In an attempt to to assuage bad press from ticket prices and allocation, UEFA turns to the idea of a free festival.
One reason the International Olympic Committee is willing to create pre-event marketing assets (see related Coke story) is that its sponsors don’t get any exposure in stadiums during the Olympic Games. As such, the ability to activate the partnership ahead of the event becomes crucial to the overall communications strategy.
Football governing bodies FIFA and UEFA don’t have the same kind of restrictions. But they also need plenty of pre-event activity in order to convince sponsors there are always opportunities (which in turn means they can maximise the value of their rights).
Champion’s League mega-brand
In some respects, this is easier for UEFA than FIFA, because it has the Champion’s League to work with. FIFA would love to have an annual club competition of that stature to play with – but attempts to create one have never captured the imagination.
UEFA is well-aware of what an asset the Champion’s League is, and is now working hard to turn it into a sporting mega-brand (soccer’s answer to NFL Superbowl). Last season’s decision to switch the Final to Saturday nights, for example, was all about taking the brand to the next level. So was the news this year that the first-ever CL retail outlet would open for business in Japan.
Annual redesign
In terms of related assets, one of UEFA’s most effective is the Champion’s League match ball, which commercial partner adidas places at the heart of a new PR-based marketing campaign every season. It sounds simple, but the annual redesign of the CL football is a highly-prized, jealously-guarded adidas asset.
Tickets too expensive
So far, so good. But if UEFA has a problem, it’s the fact that tickets to the CL Final are so expensive that even UEFA president Michel Platini found it necessary to apologise for this year’s pricing (£176 minimum). This is a bigger problem for UEFA than for FIFA, because club fans invest heavily in their team throughout the season. This year, for example, a loyal Manchester United would have spent thousands of pounds supporting his/her team before then being expected to pay through the nose for a CL Final ticket. That’s if they could get one. Just as irritating to loyal fans is the sheer number of tickets reserved for UEFA sponsors and “family”.
Free festival for PR positives
Perhaps this whiff of elitism is why UEFA decided, way back in 2006, to organise The Champions Festival, a free pre-event party held in the same city as the Final. While the Festival isn’t enough to wipe away all the negative headlines associated with ticket pricing and allocation, it’s the kind of PR activation strategy that might just help balance out the PR positives and negatives.
Range of activities
So what does it involve? Well, the 2011 UEFA Champions Festival was a free festival held in London’s Hyde Park for the week before the Champions League final 2011 at Wembley Stadium on May 28. It gave fans the opportunity to experience the competition through a range of activities. For example, fans could have their photo taken with the UEFA Champions League Trophy, join in a skills session with legends from previous competitions or visit the UEFA Theatre of Champions – a journey detailing the history of the beautiful game. In short, it was a way of making the event seem accessible to folk who will never get a whiff of tickets.
Free app for fans
The overall look and feel of the event was created by UK-based agency Designwerk. Led by Cristian Cook and Ed Reynolds, the Designwerk team was responsible putting together a festival which celebrated the best moments of European club football though a mix of interactivity, graphics and iconic memorabilia. Fans could also download a free 2011 UEFA Champions Festival app to help get the most from their visit. The app helped fans plan and share their visit to the festival and also let them know exclusive news and updates from the Festival as it happens.
Keeping sponsors happy
If there was one potential PR banana skin in this whole process, it was that some of UEFA’s sponsors might have felt more loved than others. But Designwerk came up with a solution for that. It devised a Festival Passport that ensured all of UEFA’s partners were involved during the festival. The Passport was given to fans on arrival, inviting them to visit each area of the festival collecting stamps to enter into a daily prize draw and keep as a souvenir.
A little bit of the action
The event seems to have generated a good buzz. Visit London’s Major Events Marketing Manager Beckie Crane went along and seemed to come away happy. “With (CL Final) tickets literally like gold dust, it was my opportunity to grab a little bit of the action. I had my picture taken with the trophy and only had to queue for about half an hour. Then I visited the Museum of Champions, which took me on a journey through time, detailing all of the most exciting moments in UEFA history. One of the best things I picked up was a passport from the Adidas area, which was then stamped at each location and entered me into a competition to win tickets to the final. The festival is a great day out for every football fan.”