Mars aims to score with millions of football fans
The campaign – fronted by England football stars Wayne Rooney, Gary Cahill and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – will offer fans the chance to win one of 1M exclusive national team footballs designed by the players.
It coincides with the climax of the Premier League football season next month and two England matches – against the Republic of Ireland and Slovenia – in June that are expected to draw audiences of 6M, Mars Chocolate’s trade communications manager Bep Dhaliwal claimed.
Exciting year
“With a successful six-year history working with the England Football team, we’re proud to continue our partnership with The Football Association [FA] and enter another exciting year for the team, who have won every game so far in their bid to qualify for Euro 2016,” Dhaliwal said.
“Our giveaway looks to generate even more opportunities for retailers to capture the attention of customers with excitement in-store.”
She encouraged retailers to place promotional packs at till points as 70% of confectionary is bought on impulse.
Mars will also send 400 people into about 38,000 retail stores to give advice on how to showcase its products and boost sales.
Mars and the FA
Mars and the FA:
- Partnership began in 2010
- Mars is the only chocolate brand associated with The FA and England football team
- Previously, Mars has launched activities such as shirt giveaways for the Euro and World Cup
- Mars was the number one chocolate singles brand during Euro and World Cups in both 2012 and 2014
- Last year,Mars offered consumers the chance to win 1 of 500,000 personalised England shirts as part of its England shirt giveaway
Retail advice
This advice will include creating “in-store theatre” to get people excited about football and making the most of eye-catching point of sale opportunities.
The campaign builds of Mars Chocolate’s England shirt giveaway last summer during the Fifa World Cup in Brazil.
Consumers can redeem code found inside Mars bars wrappers online or via text to find out if they are a winner. Every consumer who enters a unique code online will also win a free Mars Just Play session.
Mars Just Play gives people the chance to play football at one of 400 venues in the UK.
“It’s football for those who can’t or don’t want to commit to an eight-month long season of matches and training,” Mars said. “It’s jumpers for goalposts, but we provide the balls, pitch and team.”
Meanwhile, last summer food and drink brands caught World Cup fever and re-branded their products during the tournament.
