.com/turkishairlines
#WidenYourWorld
Turkish Airlines Instagram:
https://twitter.com/turkishairlines
Turkish Airlines Web:
http://www.turkishairlines.com/
Euro 2016:
Euro 2016 Twitter:
Euro 2016 Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/uefaeuro
Euro 2016 YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/UEFA.tv
Euro 2016 Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/uefaeuro/
Euro 2016 Vine:
UEFA:
