Football is #1
Internal Action
World of Heineken 42 - summer 2010
Final website. The Star Final campaign is all
about sharing the experience with friends,
so this ties in very closely with the Facebook
concept."
Yet Fleineken's UEFA Champions League
sponsorship activities do not end there. "Like
Heineken®, it's an international premium
brand and we can activate it all year round
as it spans the whole football season," Tim
says. The official Champions League Trophy
Tour, hosted by Heineken, is a prime example
of additional interaction. It gives fans the
chance to pose beside the revered trophy for
the photo opportunity of a lifetime, while also
maximising Heineken and the UEFA's global
appeal.
Over the last three seasons, Heineken has
taken the trophy to four different continents,
visiting over 20 cities around the world, and
getting up close with 180,000 ecstatic fans. In
2010, the tour visited the US for the first time.
"The support and contribution of Heineken
towards European football, particularly in
creating innovative ways to extend the fans'
experience beyond the action on the pitch,
is highly valued," says Guy-Laurent Epstein,
UEFA Marketing Director.
While it's clear that Heineken is reaching
a massive number of fans through this
sponsorship, the question is how this,
ultimately, translates into sales. Tim is
confident: "The results so far show that UEFA
Champions League fans score far higher in all
of the measurements, including the amount
of Heineken® they purchase. Results also
clearly show that fans who drink competitor
brands are also becoming closer to the
Heineken brand. Over time, this will lead to a
purchase."
Confirming what many women have
already long suspected, an international
survey carried out by Heineken has
shown that football is the favourite
talking point when men get together with
friends. An amazing 88% of those asked
admitted this. Wives and girlfriends rank
second, and work comes in third place,
apart from in Germany and France where
wives and girlfriends come third, after
work. The survey also showed that the
English are the most passionate about
football, with an average Englishman
spending two hours and 22 minutes
watching football every week. That's not
all. They then spend three hours and 21
minutes talking about it!
In celebration of Heineken's UEFA
Champions League (UCL) sponsorship,
the company launched a special table
football competition for Heineken
employees from all over the world
called HitFC - the Heineken internal
table Football Competition. The
competition aims to engage employees
with Heineken's UCL sponsorship
strategy and help make them even
better ambassadors of the brand. Now
in its third year, HitFC has proved very
popular, with 34 countries - and more
than 8,000 employees - taking part
in the 2010 event. Local winners were
invited to join the finals in Amsterdam in
April. The prize? A VIP trip to the UEFA
Champions League final in Madrid of
course!
The HitFC competition was awarded a
prestigious European Sponsorship Award
in the Business to Employee category
in 2009, for the high level of employee
engagement achieved.
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