CMD Selection: Alcoholic Drinks

Sport has the power to unify people from all demographics with intense passion, which explains why brands are falling over themselves to be associated with it. But sponsorships are extremely expensive and we have seen brands pulling out of these costly partnerships given the pressures of the economic climate. Brands can’t just throw money at the problem and hope for sports fans to flock to them – they need long-term commitment that shows fans they are not simply in sport for financial gain.

For those brands that don’t have the huge budgets, there are still many examples of effective guerrilla marketing or hijacking of events – which often leave the consumer uncertain as to which brand was the official sponsor.

In the run up to the UEFA Cup Final, CMD Selection sorts the wheat from the chaff and highlights best practice examples of brands teaming up with sports.

 
 

Create a long-term platform

Coca Cola (FREE)

Coca Cola helps young people from smaller towns achieve their dream of becoming professional footballers with a reality TV show that gave kids the chance to live like real football players at the Argentine Football Association building.   

 

Capitalise on confusion about official sponsors

Pepsi

Pepsi scuppers Coca-Cola’s official sponsorship with an aggressive campaign that leaves 40% of people thinking it was the official partner, compared to 20% of people saying Coke.

 
 

Create meaningful partnerships with credible media owners

Frosted Flakes

Kellogg’s responds to early chatter concerning advertiser’s impact on childhood nutrition and encourages children to be more healthy with a long-term sports-related campaign.

 

 

Think beyond football

Red Bull

Red Bull turns an advertising mechanism for its ‘gives you wings’ proposition into a brand extension in its own right with the Red Bull Air Race.

 

 

 

Hijack sporting mega-events

Nike

Nike intrudes on the week of the Olympic opening ceremony with an ambitious experiential campaign in Shanghai centred around China’s biggest sport, basketball.
 

 

 

Leverage player sponsorships opportunistically

Reebok

Reebok takes advantage of a basketball player sponsorship with a mobile campaign that becomes a national phenomenon

  
 

Enable genuine sports fans to participate

McDonald's

McDonald’s encourages Chinese consumers to support the Olympics by submitting their cheers online with at chance to form part of the Beijing Olympics cheering squad.
 

Find niche sports to support exclusively

Alka Seltzer

Alka Seltzer teams up with the International Federation of Competitive Eating to create the US open of over-indulging which would get them thinking about the brand in a positive frame of mind.

 


Think outside of the pitch

Guiness

Guinness provides rugby fans with a Cantonese-speaking application to help them to get around Hong Kong, leading to a 30% increase in Guinness sales.

 

 

 

 

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