Brylcreem - Soccer AM Sponsorship:-
Soccer AM is the Saturday-morning football show with a difference. Showing on Sky Sports, it delivers an eclectic mix of football, comedy and entertainment. During the football season Soccer AM is on every Saturday morning from 9am until noon. Brylcreem out-bid several other brands to become sponsors of Soccer AM from the beginning of the 2005/06 football season and has since extended the relationship to cover the 06/07 season. As evidenced in the quote from Julie Baker, Sara Lee saw Soccer AM as the perfect vehicle - an association that gives Brylcreem the opportunity to reach a large group of young male viewers with humorous and engaging content.
OBJECTIVES
- To improve Brylcreem's image and awareness amongst core 16-30 male target audience
- To convey the brand values of: confidence building, fashionable, modern and credible
- To leverage heritage with sport and particularly football
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The Campaign
The sponsorship deal includes the ‘Soccer AM' Saturday morning 3 hour show as well as ‘Soccer AM Best Bits', a highlights show that can be found on Sky Sports during the week, in both the on and off season.
The sponsorship campaign has been created around "Davy Todd and his fantastic looking hair". Initially Davy was followed around in his daily life by a group of his own cheering supporters, marvelling at his great hair. In the most recent creative for the 2006/07 season, Davy and his hair now have their own personal commentator. Both sets of credits were created in-house by Sky Creative Agency.
Insights
Research was conducted among 16-30 year old males (both regular Soccer AM viewers and non-viewers). The research was designed to evaluate sponsorship fit, awareness, purchase intent, and the communication of brand values.
Sponsorship Fit
The choice of Soccer AM gave Brylcreem the demographic and age range they were trying to reach - as well as a way to extend their association with football. Soccer AM's 37% 16-34 audience (vs 23% total TV homes) and 59% ABC1 (vs 42% total TV homes) audience was perfect for Brylcreem.
Before the campaign, 43% thought that Brylcreem had good advertising, the post wave research showed the positive effect - a 42% uplift to 61%.
Awareness
When asked what male hair products sponsoring anything on TV they could recall, 54% of Soccer AM viewers mentioned Brylcreem, this compares to just 9% of non-viewers.
Brand Values
The communication of brand values is key to Brylcreem Of particular note is that, after the sponsorship had taken place, the perception of Brylcreem as a ‘fashionable' brand increased by 33%.
Purchase Intent
Among Soccer AM viewers, 57% said they were "likely" to buy Brylcreem in the future with 28% of those "very likely" to purchase. Interestingly 16% of viewers claim that they are already regular users of Brylcreem products.
Extending the Association
Due to the success of the sponsorship, Brylcreem have been able to develop the association ‘off air'. A new range of Brylcreem sports products have been produced - including hair and shower gel which carry the Soccer AM branding.
Meeting the Objectives
By completely understanding the editorial environment of Soccer AM and thus creating sponsorship credits that appeal to the young, upmarket cult following that this programme has developed - Brylcreem has met all of its initial objectives. The year-round presence has afforded the scope to communicate a variety of messages, whilst at the same time allowing enough exposure to ensure each is adequately conveyed.
‘‘Soccer AM is a great natural partnership for Brylcreem; not least in the synergy between the show's viewer demographics and our own user profiles, but more importantly in the tone and humour of the show that is in keeping with the down to earth, British style of Brylcreem."
Julie Baker - UK Marketing Director, Sara Lee International
