In Amsterdam the 35.000 hats soon found
their way into eager hands. A further
10,000 hats were distributed in Madrid.
metres) made sure that visiting fans
got the welcoming message.
Along Amsterdam's canals 75 water-
cycles carried passengers wearing
the Amstel Beer Hat, whilst on the
city's three biggest squares musi
cians hired by Amstel provided a
relaxed atmosphere of fun and
friendship.
A mega-sized video screen displayed
the best moments of action from the
earlier rounds of Champions League
matches, alternated by commercials
for Amstel. Lastly, fifteen moving bill
boards travelled through the city,
each carrying the text: If you
love football, wear the Amstel hat
tonight.
BRAND SATELLITES
José Evers, Communication Manager
in the Corporate Amstel Brand Team
first time. Mr Evers: "The aim of the
promotional action was twofold.
There are eight sponsors of the UEFA
Champions League, but we wanted
football fans to see Amstel as the
leading sponsor; that, in fact, is how
you can profit most from your
investment. It meant that we wanted
to try and achieve the highest top-
of-mind awareness amongst the
supporters of both teams. On the day
of the final we carried out a survey of
that awareness. In the morning hours,
the survey showed that 38% of
the fans mentioned Amstel first
when asked which businesses were
sponsoring the Champions League.
Before the start of the match that
score had more than doubled to
89%!" And all of that was due to the
Amstel hats?
14
and closely involved in the prepara
tions for the feast of football: "The
final of the UEFA Champions League
was an example of the strategy we
are now pursuing: using a number
of what we call 'brand satellites'
throughout the year. In concrete
terms, this means that we use all
the customary media such as
advertising, sales promotion, PR and
sponsoring to communicate the
product/brand itself, through an event
that fits in with the brand's core
values. Take, for example, the
Heineken Night of the Proms. That
does not focus on the bottle with the
green label; it revolves around an
event whose atmosphere provides a
direct linkage with the Heineken core
values. So we are now doing the
same with the final of the Champions
League. The reason for using these
brand satellites is because traditional
ways of communicating with the
consumer are becoming less and less
effective. This may sound like a hollow
phrase, but it definitely reflects the
reality of the situation. As a company
we will increasingly have to look
for new methods of contacting and
connecting with our consumer."
AWARENESS
The idea of organising something
special to link up with the UEFA
Champions League final took on con
crete shape at the moment when
UEFA decided to stage the final in
Amsterdam. On 16 February the pro
ject team, consisting of the Amstel
brand team and the Sponsoring
department, got together for the
