Activations
Closer Than You Think – Xylem & Manchester City
Closer Than You Think, the activation of Man City partner Xylem, aimed to drive awareness of and uncover solutions to the planet’s water challenges.
Soundtracking the NBA – UnitedMasters & the NBA
The NBA teamed up with independent music distributor UnitedMasters to use the league’s 1.6bn fanbase as a source of new music discovery.
Purple Cam – BNP Paribas Fortis & RSC Anderlecht
In 2018-19, BNP Paribas Fortis’ season-long ‘Purple Cam’ stadium selfie initiative gave every RSC Anderlecht fan an exclusive photo-led experience within the team’s Constant Vanden Stock Stadium.
PSV Energie – Energiedirect.nl & PSV Eindhoven
Energiedirect.nl created an energy product specifically for fans of PSV Eindhoven to try and drive sales and reduce churn in the region.
Make Believe Happen – Microsoft & the NFL
Make Believe Happen was a multi-channel, multi-phase campaign that ran the length of the 2018-19 NFL season, pushing Microsoft’s Surface products to a wide audience by showing how star player ambassadors use them in their personal lives.
Driving Performance – Lotus & Norwich City
The 2019 tie-up between newly promoted Norwich and carmarker Lotus was unveiled with ‘Driving Performance’, a campaign spearheaded by a car chase video starring Darren Huckerby and Delia Smith.
Terrains – Jeep & Juventus
‘Terrains’, which debuted in June 2019, was a video-led TV and social campaign from Jeep, activating its Juventus sponsorship with the message that excellence must be achieved through hard work on the toughest territory.
#CheerForBVB Official Partner Launch – TikTok & Borussia Dortmund
Borussia Dortmund was the first German club to pen an official partnership with the ByteDance-owned platform and launched it with a video-led challenge to boost user engagement and attract a new, younger generation of fans.
Where Winners Feel At Home – Marriott & Bayern Munich
The ‘Where Winners Feel at Home’ activation was built around the creation of a fully functioning hotel room – with pitch view – in Bayern’s Allianz Arena.
This Bud’s for 3 (Dwyane Wade’s Last Swap) – Budweiser & the NBPA
NBA sponsor Budweiser partnered with the National Basketball Players Association on an initiative commemorating the retirement of 13-time NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade.
Unsponsor #SaveOurShirts – Paddy Power & Huddersfield Town
Paddy Power leveraged its 2019-20 Huddersfield Town FC shirt sponsorship through a hoax kit launch campaign called “Unsponsor #SaveOurShirts”.
Power to Play – Fortum & DreamHack Masters
Finnish state-owned energy company Fortum’s sponsorship of the DreamHack Masters Stockholm 2018 introduced the brand to a new audience of 18-to-35-year-olds in Sweden and the Nordics.
Saynts Festival – Under Armour & Southampton FC
Southampton launched its 2019-20 kit with 'Saynts Festival: The Greatest Kit Launch That Never Happened', a parody of Netflix’s documentary about Fyre Festival, the infamously failed music festival.
Australian Open Ambush – Uber Eats & Tennis Australia
Uber Eats set out to grab the attention of the Australian Open audience with post-ad break spots that replicated the event so effectively that viewers thought they had returned to the tennis broadcast.
Kit Launch Platform – Fanatics, Luke 1977 & Aston Villa
Isobar and Aston Villa developed an immersive digital platform specifically to launch the club's 2018-19 kits.
Total Health Forum – Kaiser Permanente & the NBA
Presenting the Total Health Forum with the NBA allowed Kaiser Permanente to integrate its brand with the US healthcare community and amplify that integration via digital/social extensions.
Hyundai FC – Hyundai & Chelsea FC
Chelsea official automotive sponsor and sleeve sponsor Hyundai expanded its ‘supporters first’ #ForTheFans concept through the ‘Hyundai FC’ grassroots football programme.
Peoria TT track rehab/redesign – American Flat Track & Caterpillar
Two major activations, in 2018 and 2019, showcased the best of the Caterpillar brand through its partnership with the organisers of American Flat Track racing.
Go the Distance – Apollo Tyres, Manchester United & more
Indian tyre-maker Apollo Tyres built a unified marketing campaign that aligned its sponsorship of Manchester United with its Indian properties.
You Seeing This? – ESPN & the NBA
After decades of promoting NBA games with TV commercials and years of declining live television audiences, official broadcaster ESPN changed its strategy and switched to using real-time NBA footage social promos to generate FOMO and drive fans to click directly to live game coverage.
Hear the Kop Roar – Standard Chartered & Liverpool FC
Liverpool and shirt sponsor Standard Chartered teamed up on an initiative to help eliminate avoidable blindness, activated at Anfield through an audio ‘Kop Roar’ experience.
Victory Fridge – Bud Light & the Cleveland Browns
At the start of the 2018-19 NFL season, the Cleveland Browns had gone 635 days without a win, so Bud Light created free beer ‘Victory Fridges’ that would unlock the moment the team broke its losing streak.
Fair Play (Genoese Derby) – Peroni & Genoa/Sampdoria
'Fair Play’ was a 2019 campaign from Birra Peroni, the official beer of city rivals UC Sampdoria and Genoa CFC, which incentivised rival fans to hug one another by offering free beer for those participating.
Job of the Match/Fan – Indeed & Eintracht Frankfurt
Jobsite Indeed activated its Eintracht Frankfurt shirt sponsorship through multiple initiatives including ‘Job of the Match’, which introduced supporters to behind-the-scenes jobs within the club.