With Euro 2016 now heading to the semi final stage, brands, both official sponsors and non-sponsors, will be seeking every last opportunity to get their brand, logo, product in front of the eyes of viewers and attendees.
For me one of the winners of the branding battle taking place off the pitch in France is a company who’s name you’ve not actually seen. Carlsberg, the Danish Beer, has not used it’s name on any of the pitch side advertising and have instead gone with it’s iconic “Probably” marketing slogan, one that it incredibly ditched in 2011, only to realise how powerful it was and subsequently bring it back.
With the eyes of the world on the tournament it takes a very brave approach to not show your logo off to millions of viewers worldwide but thanks to years of brand development and a consistent marketing messages being portrayed, the company have managed to stand out from the rest of the pitch side advertisers, whilst still achieving brand recognition.
When people think of what makes a brand they too often think it’s just a logo, far too many times you see “rebrands”, even by massive companies, that are basically just a new logo. The best brands in the world, understand that it’s a whole mix of things from packaging to emotions that make a brand, and thus create great marketing as they understand themselves and their customers. The likes of Coca Cola, Red Bull and Paddy Power are great exponents of this and provide a consistent brand image which has seen them grown to be leaders.
So what makes a brand? For me it’s these things below.
- Brand is your calls to action.
- Brand is the way you speak
- Brand is the emotions you provoke
- Brand is your people.
- Brand is the whole array of your communication tools
A brand is more than a logo!
Which brands have stood out for you at Euro 2016? Is it the official sponsors or have the likes of Nike done a better job than official sponsor Adidas and hijacked the event?