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Carlsberg is "planning its biggest sports marketing campaign" around this summer’s Euro 2016 football tournament, as the competition "swells to its largest size ever," according to Tariq Panja of BLOOMBERG. A source said that the Danish brewer is spending as much as €80M ($90M) "on marketing for the championship." The source also said that Carlsberg has "already doled out" about €40M ($45M) to secure exclusivity as the official beer sponsor of the month-long sporting event, the biggest behind the World Cup and the Olympics. A record 24 national teams will participate at Euro 2016. The event will be played in 10 cities across France, "where strict alcohol advertising laws mean the beer maker's name won't be displayed in stadiums and billboards on the side of the field will be limited to its slogans." Ahead of the start of its "Fan Revolution" tournament campaign, Carlsberg Senior Marketing Manager Richard Whitty said, "It will be the biggest and the best." Most of the focus "will be on the brewer’s digital footprint." Part of this year’s rights package includes TV sponsorship for the first time, meaning matches broadcast on European channels will feature the tagline "in association with Carlsberg." Whitty said, "It gives you a guaranteed TV presence during the tournament which we’ve never had before." There will "also be a social media element." Whitty said that part of Carlsberg’s strategy is to capitalize on the growth of football in Asia "by increasing the amount of activities around the tournament in Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore" (
BLOOMBERG, 5/17).
