2021 Brand Experience & Activation

MADE BY DENMARK

TitleMADE BY DENMARK
BrandHUMMEL
Product/ServiceOFFICIAL DENMARK FOOTBALL JERSEY
Category E02. Sponsorship & Brand Partnership
Entrant ENVISION Aarhus, DENMARK
Idea Creation ENVISION Aarhus, DENMARK
PR GEELMUYDEN KIESE Copenhagen, DENMARK
Production ENVISION Aarhus, DENMARK
Production 2 M2FILM Århus, DENMARK
Production 3 GORM AGENCY Frederiksberg, DENMARK
Credits
Name Company Position
Rasmus Saaby Bentzen Envision Creative
Peter Boe Envision Creative
Tomas Olesen Envision Planner
Jesper Herholt Envision Designer
Jacob Jagd Engberg Envision Creative
Charlotte Scheel Envision Project Manager
Casper Lind Envision Shooting Director
Bjarke Hvorslev Envision Editor
Rasmus Pilgaard M2 Film Director
Morten Lund hummel Marketing Manager
Jonas Skovborg Johansen hummel Marketing Project Manager

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

This work is about a piece of polyester! Also known as a football shirt. A piece of polyester made so meaningful and relevant – and branded – that we captured the attention of an entire nation and created record sales of the new Denmark jersey for the UEFA EURO 2020.

Background

After a year of empty stadiums, Denmark was going to the UEFA EURO 2020 and Danish sports brand hummel wanted to create the ultimate jersey for the team and fans. A jersey that: 1. Celebrated the strong sense of community in football. 2. Became a must-have for all fans of the Denmark team. 3. Achieved all of the above through an idea designed to earn media. The sense of community in football, and sports in general, is an integral part of the hummel brand as stated in the payoff: "Share The Game". At the same time, a new official Denmark jersey holds extremely high sales potential and especially so when the team is going to a huge tournament. In other words, the job was twofold: Strengthen hummel's position as the social sports brand using the EURO 2020 as leverage. And make the most of a unique sales potential.

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

Standing united, singing your heart out, is the essence of being a football fan – just like sharing and togetherness is the essence of the hummel brand. So, the idea was to find a way of transforming this moment of unity among football fans into a new official Denmark jersey. We didn't just want the fans to co-create the jersey. We wanted them to sing the jersey! And make the jersey an image of their support and devotion. So, one of the last times fans filled the Danish national stadium in Copenhagen, pre-corona, we turned it into a massive recording studio and captured the roar of 35,000 fans singing together. Afterwards, we converted the sound of togetherness into a unique sound wave and then into red fabric – very much like a 3D printer of emotions. And created a jersey with the echo of fans in every single fibre.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Football fans buy football shirts no matter what, right? Just do a new one and they'll buy it, regardless of design or marketing. Well, yes and no. A small group of hard-core fans and football shirt aficionados buy all shirts. But a small group is not enough to reach the full sales potential of a new official shirt for the national Danish football team. Far from it. So, hummel had to find a way to make the new shirt a must-have for all Danish football fans upon its release in early Spring 2021. At the same time, hummel wanted to stand out as the social sports brand who truly understands the strong sense of community within football. To achieve this, the strategy was fairly simple: Don't tell the fans they're important – show them, involve them, co-create with them!

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

Almost two years before launch, a film crew was hired to document the making of the jersey. When sound specialists rigged Denmark’s national stadium with state-of-the-art microphones and recording gear, every single detail was filmed for later use in the launch. Also, one of Denmark’s most important media houses, TV2, was invited to follow the process exclusively to ensure an extended coverage on all platforms. Two weeks before launch, PR specialists started informing a large number of different TV and radio shows, news sites and lifestyle magazines about the new jersey and under strict news embargos video footage, photos and quotes from national players were shared. In collaboration with editors and journalists, we invited suitable guests to participate in TV and radio shows. All of them informed about the story behind the jersey. Finally, we dropped a 2 minute launch film on Facebook, targeted all Danish football fans.

List the results (30% of vote)

hummel powerfully cemented the position as the social sports brand that celebrates the great community of sport. The fans, on the other hand, got to leave their mark on the official shirt – and buy a unique jersey which is also a statement t-shirt about the invaluable importance of their support. Furthermore, the new jersey was the story of the day in Danish television and various social media. And not least, the shirt made record sales for a new Denmark jersey. Sales: 163% – compared to record sales in 2018 (FIFA World Cup-jersey)