Enhance experiences
Lear highlighted that the last major international football tournament, Euro 2016, saw an extra 31m pints consumed in the month that games were played.
This, combined with the fact that World Cup sponsor Budweiser noted a 35% sales increase during the course of the most recent tournament in Brazil, highlights the huge impact international football’s flagship events can have on sales.
With this level of engagement, this summer’s World Cup provides drinks brands and pubs with a significant opportunity to provide fans with unique experiences.
Fans' experience is vital
Lear increasingly finds that sponsorship of sporting events is no longer about signage and logos emblazoned on stadiums – it’s paramount that brands create an experience for fans that they will talk favourably of later among their friends and fellow sports fans.
“Technology is changing things, bringing greater experiences and providing greater results.”
Lear talked through a number of examples of technology being harnessed by drinks brands to deliver unique, engaging and shareable experiences with fans.
Doom Bar and the British and Irish Lions
In 2017, Cambourne rugby club, Cornwall, recreated a 1924 fixture between the All Blacks and a Cornish select side for a four-part video series in association with Doom Bar and Sharp's Brewery.
Lear outlined that this was part of bringing the Great British & Irish Lions' experience to fans who couldn’t make the trip to New Zealand for the tour.
An integral part of this partnership was creating a platform to help fans find a Sharp's Brewery pub to watch a game at 8am in the morning.
Guinness and the Six Nations
The aim of this partnership was to drive footfall via traditional out-of-home media with a digital twist. It included providing fans with directions to the nearest pub, relaying what time games were showing and where to watch. This promoted Guinness's app, offers and drove sales in venue.
Bud Light and the NFL
Lear highlighted Bud Light's touchdown glasses as a means of replicating a stadium atmosphere at home or in the pub. Fans are given glasses connected to a mobile app that light up whenever the team they've registered as their favourite scores a touchdown – allowing fans to celebrate like they're in the arena.
A similar innovation, Budweiser's red light – a wall-mounted red, flashing light that, like the touchdown glasses, flashes whenever a registered team scores – was highlighted by Lear as another way in which pubs, especially those affiliated to a specific team, can replicate a stadium atmosphere and ensure fans never miss a goal.
XXXX and Cricket Australia
Once consumers bought a crate of Castlemaine XXXX beer they would get a free 'goldie' cap on a mobile app. Customers would then be able to connect with other friends with the cap. The more people they link with, the higher the chance they get of winning one of 6,000 cricket related prizes.
The common denominator
Lear outlined that mobile, being the common theme in each of the examples of drinks brand fan innovation that he gave, was an essential platform for creating unique fan experience.
According to Lear, there will be 2.5bn smartphone users by the end of 2019, with mobile, push, notifications seeing open rates 10 times higher than emails.
Moreover, 41% of all media time is currently taken up by mobile and mobile apps.
Creating a two-way conversation
Lear discussed how harnessing mobile was key in creating a two-way conversation between sports fans and the action unfolding.
As an example of this, Lear mentioned work InCrowd has done with Sky in order to connect rugby league fans with the game.
At around the 60-minute mark, fans watching a live game are asked to vote for their man of the match through the Rugby Football League app. With 20 minutes of the game remaining, a live feed shows voting percentages in real time so that conversations can take place around which way the votes are going, or commentators can potentially discuss the unfolding vote during coverage.
A similar model has been adopted in football stadiums by Heineken and Foster's. Fans receive a push notification 15 minutes before the end of a game asking them to vote for their man of the match. In exchange for their vote, fans receive a voucher for a beer at one of the stadium bars or at a local pub.
While man of the match voting is the leading early example of getting sports fans involved with what's unfolding on screen, Lear also mentioned the possibility of introducing more predictors and goal of the month voting in exchange for drinks vouchers to make brand engagement a rewarding experience for pub-going fans.