THE MATCH

TitleTHE MATCH
BrandSKY DEUTSCHLAND FERNSEHEN
Product/ServiceSKY FOOTBALL BUNDESLIGA PACKAGE
Category B02. Use of Mobile Devices
Entrant Company SERVICEPLAN Munich, GERMANY
Advertising Agency SERVICEPLAN Munich, GERMANY
Advertising Agency 2 PLAN.NET Munich, GERMANY
Media Agency MEDIAPLUS Munich, GERMANY
Production Company NEVEREST Munich, GERMANY
Production Company 2 TRO GMBH Duesseldorf, GERMANY
Credits
Name Company Position
Alexander Schill Serviceplan Chief Creative Officer
Matthias Harbeck Serviceplan Executive Creative Director
Sandra Loibl Serviceplan Creative Director
Thorsten Voigt Serviceplan Creative Director
Valerie Koch Serviceplan Copywriter
Thomas Heckenberger Serviceplan Art Director
Damian Sturm Serviceplan Art Director/Screendesign
Katrin Eberbach Serviceplan Account Supervisor
Florian Franz Serviceplan Account Director
Franz Roeppischer Serviceplan Creative Innovation Director
Lorenz Langgartner Serviceplan Creative Innovation Director
Niels Verhaag hmmh multimediahaus Programmer
Roman Prochnow Neverest Agency Producer Film/Director
Nicola Boehm Neverest Creative Producer
Anett Gruenbeck Neverest Creative Producer
Martin Bierbaum Neverest Editor
Christian Hirschhaeuser Freelancer DoP
Cristian Weisemoeller Freelancer DoP

Brief Explanation

For the match Bremen vs Hamburger SV, the divisions between the fans are deep and the tickets for the stadium very sought-after. The task was creating a promotion communicating the football product offering of Sky enabling fans without stadium tickets to watch the 'Nordderby' live on site. This was achieved via a mobile microsite which halved the live TV screen: one half for Bremen supports – one half for Hamburg supporters. At the end of the match fans received an offer for Sky’s Pay per View product offering at a reduced price and could also sign up for the Sky newsletter.

Results and Effectiveness

"The Match" was trend topic on Twitter and Facebook. National football blogs, newspapers and TV channels reported, overall the promotion generated an unpaid media volume of about 5.1 million Euros. The number of subscribers of the Sky football packages increased significantly after the promotion to 7.8 percent. Already after the match the participants were able to subscribe to a Sky football offer for a reduced price and sign up for the newsletter. The emotional result of the promotion was most important: Divisions between opposing fans were bridged, the joint viewing experience was more important than traditional rivalries.

Creative Execution

Via a mobile microsite fans were able to watch the match live outside of the stadium. At a Bremen promotion stall fans were able to scan a QR Code getting them to a microsite. Here one half of the screen of the match Werder vs Hamburg was streamed to the fans' mobiles. At the Hamburg promotion stall a QR code for Hamburg supporters to stream their part of the half of the screen in turn. The goal was to team up supporters of both teams who would place their smartphones next to each other and watch the 'Nordderby' together.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

In Germany, only Sky broadcasts all Bundesliga matches live. Fans who looked for some last available tickets before the match and have not been able to get any usually remain outside of the stadium in disappointment. Sky enabled these fans to watch the match for free on their mobiles. And only together with a fan of the opposing team.