Euro 2012 Sponsors Increase Social Media Marketing to Get Ahead of Olympics

UEFA Euro 2012 sponsors Carlsberg, buy Orange and Castrol will all increase their social media activity around this summer’s tournament to avoid being overshadowed by the likes of Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, impotent which are also sponsoring the London Olympics.

With a little more than five weeks to go until the opening match of Euro 2012 in Poland, Carlsberg has launched a Facebook campaign that encourages fans to show their support for England via a series of challenges as part of a wider multimillion campaign.

David Scott, director of marketing for Carlsberg UK, said: “We’ve never previously used Facebook on this scale to understand the England fan and talk to them about what they know and love about the game.

“Consumers tell us that the Olympics don’t give the same sense of drinking occasion that a football match does, so we’re applying this insight to drive sales in pubs and supermarkets.”

For Castrol, the growth of social media since Euro 2008 means that it can now use the predictions from its EDGE Index – the official tournament ranking system – to respond to fans in real-time on Facebook and Twitter.

A spokeswoman for Castrol said: “It’s not just about the index tools this year. We can now be far more interactive with our fans. For example, we’re extending our Tested to the Limit partnership with Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo through a new digital and social fan activation.”

The digital presence will be supported by in-store, outdoor and press activity as the brand looks to engage with fans across multiple touchpoints.

Orange has made interaction the brand’s biggest priority for its Euro 2012 strategy. The network is focusing the bulk of its marketing on direct channels, such as using social media for its Supporters’ Cup competitions and launching the official Euro 2012 mobile app.

TV activity is also planned but John Constantinou, head of global sponsorships and partnerships at Orange, says this is more of a “nice to have” than its core focus. The brand is more interested in creating interactions.

“Big TV ads and perimeter boards in the stadia alone won’t be enough to achieve cut-through in this busy year.

“We are already a known brand and have high awareness levels so we want to add value to football fans and our customers to improve their brand preference and hopefully make them more loyal,” he adds.