Football fever and brand presence: successful activations at UEFA EURO 2024™
UEFA EURO 2024™ is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, attracting millions of spectators and huge media coverage. It also provides a unique platform for companies to increase their brand awareness and engage directly with their target audiences. The high number of viewers and the strong emotional attachment of the fans make the European Football Championship a particularly attractive opportunity for marketing activities. Companies can take advantage of the positive atmosphere and widespread media coverage through targeted activations. In this insight, we take a look at some successful corporate activations during UEFA EURO 2024™.
Mara Kottke
Published on July 16th, 2024
In this Insight:
Major sporting events such as UEFA EURO 2024™ provide an excellent platform for businesses to reach a wide and diverse audience. The media coverage over the four weeks of the tournament and, of course, the live broadcasts ensure a high level of global visibility. Even though it is a competition between the best national teams in Europe, with stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé, football fans all over the world are eagerly awaiting the top-class matches of the tournament.
As a result, sports events such as UEFA EURO 2024™ have the potential to reach a wide audience. The emotional connection between spectators and the event can drive strong brand association and customer loyalty.
Fanatics
As UEFA's official merchandising partner for all national team competitions, Fanatics was responsible for running the official fan shops in the stadiums and fan zones. These shops were an integral part of the fan journey and gave every fan the opportunity to dress in their country's colours or buy a souvenir of UEFA EURO 2024™. Strategically placed in the fan zones and stadiums, fans were able to show their enthusiasm and support for their teams on the ground.
Qatar Airways
The Qatari airline offered its guests an exclusive experience during the European Championship in a skybox specially designed by SPORTFIVE, which provided a special experience and was characterised by its exclusive design and first-class service. Guests were able to experience the UEFA EURO 2024™ matches in a unique atmosphere and enjoy the hospitality of Qatar Airways.
Telekom
Telekom offered a special attraction with its 'Trophy Tour', during which the official UEFA EURO trophy was presented 'live and hands-on' at all venues. The company also organised a 'Celebrity Public Viewing' for the match between Switzerland and Hungary in its stores in Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Munich. Customers were able to watch the match, discuss the game, take photos and get autographs together with football stars and experts such as former German international René Adler, RTL presenter Florian König, German cult coach Peter Neururer and referee Felix Brych.
Visit Qatar
With three different activations, Visit Qatar aimed to showcase Qatar's cultural attractions to a wider audience. The 'Doha Club' in the Berlin and Munich fan zones offered fans a modern beach club experience. Visitors could enjoy local drinks such as qahwa (Arabic coffee) or karak (milk tea), take part in footvolley games, try on traditional Qatari clothing and collect souvenirs.
An advertising campaign entitled 'Stopover in Qatar' featured the UEFA EURO trophy in iconic locations around Qatar, demonstrating how travellers spending only a short time in Qatar can nonetheless enjoy the country. The campaign led to a website where users could win tickets to UEFA EURO 2024™.
Visit Qatar was also the presenting partner of EURO 2024 Fantasy Football, where fans could create their own team from the participating players and also have the chance to win tickets to the matches.
Conclusion
UEFA EURO 2024™ offers a unique platform for companies to develop their marketing strategies and maximise their brand reach. Through creative and experiential activations such as Fanatics' official fan shops, Qatar Airways' exclusive experiences, Visit Qatar's cultural presentations and Telekom's interactive events, companies can effectively tap into the emotional connection and enthusiasm of fans. These examples show how diverse and innovative approaches can be to increase visibility and build strong customer relationships during a major sporting event such as UEFA EURO 2024™. UEFA EURO 2024™ offers a unique opportunity to not only win the hearts of fans through skilful marketing, but also to benefit from increased brand awareness and a positive image in the long term.
