McDonald’s Euro 2012 Passion Meter is a pan-European digital campaign asking fans from across the continent to demonstrate their passion for the sport.
The campaign, which is the fast food brand’s marketing spearhead for its official sponsorship of UEFA’s Euro 2012 international football tournament, aims to discover which of Europe’s football fans are the most passionate.
The campaign mechanic is fairly simple. Supporters are invited to record a cheer in support of their national team via webcam. In July, at the end of the competition, the nation with the most passionate fans, as recorded by the online and physical ‘passion meters’, will be rewarded.
The initiative includes both a Facebook app and smartphone apps for both iPhone and Android handsets that enable fans to share their own cheer video with friends online. The aim of this feature is to try and drive viral spread of the campaign.
The digital ‘Passion Meter’ phase launched in early June and was followed by an experiential activation element at ‘fan zones’ in Kiev (Ukraine) and Warsaw (Poland) once the matches get underway.
Country-specific web films have been seeded online to create awareness an interest and drive viewers to the passion meter site online.
The objective of this part of McDonald’s wider Euro 2012 campaign is to help the brand connect with young adults. This widens the demographic targeting of much of its other work, which has typically focused on the family audience through elements such as its Player Escort Programme which offers kids the chance to walk on to the pitch with start players at the beginning of matches.
This pan-European ‘passion’ work is also running alongside country-specific campaigns led by a Leo Burnett TVC launching its new football-themed Championship Menu – which includes the Cheese & Bacon Striker and the Chicken Maestro burgers.
McDonald’s has been an official partner of UEFA’s Euro Championships since 1992 and its activation of these rights in this year’s Poland and Ukraine tournament aims to offer a range of ways for fans and families.
Other initiatives include backing the official UEFA Euro 2012 Fantasy Football competition which runs on the organising body’s own website (echoing a similar initiative the fast food chain ran to leverage its FIFA World Cup 2010 rights).
See http://en.euro2012fantasy.uefa.com/
Also, on McDonald’s Facebook page is another Euro 20112 game-led initiative called The Great Playoff. It features a set of online games for children included ‘Crowdy Catch’, ‘Hero Or Zero’ and ‘Mexican Wave’.
See https://www.facebook.com/McDonaldsUK/app_398226103535245
Comments:
The brand will hope this array of tactical campaigns will allow it to tap into the European and worldwide coverage of the championship, which UEFA predicts will rival FIFA’s World Cup and draw an average of 150 million fans per match.
‘Fan passion’ ought to be safe ground for an official partner – after all, isn’t that what good sponsorship is meant to be based on?
The challenge on this occasion is that McDonald’s isn’t the only Euro 2012 partner that has chosen this overt ‘passion’ theme for its activation.
For example, Sharp’s ‘Fan Labs’ initiative is also built around measuring and analysing fan passion, while Coca-Cola’s own work in the form of its Coke Zero and EA ‘Challenge Europe’ collaboration is also testing fans’ love for the sport (and giving them a chance to with tickets to the Euro 2012 final by describing their passion for the beautiful game).
Thus ‘fan passion’ is a crowded (overcrowded?) Euro 2012 space and standing out through such messages is a real challenge for these brands.
Which begs the question, is this the result of too much information sharing between official partners or too little?
Links:
http://www.passionmeter-mcdonalds.com
http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/passion-meter-mcdonalds-euro/id529541115?mt=8
http://en.euro2012fantasy.uefa.com/
https://www.facebook.com/McDonaldsUK/app_398226103535245
http://www.mcdonalds.co.uk/ukhome/Sport/Football/Inspiration/uefa-euro-2012.html
http://www.ea.com/uk/football/1/euro12-coke-challenge
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