The Creative Side of Sponsorship in Football in 2023

Today, as sponsorship activations in football increasingly go beyond the simple implementation of visibility and embrace the space of creativity, it is interesting to look at what new forms sponsorship activations in football are taking.

New segments of sponsors in football, like streaming video and audio services, given their essence, nurture clubs with creative ideas by default. Partners such as Paramount + or Spotify are a real treasure trove for those responsible for sponsorship activations.

In one of the recent games of FC Internazionale Milano against Udinese Calcio, Paramount Pictures ' sponsorship of the club was used to celebrate the Transformers film series - instead of the Paramount+ logo fans could notice the logo of Transformers. As a part of the tribute to the film saga, Optimus Prime and Bumblebee welcomed the Nerazzuri onto the pitch and waved to the fans during half-time. The heroes were also part of Inter Women’s game against U.C. Sampdoria at the Arena Civica. It is worth noting that this action was also of a social nature - the club donated some of the kits to children from the pediatric wards of various hospitals in Milan, and all the proceeds from the auction on eBay, where the players' shirts were presented, were also donated to charity.

A promo video was created for the cause as if transforming the warriors on the field and in the multiverse into one unified team.

Memories throw us back to the 2004/2005 season at Atlético de Madrid when the club occasionally advertised the movie releases of their sponsor Columbia Pictures from time to time: Spiderman: No Way Home, xXx, Men in Black, and Bad Boys.?

Another streaming service that provides a good ground for creative brains is Spotify . Together with FC Barcelona , they made artists like Rolling Stones, Drake, and Rosalia a part of the recent El Clásicos. The club replaced the world’s most popular audio streaming service logo with the aforementioned artists’ logos and made matchday playlists consisting of their songs on various occasions such as hitting 50 billion Spotify streams(Drake), paying tribute to the iconic Tongue and Lips logo as a way to promote the group’s recent album(“Hackney Diamonds” by The Rolling Stones) or being the most streamed Spanish artist on Spotify in 2022(Rosalia from Catalonia).?

To show the effect of such activations is enough to mention that after the announcement of the Tongue and Lips logo appearing on the Clasico shirts, average daily streams of The Rolling Stones on Spotify jumped by more than 125% compared to the day before.?

The respective kits were worn during the march of FC Barcelona Femenino during their home match.

Speaking of the current champions of Liga F . At the end of 2022, Mexican multinational food company Grupo Bimbo became the main sponsor of FC Barcelona Femení. This is the first time for the company to sponsor a women's football team. For the two parties, the strategic focus of this alliance "is to support women's talent and equality, promote healthy nutrition and lifestyles, and promote young talent".

A few months after the partnership kicked off, Grupo Bimbo released a commercial carrying a message of determination, equality, commitment, and devotion to dreams.

This year, PSV and 飞利浦 celebrated the 110th anniversary of their partnership, becoming the longest-running sports sponsorship in the world and being recognised by Guinness World Record as such. Two Eindhoven city symbols paid tribute to their more than century-long bond with a unique video starring the late Frits Philips, who led the company from 1961 to 1971 and was a big fan of the club, attending its matches even at 100.?

By celebrating such an amazing milestone with a video its creators could touch upon the positive shifts and incorporations that the club and the city have seen recently - Brainport Eindhoven , a world-class technology region as a partner of the club, the transition of Philips from being the largest electronics companies in the world to a company mainly focused on health technology, and finally, the club’s loyalty and respect to its history and heroes.?

From gymnastics sessions to kicking the ball, from being bullied by boys to beating them, birthday boots kicking off the upcoming career, and a fruit trick in the market that turned into a professional football … As part of his partnership with Liga BBVA MX Femenil started this year, 耐克 took the stories of Liga’s stars Lizbeth Ovalle, Alisson González, Nancy Antonio, and Karla Nieto and framed them by Rebecca Bernal’s press conference with the answer to the question “How long are you going to keep losing?” - “Until losing everything ... losing everything that prevents you from winning.”?

Having a track record of partnership with the United States as well as European professional leagues, with this partnership, Nike has expanded its geographical reach in terms of influence on women's football. The cornerstone of the partnership between Nike and Liga BBVA MX Femenil is “to serve Mexico’s female footballers with product innovation and investment in development programs” and this commercial genuinely embodies the essence of this alliance.?

After all the talks, discussions and, of course, efforts to make football an increasingly solid industry, we still come to the eternal truth - football is about players "ready to give their lives to win" and devoted fans "ready to keep cheering at every match."

It was these two essentials that formed the basis of the new campaign of Malaga-based beer company Cerveza Victoria and Real Federación Espa?ola de Fútbol , "Comunicado", to announce the extension of their partnership until 2026 earlier this year. In the role of the announcer, the creators have chosen Fernando Torres, one of the legends of the victorious era of the Spanish national team who also starred in the campaign "El discurso de todo un país" in 2022 in the frames of the same partnership.

In the video showcasing the victorious moments of the team and fans from various parts of Spain giving tribute to the players and promising a lifelong commitment, the star of La Furia Roja highlights the new clause - "the players of the national team declare the following commitment: to give our lives to achieve victory."

As the previous video, this one was directed by Santiago Zannou, winner of the 2009 Goya Award.

We have witnessed many great comebacks in football history, seeing the result of emotional turnovers in the dressing rooms during half-time. But what if the speeches made during halftime could change not only the course of football matches but also the environment??

This was the idea behind the campaign from Manchester City Football Club and Xylem , a global leader in developing innovative water solutions through smart technology.

Xylem is one of the companies contributing to the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the basis of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted in 2015. One of the goals Xylem is dedicated to achieving is Goal #6 - Clean Water and Sanitation.

In 2018 the Citizens teamed up with Xylem signing a partnership agreement to raise awareness about pressing global water challenges and solutions.?And as the passing year marks the halfway of the Agenda, the current champions, together with their partner, decided to demonstrate the importance of personal responsibility for the environment by emphasising the impact of observations at halftime and the commitment to do much more in the second half.

All of the above and many other examples show that football is on the way to a comprehensive capitalisation of its creative potential. The emergence of the new position of creative director in clubs is clear evidence of this. And, in terms of sponsorship, apart from many other indicators a solid appearance based on the element of creativity, will make football entities more and more appealing to potential sponsors.