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Sport Sponsorship Analysis; A Case Study of Heineken and UEFA Champion League Heineken has been in partnership with the UEFA Champions League for almost thirty years since 1994 with the brand name Amstel. UEFA Champion League which is Europe’s best men’s football competition club has always uplifted the football culture and industry by uniting its fans as they enjoy the scheduled games. The international brewing company, Heineken has always supported the company's mission for thirty years and was more than glad to announce an extension of the sponsorship for three more years, ending in 2027 ("Home," 2023). Since the initial games at Hampden Park to Istanbul, Heineken has ensured that the beautiful moments are treasured and remembered enough by the football fanatics ("Home," 2023). Heineken has shown its support for the competition through different activations and stunts that fans remember for so many years after the events. The main focus of the sponsorship from Heineken is to ensure that the people who enjoy the competitions come together and create beautiful memories as they watch. Heineken promotes the equality and inclusivity agenda in every campaign they start and activate. For instance, the "Cheers to all Fans" campaign was aimed at ensuring that both the men's and women's league competitions were fully and equally supported as they proceeded when the competitions began in 2022 ("Home," 2023). Also, the brand invests in ensuring that the fans feel included by having to experience the special trophies moved to their countries across the globe ("Home," 2023). Through such campaigns, both the players, fans and the public in general understand that the two genders can equally benefit from and enjoy football. The campaigns have a ripple effect on the sales of the Heineken brand as millions of fans across the world buy the drinks and enjoy them as they experience the excitement that comes with the games. Strategic Alignment Since it was founded, Heineken has supported the spirit of togetherness in its products, to be able to put smiles on the consumers' faces as they rebrand or renew some of the products. The company's purpose is to ensure that when two or more people come together to enjoy their beer, they get to create memories that will last them a lifetime. To fight the loneliness that the modern culture has created, one can feel comfortable enough to take a seat at a table and enjoy with others and make the world feel less isolated. The same goal transcends into the brand's marketing and business goals. The brand's marketing strategies are centered on the interests of the consumers and customers. What better way to achieve consumer-centered business and marketing than engaging with the real consumers at their location? In the same way, people gather to enjoy a bottle of beer at a bar, they also meet to watch some of their favorite players compete in different UEFA league competitions (UEFA.com, 2023). To merge the two, beer and football is to elevate the experience both, to help people attach special memories to the moments they spend watching the games. The renewal of the sponsorship was based on the success of the previous contract which brought in more consumers to the Heineken brand (UEFA.com, 2023). Since there will be more matches in the new sponsorship, the brand can use the new plan to attract even more and retain the loyal consumers already gained ("Age gate - THC," n.d.). Football sponsorship greatly affects the brand image and loyalty to a great extent. Therefore, most companies that want to rapidly promote their brand will turn to sponsorships to do so. Heineken invests billions of money in their sponsorship campaigns and they end up making a lot more from it compared to other marketing techniques (Grimaldi, 2014). Most fans who attend the competitions and are fully knowledgeable of the sponsorship status, tend to attach the quality of the experiences they had to the brand (Grimaldi, 2014). In most cases, the brand's goal of creating a good image is achieved through proper strategies in place. consumers also tend to have some level of awareness of the brand's products and associate themselves with it from the experiences they had (Grimaldi, 2014). Activation Strategies One of the most impactful activation strategies employed by Heineken in its sponsorship with the UEFA Champions League was the "Cheers to all fans" campaign they held during the 20122 competitions. The strategy was almost similar to the current "Cheers To The Real Hardcore Fans” strategy that they currently launched to change the meaning of hardcore fans. Since the name can sometimes be associated with the rowdy group of people who sometimes mess up a watching experience, Heineken is set to change that reputation by celebrating the real hardcore fans. Heineken sets aside seats for the real hardcore fans during one of the competitions after which they get to enjoy a weekend getaway. Also, in 2023, Heineken invested funds in ensuring that twelve cities got to watch the Champions League.	The goal of the activation strategies is to get as many members of the target audience as possible to interact with the brand. To ensure the brand is immersed in the audience, people get to interact with it and create an impact through sales and a positive image and reputation (Grimaldi, 2014). The platform the brand has is the medium that they use to communicate what they are all about to even build on their credibility (Ganton, 2011). They get the attention of an international audience and the longer the sponsorship lasts, the harder it will be to separate the brand from its partners (Ganton, 2011). There is a lot of power in the sponsorship of global events for spreading any brand's identity and product and building on a wider market. Metrics and Measurement The most common Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for sponsorship is usually the amount of money made out of the entire sponsorship program against that which was invested in it, usually referred to as the return on investment. This is common since the goal of every business is to make profits by increasing sales through marketing. The other metric is brand recognition which can be looked at by the new audience that the sponsorship has attracted, whether that is on the social media platforms or purchases. The number of additional people who want to interact with the brand can also act as a KPI, usually referred to as lead generation. Through the Cheers to All Fans campaign, Heineken was able to achieve approximately twenty-eight percent of the women in senior posts. The net revenue generated by Heineken has been on the rise since 2020 and reached a high of more than thirty thousand million euros in 2023 from the previous twenty-eight thousand million euros recorded in 2022 increasing their operating profits to four thousand four hundred and forty-three million of euros in 2023 ("Age gate - THC," n.d.). Consumer Engagement The campaign such as “Cheers to all Fans” was a campaign that was to push for gender equality. In doing that, Heineken agreed to work with female photographers across the world to capture a majority of the female faces who truly support soccer. Women who make up about fifty percent of the total football fans, were so delighted to be engaged in the campaign as they got to experience the beauty of different faces of emotions captured during the competitions ("We're 150 years old this year). The campaign created a sense of being seen and recognized among the female fans and that created such a positive image for the brand at the time. 	The images form part of the user-generated content that Heineken as a brand posts on its website for the consumers to engage with. Since the photos were part of the campaign and therefore fully sponsored, the fans can easily be moved to interact with the brand and be part of the agenda they are trying to push. Also, by sponsoring some of the activities like getaways for their hardcore fans, they get easy interactions with the true fans who show interest not just in the games but also in the brand sponsoring their good time. Through their website pages, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube where they post content regularly, they give their audience a chance to engage with them in an almost direct manner even though they could be worlds apart. Challenges and Opportunities The conversation about drinking responsibly is often met with a lot of controversies. Even in their sponsorship as a marketing strategy, Heineken has to face what the law dictates regarding alcohol. Just like any other alcoholic brand, Heineken faces and will continue to face strict rules in its advertisement techniques in different countries. Even after restricting the advertisement of the product for specific times, sponsored sports still face controversies since they market alcoholic drinks (Kölking et al., 2016). The brand has faced questions on whether they consider the fact that minors might start their drinking habits at an early age when they interact with such content at an early age (Kölking et al., 2016). For adults watching the sponsored football leagues, research showed that they tend to consume more alcohol since they have at least ninety minutes of seeing the brand on their screens. Such remarks and conclusions may alter the image and reputation the brand is trying to build for itself. Heineken has made an effort to manufacture zero or low-sugar beers to try and deal with the issues of overdrinking that they have been forced to address. However, it would be beneficial to ensure that they take up education and create awareness of the dangers of overconsumption of their products. While their business goal focuses on attracting more people and ensuring more sales, they need to create an even better brand image by constantly advocating for responsible drinking, even during the competitions they line up. The majority of consumers would want to pay more attention to the messages they have on overdrinking if they tend to struggle with it. It would be impactful to the brand and also to the individual consumers who are to be protected by the rules set up in most of the nations served by the brand. References Age gate - THC. (n.d.). The HEINEKEN Company. https://www.theheinekencompany.com/our-brands Age gate - THC. (n.d.). The HEINEKEN Company. https://www.theheinekencompany.com/our-company/our-2023-annual-report Ganton, K. (2011). Heineken NV: Strategic Global Brand Management as. Grimaldi, M. (2014). The effect of sports sponsorship on brand awareness, corporate image, and brand association. Doctoral dissertation, Dublin Business School. Home. (2023, September 19). The HEINEKEN Company. https://www.theheinekencompany.com/newsroom/brewing-success-heineken-renews-long-standing-relationship-with-uefa-champions-league/ Kölking, L., Van der Waal, G., & Van Dalen, W. (2016). Heineken all over. Linked in, 12. UEFA.com. (2023, September 19). Heineken renews UEFA Champions League sponsorship. https://www.uefa.com/returntoplay/news/0285-1903b1626cf7-a8bd7ea68b5c-1000--heineken-renews-uefa-champions-league-sponsorship/ We're 150 years old this year. (n.d.). We're 150 years old this year. https://www.heineken.com/us/en/campaigns/cheers-to-all-fans