Vodafone returned to major sports sponsorship to help revive ‘brand consideration’ and rebuild an emotional connection with UK and Ireland consumers.
By sponsoring The British & Irish Lions, Vodafone was able to put its purpose of ‘connecting people’ to practice, during what was a truly unique year of sport.
After months of uncertainty, it was announced the Tour would take place ‘behind closed doors’ – meaning fans were stuck at home, unable to travel and support the team in South Africa.
This meant Vodafone’s role became much greater, as the brand strived to bring fans the most connected Tour ever and replicate the iconic ‘Red Wall’ of Lions fans from 8,000 miles away.
The connected tour came in many forms – from connecting die-hard fans to their Lions heroes to connecting coaches to real-time performance statistics from anywhere in the world. Vodafone stopped at nothing to ensure both fan and player still felt the immensity and impact of the long-awaited Tour.
The partnership campaign successfully impacted ‘brand consideration’, driving a 23 ppt consideration uplift amongst those aware of the partnership.
But the partnership delivered so much more than just marketing objectives; it engaged key business relationships through bespoke virtual events and experiences; it delivered employee engagement and pride in the year where so many felt isolated, and was used as a spring board to launch new D&I initiatives.
The activations we created and the emotions it evoked across the nations is an embodiment of Vodafone’s brand statement that ‘Together We Can’.
