BEST BRAND ACTIVATION INVOLVING FOOTBALL 2019
EA Sports & FIFA 19 Ratings Awards
Everton Football Club & Rovio
Rovio integrated three Everton footballers as playable characters in its Angry Birds Evolution game as Theo Walcott, Cenk Tosun and Gylfi Sigurdsson underwent bird makeovers to become limited edition characters. The campaign generated huge coverage and featured on the back pages of two national newspapers, a rarity for gaming or sponsorship stories. The unique and innovative campaign drove a 63% increase in downloads delivering a tangible return on investment and successfully allowed the brand and Club to engage with new audiences. – “I’m delighted that our two forward-thinking organisations have helped to create this small piece of history together.” Denise Barrett-Baxendale, CEO, Everton.
FC Barcelona & Beko
After the successful launch of Beko & FC Barcelona’s Eat Like A Pro campaign in 2018, the new season brought an opportunity to up our game; to shout about the impact to date, inspire a new wave of healthy eating engagement and optimize our star asset – ambassador Gerard Piqué.
We individually thanked every single person that had triggered our €1 million donation to the UNICEF (via the Barca Foundation) and spread the word of over 600,000 children whose lives had been improved as a result. We launched our ‘4-3-3’ initiative, using Barca’s famous formation and the team’s healthy diets to motivate over 8,000 people worldwide to pledge their commitment to a healthy lifestyle via emojis. And we gave Gerard Piqué a star turn in our best performing social content of the year, demonstrating just how professional players can inspire children to learn about healthy eating.
Liverpool Football Club & BetVictor
Training SOS is a series about struggling Sunday League teams who need help to avoid relegation in their league. BetVictor and LFC sent in a team of experts including coaches, former players, first team players and even Jurgen Klopp himself to offer advice and coaching to the selected teams and improve their chances of staying up.
Manchester City Football Club, Wix & Copa 90
Working in collaboration, Manchester City, Wix and Copa 90 delivered a unique and engaging piece of content that combined the exclusive access to the Manchester City manager through Wix’s partnership and the industry expertise and knowledge of football audiences of Copa.
‘Pep Talks’ was able to deliver on both Wix’s brand objectives and product showcase while also creating audience engagement through the global language of football. Featuring Wix website users and amateur football team, FC Kitchener, they received an opportunity of a lifetime to be coached by Pep Guardiola.
Vanarama, Prostate Cancer UK and The National League
The MANarama campaign was a historic fundraising and awareness campaign in conjunction with Non-League Day (13 October 2018), leveraging a new partnership with the National League, and continuing Prostate Cancer UK’s relationship with longstanding partner, Vanarama, also title sponsor of the National League. Vanarama and the National League changed its name to the MANarama National League throughout the month of September until Non-League Day, with the ambition to raise £150,000. They donated £50 for every vehicle leased from the start of September until Non-League Day, and launched a successful digital awareness drive.
The primary objectives were to raise awareness of prostate cancer within the football community and beyond, while raising money to enable Prostate Cancer UK to ultimately focus on radical improvements in diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and support of those affected by prostate cancer; primarily by:
Bringing to life the official partnership between the Vanarama National League and Prostate Cancer UK through a UK-first re-branding of a football league mid-season
Raising £150,000 for Prostate Cancer UK through Vanarama’s “lease a van, save a man” fundraising drive
Working with the National League’s 68 clubs to raise awareness of the campaign
To educate and reach at-risk men, and those who have a low awareness of the risk of prostate cancer by utilising the reach of Vanarama across all channels to the company’s 80% male audience, including Vanarama employees