BEST SPORTS MARKETING CAMPAIGN – UK

Gen 10 -Brentford FC

In December 2024, Brentford FC launched Gen10, a £10 junior ticket price cap to keep football affordable for the next generation of fans and their families. With rising prices and slashed concessions becoming commonplace, Gen10 is our commitment to ensuring the next generation grows up in love with the game, not priced out of it.

Brentford now subsidises the cost of a junior ticket to watch the Bees in the Premier League to £10, whether that’s Brentford fans supporting the club on the road or an away fan visiting the Gtech Community Stadium.

The move is a result of comprehensive fan consultation on away attendances, concluding that more could be done to bring under-18s and their families back to Brentford away games. Alongside junior away tickets across the league costing as much as £25, the numbers of younger fans had dwindled due to perceptions that away ends were an intimidating, negative experience. Our response was to give fans more choice with family-friendly seating, with Gen10 making this choice affordable.

Early results were overwhelmingly positive with a 58% increase in junior attendance for the first three Gen10 away games, with national media coverage at launch.

Carlsberg – “Thank you, Jürgen”: The Believers Brew – Hope&GloryPR

To promote Carlsberg’s partnership with Liverpool Football Club, the campaign took a seminal moment –the departure of LFC’s legendary manager, Jürgen Klopp –to bring the footballing community together.

Carlsberg created 491 bottles of “Believers Brew”, one for every game Klopp was in charge. With all proceeds going to the LFC Foundation.

There were 122 pieces of global coverage and the content had 75m+ social reach with 1m impressions and 20k engagements.

And most importantly, it raised over £107,000 for LFC’s “Walking Football” programme which has directly led to a 27% increase in participation

Dirt Is Good (Unilever)

In 2025, Dirt Is Good (DIG), the collection of laundry brands Persil, OMO, Surf Excel, Breeze, Rinso, Ala and Skip, set out on a bold mission to tackle the taboo surrounding period stains in sport.

When DIG research revealed that 78% of teenage girls stop playing sport due to periods and 67% do not know how to remove period stains, the brand acted.

A purpose driven campaign, co-created with Arsenal Women’s team and a group of twenty girls aged 14-18, was launched to address the issue and help demystify the stigma of period stains in sport and create an environment without fear or shame.

It’s Part of the Game, spearheaded by Beth Mead and her Arsenal teammates, featured personal stories, tips and tricks and generated international awareness around the subject through an integrated campaign.
In stadiums, online and in classrooms a consistent message of resilience, understanding and acceptance was shared to universal acclaim.

The campaign reached 34 countries and generated a reach of a quarter of a billion – but importantly, it encouraged thousands of people to open up and share their own experiences as we strive for a sport where everyone should feel a sense of belonging.

Harlequins Rugby Club

In 2024/25, Harlequins and DHL celebrated a decade-long partnership – the longest-running in domestic rugby – and DHL’s 50th year in the UK with a bold, integrated campaign that honoured their shared growth, values, and global reach.

The campaign’s objectives were to narrate the partnership’s evolution, engage fans through standout activations, and commemorate the milestone with limited-edition retail items. A bespoke anniversary playing kit, co-designed with Castore, symbolised the global footprint and synergy of both brands. It was worn at Big Game 16 and European fixtures and became a key retail success.

Digitally, activations like Moment That Delivered – Ten Year Edition, Then & Now, The Mighty Quin fan competition, and TogetHER to the Pitch connected with diverse audiences. The DHL Front Row experience at Allianz Stadium offered unforgettable matchday access.
The campaign drove a 22% year-on-year increase in DHL’s digital impressions and directly supported the recent extension of the partnership. Together, DHL and Harlequins continue to set a new benchmark for long-term brand integration and fan-centric activation in professional sport.

Marriott Bonvoy x Manchester United

Marriott Bonvoy’s ’24/25 Play on the Pitch campaign, in partnership with Manchester United, is an exemplary sports marketing success. This global competition offered fans the “money-can’t-buy” dream of playing on the hallowed turf of Old Trafford. Executed across the US, EMEA, CALA, Greater China, and APEC with a multi-channel digital and influencer strategy, the campaign significantly boosted Marriott Bonvoy member enrolments and competition sign-ups.

It garnered hundreds of millions of impressions and achieved a remarkable number of views and engagements. Furthermore, the integration with Marriott Bonvoy Moments enabled loyal members to redeem points for this aspirational experience. Testimonials from participants comprehensively praised the unforgettable, dream-fulfilling nature of the event, cementing Marriott Bonvoy’s reputation for delivering unparalleled experiences and driving deep brand loyalty.

These results demonstrate that the Marriott Bonvoy Play on the Pitch campaign was not merely a marketing initiative, but a deeply impactful experience that successfully delivered on business objectives, promoted unparalleled brand loyalty, and created indelible memories for fans globally.

Sunderland AFC

Sunderland AFC’s ‘Til The End campaign was a bold, emotionally-charged marketing initiative that reignited belief and reconnected fans ahead of the 2024-25 Championship Play-Offs. After finishing the season on a five-game losing streak, fan morale was low, and momentum lost. The challenge was to reset the narrative and inspire both cultural and commercial impact – with promotion to the Premier League as the end goal.

By evolving the existing ‘Til The End’ identity, the campaign introduced new creative, such as menacing cat’s teeth visuals, dramatic TIFO displays, and a full digital rebrand across channels. Tactical executions from a 30 metre guerrilla banner to transport hub billboards generated buzz and national media coverage. Fans were placed at the heart through authentic storytelling, gamified engagement, and reactive merchandising.

The results were staggering: 227 million impressions (7th in Premier League/EFL), 11.3 million engagements, and 383,000 new followers. Retail sales surged, Play-Off tickets sold out, and the campaign became a cultural phenomenon, with fans even tattooing key moments.

Ultimately, this was more than a Play-Off campaign, it was a rallying cry that unified club, fans, and city. Most importantly, it helped propel Sunderland AFC back to the Premier League.

The Football Association – Hope&GloryPR/Little Thief Studio

The Football Association wanted to dispel some myths about what it’s like to attend a football match and showcase “the love of the game”.

To do so, we turned the cameras on the fans, capturing the experience of “first time fans” as Thomas Tuchel took on his first England game. Each of our fans was micced-up for sound to capture their reactions, whilst nine cameras were set up across the ground to capture their first experience in the stands.

270 minutes of footage were then edited into captivating, made-for social films turned-around in just 36 hours (before the next England game), ready for Instagram owned channels and re-cut for social-first publishers across the football eco-system.

Overall 9.2 million people watched the film. Post campaign research found that the “First Time Fans” film was recalled by over 56% of self-identifying “football fans”.

87% of them said the content changed their perceptions of what football fans at live games were likely to be like as people. 92% said that it made them think that going to their first game would be a positive experience. Of those who recalled the campaign, 72% said that they were more likely to consider attending a match.

WeAreFearless & Danone GetPRO

In 2025, GetPRO – Danone’s high-protein dairy brand – partnered with the London Marathon Events Group to inspire runners to see progress differently. In a highly competitive market and with rising demand for performance foods, GetPRO needed to cut through as a trusted ally to their ‘exercise enthusiast’ target consumers.The campaign highlighted the “moments in-between” training – rest, recovery, and nutrition – where real progress happens. Through the brand platform Feed Your Progress, the multi-channel campaign activated across the UK’s most iconic running event, The London Marathon, but also included other events under London Marathon Group such as title partner to the Bath Half. Tactics spanned community engagement, influencer and athlete storytelling, experiential sampling, and a strategic Strava partnership to educate and empower runners nationwide. With a compelling narrative and high-impact execution, the campaign established GetPRO as more than just a product – it became a training partner. The results? Category-leading awareness growth, powerful brand uplift, and standout purchase intent metrics. GetPRO earned its place as a credible performance nutrition brand and proved that in sport, as in life, real progress happens when we fuel it right.