Marketers Caught Offside at the Euros

A Huge Opportunity

The 2016 UEFA European Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2016, presents a huge opportunity for brands to reach a worldwide audience. While television remains the most obvious media channel for businesses to utilise, other media channels are often overlooked or under-utilised, leaving massive potential for marketers to capitalise.

“Of the UK’s 23million football fans, 33% are actually women.”

Football is primarily seen as a male dominated sport in the UK, yet recently a study carried out by Kantar Media stated that of the UK’s 23million football fans, 33% are actually women. Furthermore, research by RadiumOne suggests that a significant proportion of the female audience (41%) class themselves as football fanatics rather than simply football followers. This point proves important because fanatics are known to multitask instead of simply watching football matches on TV, meaning alternative media vehicles such as mobile, online and print are ideal ways in which fanatics can access football content.

Engaging the Audience

With marketing budgets ploughed into TV and little else in comparison, huge corporations risk missing out on reaching the significant female audience who seemingly prefer to interact with Euro 2016 via social media, instant messaging and other emerging technologies. To prevent any further own-goals, future marketing campaigns should switch resources to more engaging platforms (which consumers continue to embrace), effectively striking an even balance between traditional and alternative media.

UPDATE: UEFA Sets a Fine Example for Marketers

One of many variations of the official UEFA Euro 2016 logo.

Following Euro 2016, UEFA published details of their marketing activities, which unsurprisingly focussed on a ‘mobile-first approach’. Previous traffic records set at Euro 2012 were shattered and digital platforms in particular exceeded expectations this time around. UEFA’s constant flow of engaging content encouraged over 15 million fans to follow the competition’s official channels, which consequently generated 70 million interactions. Impressively a host of new innovations were utilised, with the likes of Facebook streaming and the use of 360 degree photos/videos helping to drive an unprecedented amount of traffic towards UEFA’s flagship international tournament.