EVERYTHING BUT THE GAME

TitleEVERYTHING BUT THE GAME
BrandUNIBET
Product/ServiceONLINE BETTING
Category C06. Innovative Use of Social Media
Entrant BURSON COHN & WOLFE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation BURSON COHN & WOLFE Stockholm, SWEDEN
PR BURSON COHN & WOLFE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production BURSON COHN & WOLFE Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production 2 BARTOS MEDIA Nyköping, SWEDEN
Credits
Name Company Position
Mikael Åkerström BCW Account Executive
Axel Bringel BCW Creative Strategist
Oscar Forsman BCW Account manager
Jonas Eriksson BCW Key Account Manager
Sofia Skogquist BCW Art Director
Niklas Adamsson BCW Account coordinator
Oskar Lind BCW Account manager
Marie Marklund BCW Account manager
Linus Thunholm Bartos Media Photographer

Why is this work relevant for PR?

The work is relevant because we created a digital concept that had its core in earned media although its main channel was on Social Media. The campaign got massive spread through interactions and shared content, but also coverage in traditional media as in tv, newspapers.

Background

In anticipation of the Football World Cup, the whole world set its sights on Russia. It had been twelve long years since the Swedish National Team played in the Football World Cup and the media was bursting with excitement. And for betting companies, the Football World Cup was the most important sporting event they had seen in years. Everyone wanted a piece of the pie and the competition for media space was promising to be deathly fierce. Before and during the Football World Cup, it was the intention of the betting company Unibet to: 1. Find a way to make an impact despite of all the World Cup hype, without being an official sponsor 2. Strengthen its relationships with its existing customers 3. Expand their target group and reach more women

Describe the creative idea

The idea was to cover the world cup in a unique way. By doing what no one else was doing, that is, by skipping traditional game coverage/analysis and focusing on covering “everything but the game”, creating new social channels - and an influencer from scratch.

Describe the strategy

Leading up to and during the Fotball World Cup, consumers would be inundated with ads, not least from betting companies, and media space would be extremely tough to get. Unibet had to find a way to stick out from the crowd, strengthen customer relationships and expand their target group. With this in mind, a strategy to create their very own influencer began to take shape • Let a totally new influencer report on everything that was happening off the pitch in Russia. • Communicate primarily through Unibet’s own social channels to further enable real strengthening of customer relationships • Make the recruitment process and the influencer's preparations part of the campaign • Divide the campaign in three phases (recruitment, preparation, and on-site coverage) to maximize PR outreach opportunities • Use traditional PR and multiple social channels to further create attention for the campaign

Describe the execution

Phase 1 The website “World's best summer job” took applications for the position of Unibet's World Cup Correspondent. The ad was published on the largest recruitment sites in Sweden. The recruitment was spread on Unibet’s and football legend/ambassador Glenn Hysén’s social channels, and in traditional media. Andreas got the job! Phase 2 “Everything but the game” launched on Facebook and Instagram with videos of Andreas’ attempts to learn Russian and on how to become an influencer, in a collaboration with Sweden’s biggest influencer, Petra. The content was published on “Everything but the game” and in Petra’s, Glenn’s and Unibet’s channels. Phase 3 A gigantic fir tree was placed in the middle of Stockholm, to celebrate the team captain, “The Fir Tree”. The stunt spread in own and earned channels. In Russia Andreas’ World Cup adventures continued with videos like “Cultural Headbutts”, “Meet the Opponent” and “Russian for a Day”

List the results

Goal: Reach at least two million people through social media Result: 6.8 million Goal: A level of engagement of at least 15 percent for “Everything but the game” on FB and Instagram Result: 22.5 percent Goal: Reach at least 30 percent women through “Everything but the game” Result: The campaign reached 50 percent women Goal: Increase Unibet’s turnover by 10 percent compared to the same period the year before Result: The betting turnover increased by 20 percent And the following results were just icing on the cake: • 1.8 million videos viewed • 10 million people reached via traditional media • 23% increase in customers who actively bet on sports • 14% increase in new registrations on the site, evenly distributed between women and men • Andreas’ Unibet outfits were in such demand that a competition was announced where close to 1,000 people competed to win five Unibet hoodies.