#22
Under the Clean Site Principle, the UEFA marketing team located in Breda has been working to make all visual elements comply with the established rights.
It would be useless to sign sponsorship deals with brands such as Adidas or Carlsberg and, during match days, their brands were not present in the stadium. Thus, the Clean Site Principle has been implemented to ensure the following points:
- WEURO 2017. As an international tournament, all facilities must show their the corresponding visual signs that allow attendees to obtain the necessary information. For example, sketches illustrating the location of stands sectors, parkings, toilets, official merchandising stores or food&beverages concessions. On the other hand, this principle also looks after the image of the competition itself, providing UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 brand with premium spaces such as the stadium facade, the press backdrop or the advertising boards on the pitch.
- Partners. It is the moment of truth, where details can put the renewal of the contract in risk. The visibility of each sponsor according to its hierarchy must be protected to the last consequences. Outside the Rat Verlegh Stadion of Breda, a big post showing Carlsberg branding welcomes fans. Near the mobile foodtrucks and the entrances to the stadium, Intersport is in charge of commercialising the official merchandising and KIA is also present to offer entertainment, like the calculation of the kick speed. Inside the stadium, brands such as McDonald’s, Turkish Airlines or Hisense are present on pitch-side boards. As seen, some brands aim to maximise their impact on present spectators and others focus on increasing TV awareness.
- Competitors. Tournaments like WEURO 2017 host their games in non-property stadiums, being owned by clubs, city councils or other entities. Therefore, the visibility of clubs sponsors in the stadium must be analyzed in detail in order to not to generate any conflict among their sponsors and the ones of the tournament. For instance, NAC Breda was sponsored by the Dutch brewing brand Bavaria, being Carlsberg competition. For this reason, the conditioning and elimination of visual signs is crucial to protect partners’ rights. On the other hand, the non-competition brands that reduces official sponsors exposure are also taken into account and either eliminated or minimised.
- Ambush Marketing. As seen in a previous post, the presence of opportunistic brands pretending to associate illegally to the image of the competition is usual in major sports events. Probably, due to the growth phase of women’s football and the efficient protection of sponsors’ rights, no brands with Ambush Marketing practices have been detected in any game.
From my experience in WEURO 2017, compliance with the Clean Site Principle is one of the most demanding but interesting tasks, since hundreds of spaces of different types come into play. Our function, protect, activate and strengthen partners return of investment.