Final offers ideas on how to make your mark
As the Uefa Champions League rolls out of town, and Real Madrid fly back to Spain clutching the trophy, businesses across the capital will no doubt be counting their takings after Cardiff hosted the biggest sporting event of 2017.
It’s a huge credit to all those who made it happen – from the FAW’s ambition and determination to bring the world’s top football events to Wales right through to the multi-agency team involved in delivering it. And if ever there was a reminder of the power of football to unite, and make serious money, this weekend’s Champions League final between Juventus and Real Madrid was it. As 170,000 football fans descended on Cardiff and approximately 200 million more tuned in to watch the game on TV, the event is estimated to have boosted the city’s economy by around £45m. Not bad work, if you can get it.
Of course, it’s not just local businesses that will have benefited from the weekend’s sporting event. In an increasingly fragmented media world, major sporting moments like this provide relatively rare and important opportunities for brands to engage with a huge and positive consumer audience en masse, across platforms. When approached in the right manner, the possibilities are immense.
With the global sports market worth an estimated $700bn (around £543bn), big brands pay significant sums for exclusive event sponsorship deals. But paying big doesn’t automatically equal marketing success, and the way brands use those opportunities has had to become far more creative.
We all know how influential present and former sporting superstars, particularly footballers, are – with huge followings on social media and an unrivalled ability to dictate trends and headlines – and some of the most successful campaigns offer exclusive interaction with an event or its participants.
For example, London 2012 sponsor DFS shone the spotlight on athletes’ down-time, by sharing exclusive glimpses into their home life, and the Nike On Demand messenger service shared inspirational messages and tips from athletes and coaches.
However, things don’t always go as planned, as Walkers found out to their detriment in the run up to the Champions League. Just hours after Walkers launched its Champions League final campaign, which offered social media users the chance to win tickets to the match in Cardiff, pictures of Gary Lineker clutching images of serial killers and disgraced celebrities were trending on Twitter. In theory, the campaign was simple – encouraging users to respond to a Walkers’ tweet with a selfie and the hashtag #WalkersWave, to be in with a chance of winning. The picture was put into a personalised video, featuring Gary Lineker, automatically tweeted and captioned by Walkers.
But some users quickly seized on the opportunity to make mischief. While it’s unlikely to have badly damaged the brand or its relationship with Lineker longterm, it’s provided an important lesson in why automated tweets may not be the most sensible option for busiwnesses.
While sponsoring the likes of the Champions League final or relying on big name brand ambassadors are out of reach for many businesses, there are plenty of local football sponsorship opportunities that can help to meet businesses’ communication objectives.
For example, while one of our clients, Specsavers, sponsors some high-profile sporting events on a national level, individual Specsavers stores across Wales support numerous local sporting teams. And as part of its commitment to developing the grassroots game, the FAW is demonstrating how the buzz around the Champions League can help to capture attention for the local heroes in football, through its #THISISWELSHFOOTBALL photography competition.
As well as being more in line with the marketing budgets of SMEs, local sponsorship deals can still provide brands with the chance to connect emotionally with their audience and have the added benefit of embedding businesses firmly in the community.
In an increasingly crowded media landscape, identifying the issues and moments that unite you and your audience may hold the key to future brand success, and big events, like the Champions League, can offer inspiration to other businesses on the ways that do, and don’t, work when trying to make a mark around key cultural moments.
Angharad Neagle is group managing director of Freshwater UK, the Cardiff-headquartered integrated communications consultancy.