UEFA Champions League: optimising the impact of global sponsorships

The goal of our UEFA Champions League research study is to provide actionable insights into the true impact of the sponsorship. Our insights prove the impact that the sponsorship has on the development of brand strength and ROI. On top of that, we enable UEFA Champions League sponsors to make the right strategic choices regarding sponsorship activation, which results in more successful campaigns. The insights allow sponsors to identify opportunities for growth and help them to get the most out of their sponsorship investment.

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Partners

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Currently we work with Heineken, PepsiCo, Nissan, FedEx and PlayStation (Sony) on UEFA Champions League sponsorship research. From next season, we will add two new sponsors to that list. Sponsors benefit from more than 20 year of experience, strong expertise, a large amount of back data and relevant benchmarks and shared knowledge between sponsors. The benefits from the syndicated set-up include:

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• Yearly meeting with all partners to share insights and experiences
• Two dedicated research consultants are available for each participating partner in the UCL study and are available for questions during the entire year
• Costs are shared between partners
• Backdata is available for all UCL sponsors and for over 10 UCL seasons
• Many relevant benchmarks (for campaigns) are available
• Participating partners share data of the syndicated part of the research (for all markets)

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Scope

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The UEFA Champions League study has a worldwide scope and is conducted in 25 countries through online surveys. We conduct two measurements per year: in December after the Champions League group stage and in May/June after the final. Besides measuring impact of sponsorships, we also keep track of developments regarding consumer behaviour related to following Champions League.

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Team

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We work on measuring the effectiveness of UEFA Champions League sponsorships with a dedicated and experienced team. The team is available throughout the entire year to help UEFA Champions League partners with evidence based insights and advice. We have regular face to face meetings with our clients and organise a yearly meeting with all partners.

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Research objectives

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The objective of research is to give UCL partners insights into:

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• the evaluation of the sponsoring and activation around the UCL (awareness, sponsorfit, appreciation).
• the impact of the UCL sponsoring on the key performance indicators of the brand
• the opportunities for increasing brand growth through the sponsorship

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Set-up of the UEFA Champions League study in short

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• Method: Online consumer research with two waves per year: December (after UCL group stage) and May/June (after UCL final).
• Target audience: General population (18+) with a multi-stakeholder setup. For example: fans football, UCL followers, brand users, etc.
• Worldwide scope: Multi-country approach, with currently more than 25 countries in the research.
• Sample size / fieldwork: Sample of minimal n=600 per country per wave, representative for gender and age.
• One instrument for different partners: Different UCL partners can participate in the study. The questionnaire consists of a block of syndicated questions (general set-up) and bespoke questions per sponsor (custom set-up).
• Deliverables: Blauw presents the results after each season in a dynamic and visually attractive online dashboard, including market/region specific reporting as well as global insights.

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