This series, in partnership with Snack Media, will look at the best branded football campaigns from advertising to social media on a monthly basis as Digital Sport evaluates how the biggest names in business are using their partnerships in football to create stand-out content. 

Football is relentless & fans are consumed by it all the time, whether it be via the TV or scrolling through social media. What with the persistent nature of the sport, how do brands find a way to stand out from the crowd and deliver a content campaign more memorable and effective than the hundreds it competes with on a daily basis?

Here are 5 stand out pieces from the month of December.

1. Enterprise Europa Road trip with Robin van Persie

Enterprise, sponsors of UEFA’s second tier European competition, are putting their partnership to good use and inviting fans to enjoy a road trip to some of Europe’s most ‘obscure cities’. Enterprise, a car-rental company, are using their expertise to provide a travel experience for football fans like no other.

Four teams of fans will be sent on a road trip to compete head-to-head in a range of different and unique challenges. They’ll be driving Enterprise-rented cars and using Enterprise-branded equipment throughout their travels, which will provide great exposure for the company, especially with their logo stamped next to the very recognisable Europa League and UEFA logos too.

Click on the video below to understand more about the campaign being offered for football fans…

2. Paddy Power – The VAR Room

Paddy Power’s adverts are renowned for their comedic elements that cut through the typically serious nature of betting in sport and their stance on VAR is no different. In December, an advert on TV with the slogan “enough of the nonsense” went live as Paddy Power ridiculed the farcical nature of Video Assistant Referees. It was, as expected, very funny, but a little more digging into the matter will tell you that their ventures into ridiculing VAR are not new.

In 2018, a one minute campaign video was published depicting all the ‘different uses’ for VAR in everyday life, and then this December, a YouTube series of 1-2 minute video began to be published weekly titled ‘The VAR Room’.

The campaign is smart as their brand identity is apparent in the videos, with Irish characters and the PP logo appearing at the end of the short clip. Due to the short nature of the video, people are more likely to share it round to others who would find it funny. This creates a very natural exposure for Paddy Power and when you consider the nature of the content, it makes the brand really likeable and relatable, a trait that’s been true of their identity for a while.

3. Wolves Christmas Advert

Wolves used the Christmas spirit to show off their merchandise, kits and other Christmas gifts in December as they put together a video advert for their fanbase to enjoy. The ad shows young Tash in football, playing with some of Wolves’ best players, training with them and walking through the tunnel on game-day with them.

The ad does well to show in many subtle shots the vast amount of merchandise on offer to fans, but by using a young fan at the heart of the advert, helps to portray the club in a caring manner and delivering the messaging that the fans are the most important aspect of the club.

Not all football clubs make Christmas adverts, so to have made one that stands out and delivers a clear message and coherent story is a job well done.

4. JD Sport – #JDComesAlive

JDSport have serious competition around Christmas time. They’re predominantly renowned these days for their sports and culture wear, especially in the trainer department, as well as being known for understanding modern fashion and culture. That’s not to say that other high-street retailers don’t though, so the pressure to stand out is enormous.

Despite a rebrand in recent years going a long way toward helping JD’s identity, they still need to deliver standout marketing campaigns, and over Christmas they were able to do just that. By using footballers who are very much in the public eye in the world of football such as Virgil van Dijk, Wilfred Zaha and Jesse Lingard, the advert was always going to immediately catch the attention of viewers. Throw in other fashionable public figures and you’ve got a very engaging advert. It would have cost a lot of money to assemble the team, but it may have been worth it if it gets their brand noticed above Footasylum and others.

5. Sky Sports Football – 40 Live Games

Across Christmas, Sky gave us another great advert to wet our appetite for the festive football across December. Boxing Day football and the hectic sporting schedule makes the winter months incredibly fun for fans who can indulge in what seems to be a never ending stream of matches. Sky quite rightly promoted their vast number of 40 games shown live on their channel with all highlights to be available for free on YouTube as well.

With Amazon Prime debuting their OTT Premier League coverage this month, and BT Sport continuing to improve theirs as well, it was important that Sky made a statement with their Christmas promotion and showed why they’re still the kings of Christmas football and sport coverage in general. Their latest advert tapped into all our favourite things about the winter football months by looking at some of the best players, stadiums, different leagues, pundits and celebrations of the fans in the stands, which is then concluded with a shot of perhaps the hottest players in the Premier League right, Kevin De Bruyne. It certainly hit the right notes with regards to the excitement for the holidays and Christmas.

This article was sponsored by Snack Media, which is a leading independent sports digital media company with over 30m sports fans. They specialise in multi-channel content creation, distributed at scale. Through data driven engagement strategies Snack Media creates authentic connections between brands & fans. To find out how Snack Media can connect your brand with 30m sports fans, contact rupert@snack-media.com.