IN the summer of 2019, Burger King made the astonishing move to sponsor lowly League Two club Stevenage FC.
Within one year, by utilising a video game, they helped make the club one of the most marketable teams in football.
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The fast-food giants cleverly tapped into the FIFA 20 world, offering free Whoppers and chips in return for gamers completing in-game challenges, while playing as the The Boro.
That helped real-life Stevenage sell out all their club shirts, become the most played FIFA 20 team on live streaming platform Twitch, and earned exposure around the world.
MARKETING GENIUS
When Burger King paid Stevenage a reported £50,000 to sponsor the club, they knew exactly what they were doing.
Marcelo Pascoa, their global head of grand marketing, revealed the group were passionate “not only for the big teams, but also for the smaller ones that are poised for something big”.
And how that has transpired.
They partnered with the creatives at DAVID The Agency and came up with ways of drawing attention to the Hertfordshire side, who draw around 2,700 fans to their Lamex Stadium.
A plan was hatched to use FIFA 20, where virtual Stevenage players could unlock special Burger King deals by completing challenges and uploading the video to Twitter.
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Challenges included ‘A Nutmeg for Nuggets’ and ‘Impossible for Impossible Whopper’, as the gamers (wearing official Stevenage jerseys) happily shared their clips online in return for food and free delivery.
THE KNOCK-ON EFFECT
With free grub on offer, it’s no surprise the global campaign that was launched across the USA, China, Mexico, Brazil, UK, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden and Spain was a big success.
And it launched little Stevenage FC into the stratosphere.
Incredibly, over 25,000 goals were shared by gamers online, while the campaign lasted for a week.
They became the most used team in Career Mode and on Twitch, with players adding the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mo Salah to their virtual club.
But, here’s the clincher, and one which drew a windfall for Stevenage.
For the first time in the club’s history, they sold out all of their shirts – priced at £42.99 a pop.
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Back in May, Burger King’s deal with Stevenage expired with the fast food chain’s job done.
“When we signed the agreement two years ago we knew it would be big for the Club however, we did not expect the level of its impact across the globe to be as big as it has been,” Tunbridge revealed.
“To turn the Club from a small team in the real world to the biggest online is a phenomenal achievement by all those involved, and one which now makes us an attractive Club to work with on a commercial level”.
