The upcoming Premier League season will see marketers "picking up where their World Cup strategies left off and building sponsorships around year-long media plans," according to Sebastian Joseph of MARKETING WEEK. Whereas "previous efforts would have been separate to wider advertising campaigns, brands are uniting smart media planning, customer insights and daring creative ideas to exploit those moments of influence that will have the most impact on football fans." For Subway, the approach aims to "influence attitudes and perceptions towards its health and wellbeing positioning." Subway is working with Liverpool to "create a road map of reactive posts, videos and promotions that fit into its wider, annual advertising calendar." Carlsberg is "building a hub, developed in partnership with The Marketing Store, that tracks potential viral content from football fans to amplify across its own channels." It comes as Carlsberg "shifts more of its global marketing budget from TV to social content." Carlsberg UK Dir of Brands & Insight David Scott said, "If you're buying TV then that's money committed two months before the consumer sees it and it's tied up. The key thing for us is keeping money back and having a tactical budget so that when we see something that's trending then we can put more money behind it to amplify out to the masses." In a "marked shift from previous years, Puma is turning to real-time, digital interactions to push a more dynamic positioning throughout the Premier League season." Puma has built a "complex marketing programme" to "spearhead the charge, relying on a blend of media partnerships, PR, social media and POS to drive engagement around reactive content." James Hough, managing director of MediaCom Sport, which is working with Subway to "develop its Liverpool FC sponsorship strategy," said, "You've got to work harder to make fans feel like they are involved in the experience you're promoting" (MARKETING WEEK, 8/11).
