Euro 2016 Digital Marketing The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

When a large event grabs the world's attention, a strong marketing tactic can point those eyes directly to you.
Euro 2016 promises to be another rollercoaster of joy, abject misery, and more inspiring performances from the WAG contingent. The tournament is always entertaining and regularly draws huge audiences, both on TV and across all digital media platforms. Not surprisingly, advertisers and major brands know that a strong presence during the tournament offers great value for money.
Successful tournament advertising is a difficult nut to crack. All too often, advertisers get it horribly wrong and score a home goal as a consequence. If brands hit the mark, however, they stand to reap some huge rewards, which usually continue long past the final game of the tournament. So what are this year's offerings like?
It is early days, but there are some strong contenders so far. Here is a quick rundown of the front runners for Euro 2016 digital marketing success story.
Adidas is an official brand sponsor, so they get a headline place in tournament advertising. Like Puma, Adidas has adopted a football-based ad, but the difference between the two is that Adidas has focused on grass-roots football instead of big movie special effects.
The ad features well-known players Suarez, Ozil and Pogba playing football and showing off their personalities off the pitch by way of some cool dance moves laddish swagger. The ad is filmed from the perspective of a fan, which gives it some much-needed realism.
There is no doubt plenty more to come from Adidas as the tournament unfolds, but so far, so good. We like it.
Verdict: This ad is a strong piece of work and should do well on social media.
Carlsberg is trying to pitch for broader appeal, and so far they have done quite well. The brand has successfully moved away from ?lad culture' and the current crop of Euro 2016 ad campaigns have focussed on the notion of ?If Carlsberg did substitutions', which have gone down well so far.
Another big tick in the box for Carlsberg is letting fans vote for the ?Man of the Match award' after every game (via social media). This will affiliate marketing airlines almost certainly guarantee huge social media engagement for the brand. There are also lots of prizes and special offers for football fans.
Carlsberg is still about the beer - and we love them for it - but unlike previous advertising campaigns, the brand is now a lot more inclusive and less puerile. Lads still drink Carlsberg, but in a more mature way, and women are also welcome to crack open a Carlsberg too!
Verdict: Carlsberg have scored a blinder with the ?Man of the Match Award'.
Can't make it to #EURO2016 ? That's ok, get to #footballheaven at the Hyundai FanDome /UJqTte9Uf1
Hyundai is working with the hashtag #footballheaven. Their campaign centres around the Hyundai FanDome in London, where up to 45,000 feverish fans can watch the action surrounded by huge 360 degree screens. This is high tech stuff and no doubt a lot of fans will be thrilled to watch game play in real-time.
Fans can apply for free tickets to the Hyundai FanDome through a special Euro 2016 tournament microsite. Those that sign up are then entered into a draw for tickets to the Euro 2016 final. Hyundai also gets to harvest lots of useful fan data.
The #footballheaven hashtag and FanDome are likely to generate a lot of interest on social media, particularly with tickets to the final on offer. However, what brings this ad campaign down is a special appearance by well-known Welsh hard man ex footballer, Vinnie Jones.
The following brands have managed a mediocre performance so far, but there is still a lot to play for, so they could pull it back from the brink if they come up with a late equaliser.
Turkish Airlines is an official sponsor of the Euro 2016 tournament. As such, they are in a great position to maximise their exposure. At first glance, the Turkish Airlines advertising campaign is strong. They are giving away tickets to key games, which always attract interest on social media, plus the brand can capture lots of data from competition entries.
However, the microsite for competition entries is poorly executed with no media display. Competition entries via Twitter are embedded in the page, but users can't view any media without clicking a link. Visitors can also see the TV spots hosted by Turkish Airlines, which is not the best either.
Mean and moody Jose Mourinho, the current manager of Manchester United, must be considering his future very carefully, as he has signed up to promote Lipton iced tea. He first appeared in an advert for Lipton tea in April, but the ad has been revamped for Euro 2016.
The ad format is simple enough. Mourinho looks fed up with fans shouting abuse. He cracks open a bottle of iced tea, kicks a football which turns on the pitch sprinklers, and everyone is happy. That's it really.
Now we come to the brands that have done themselves no favours at all. Yes, the wooden spoon award for the clunkiest Euro 2016 advertising goes to:
Puma is competing against its arch rival, the official sponsor, Adidas. Puma knows that the official sponsor doesn't always get the most value from a major football tournament, so it has its hopes pinned on this year's advertising campaign.
Unfortunately, although the brand hashtag (#choosetricks) is, dare we say it, a tad boring, the big-bucks TV ad is somewhat derivative with too much of a heavy nod to the classic Nike mission ad and in the case of the falling bookcases, The Mummy.
Kia is official brand sponsor of Euro 2016, alongside Hyundai, its sister brand. Kia has decided to form an alliance with The Telegraph newspaper. A Telegraph journalist is travelling to Paris in a Kia Sportage over the course of one month, recording a video diary along the way. The journo is stopping at Kia dealerships and interviewing footballers along the way.
This would be reasonably OK, but the brand has seen fit to add a desktop game to drum up extra interest. Players can have a go at the game and enter a competition to win a Sportage. The game is not too bad, if a bit dated in concept, but the in-game commentary from David James is cringe-worthy.
Adidas and Carlsberg are the front runners for the best advertising so far, but there is still plenty of time for the other brands to make amends. Many of the big brands have yet to unveil their commercials and activity on social media remains relatively quiet. However, once the tournament kicks off in earnest and interest rises, we will no doubt see some stellar performances from official sponsors and left of field hopefuls
Hopefully the brands will come up with some new ideas instead of rehashing old commercials and strategies. It helps when they are able to personalise their commercials by showing us the action through the eyes of the fans.
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