- With the UEFA Champions League Final Wembley 2013 another successful season is coming to an end: over four years, UniCredit's sponsorship engagement has considerably contributed to the bank's 'brand awareness', brand image', 'customer and employee engagement' and 'propensity to buy'.
- International coach Fabio Capello joins UniCredit as Official Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League Final 2013 and participates in all corporate events in London.
- At the Final, a UniCredit employee will be handing the Match Coin to the referee.
- In September 2013, the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by UniCredit will hit the road again with a fresh, new concept.
As the UEFA Champions League season 2012/ 2013 comes to an end with an unprecedented, highly exciting all-German Final match between FC Bayern München and Borussia Dortmund, UniCredit - Official Bank of the UEFA Champions League - is looking back onto four successful sponsorship seasons. As shown by all key indicators, the bank has accomplished some very satisfying results related to the sponsorship, exceeding the Group's expectations in terms of 'brand awareness', 'brand image', 'customer and employee engagement' and 'propensity to buy'.
Key indicators show achievements at group and country levels
Within the first three seasons, the intensive sponsorship activation reached an average Return on Investment of ~215% and over 400,000 leads in total were generated with various promotions and activities. UniCredit reached more than nine billion contacts throughout the first sponsorship cycle and until today the bank has shared its excitement for the UEFA Champions League with over 36,000 guests at matches.
From November 2009 to November 2012 the sponsorship awareness of UniCredit brands more than doubled on an aided level and tripled on a spontaneous level. Market research figures show similar positive results in terms of brand awareness throughout all countries: among those aware of the UEFA Champions League sponsorship in all 16 countries analysed in November 2012, aided brand awareness of the respective operating brands was higher (+16.3%) than among the total catchment area.
The sponsorship has also had a positive effect in most UniCredit countries so far regarding brand image. On a cross-country basis, UniCredit delivers a consistent picture of top propensity drivers in which banks are called to show leadership and closeness to customers and to be fair and transparent.
In general, people aware of the sponsorship are more likely to consider or prefer the respective operating UniCredit brand compared to the total catchment area.
Regarding the overall market participation in the sponsorship it can furthermore be stated that after the first cycle from 2009 until 2012, over 200 campaigns around the UEFA Champions League were activated by nearly all UniCredit's markets and business lines. In addition to this, beside the UniCredit master brand, affiliates' logos were implemented on static as well as on LED boards for the first time as of season 2012/ 2013 giving local brands more visibility within the sponsorship.
"These groundbreaking results show how positive the impact of the UEFA Champions League sponsorship has been and will continue to be for UniCredit. We are very pleased with everything we have achieved so far and are looking forward to further results and successes. Thanks to its international appeal and visibility, the sponsorship is giving great support to our business and reinforces our standing as a leading European commercial bank" states Mr Federico Ghizzoni, CEO of UniCredit.
Fabio Capello joins UniCredit as Official Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League
The Final weekend in London, with high media interest and public awareness, gives UniCredit the opportunity to further deepen its relationship and business connections and to present itself as one of the main sponsors of the UEFA Champions League. UniCredit welcomes its new Official Ambassador for the UEFA Champions League - Mr Fabio Capello. The coach of the Russian national team will be a very special guest at all UniCredit activities around the Final in London.
"I am very much looking forward to being part of this Final weekend in London with UniCredit. It's an emotional experience for me coming back to England and to be ambassador for this strong brand at the same time" says the former player and coach of many European clubs and former trainer of the English national team.
Tonight a UniCredit employee will hand over the "Official UEFA Champions League Match Coin" to the referee
Another highlight which started with the 2012/ 2013 season is UniCredit's right to produce a special coin, the "Official UEFA Champions League Match Coin provided by UniCredit", which can be used by the referees for the coin toss prior to all UEFA Champions League matches in all territories. After one season, the participating countries activated 92% of all home matches carried out in UniCredit core markets with this Sole & Exclusive right. And tonight, at the Final, the coin will be handed over to the referee by a UniCredit employee who is the winner of a widely followed internal contest throughout the group.
Moreover, inspired by the special moment in which the winners of the Final match are 'crowned' with the trophy, UniCredit initiated its Final campaign "To Wembley with the Kings of Europe". The campaign was launched on 1st March in Italy, focusing on UniCredit's right to activate the original UEFA Champions League confetti that will rain down on tonight's winners. Therefore, UniCredit gave fans the chance of registering for personalised confetti. Furthermore, by ordering the 'Genius Card' in the UEFA Champions League design participants had the chance to win two tickets to the Final match tonight. Among others, the offer was promoted with a tour that visited 21 Italian cities with small events. Next to Italy, other UniCredit markets such as Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey promoted the UEFA Champions League Final with campaigns, ticket raffles and smaller activations.
Next: the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour 2013 presented by UniCredit
Once the Wembley emotions will have receded, UniCredit is soon to get ready for yet another exciting phase. The UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour, which takes place each year at the start of the season, can be seen as one of UniCredit's most important activation assets in which its sponsorship is leveraged. Since its launch in 2009, the Tour has visited 56 different cities in a total of 13 countries across Europe, allowing UniCredit to welcome almost 490,000 fans who took over 122,000 pictures with the iconic trophy. In average, nearly 600 million contacts were reached throughout each tour and an average Return on Investment of 380% was achieved with the past four tours from 2009 till 2012.
In September 2013 the UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour presented by UniCredit will kick-off in Germany's capital Berlin - host of the UEFA Champions League Final 2015 - heating up the football atmosphere with a fresh, new concept that will make the trophy visible not only to those who visit the Trophy Tour Village, but also to everyone who passes by the main squares of the cities visited. By displaying this extraordinary trophy even more publicly, the Tour will reach an even higher number of fans and football-passionate people. Exclusive content and digital activities as well as the unique and emotional experience to have a picture taken with the trophy itself on the 'celebration balcony' will furthermore await the people who visit the Trophy Tour Village. Additionally, there are many exciting prizes to be won linked to the UEFA Champions League.
Further countries on this year's Tour route are Hungary, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Turkey, with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey hosting the Tour for the first time.
Milan/London, 25th May 2013