#100DaysToGo - Five ways brands can win during #EURO2016

Wednesday, 2 March 2016

Today marks 100 days until France hosts the 15th UEFA European Championship (#EURO2016) and the excitement on Twitter is already building. Here are five ways advertisers can seize the creative opportunity.

Even before Christmas, the draw for the group stages saw more than 384K mentions(1) of the tournament across Europe. It points to how Twitter will be the live connection to Euro 2016. This is echoed in recent research that found 65% of UK Twitter users(2) said that they were excited for the tournament’s arrival when asked six months ago.

This anticipation reflects how passionate Twitter users are about football, and the broader appeal that comes with a major tournament like the European Championships. As many as 73% of UK users say that they are interested in football — and 50% saying they love the sport(2).

The passion of football fans on Twitter is rooted in the knowledge that Twitter makes watching football better. The study(2) concluded that Twitter was the number one place for: connecting with other fans, real-time updates, breaking football news, and expert opinions (compared to other online sources).

Since the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, the creative canvas on Twitter has expanded dramatically for brands. We have launched a range of new products and formats to help brands best seize opportunities on Twitter whether those are everyday moments or major events like #EURO2016. We’ve highlighted some of the ways advertisers can get the most out of Twitter as the biggest European sporting event of the year approaches:

Five ways brands can win during #EURO2016

  1. Conversational video ads: These ads are designed to help advertisers drive more earned media and brand influence. The formats, exclusive to Twitter, make it even easier for consumers to engage with and then spread a brand’s campaign message.

  2. Scratchreels: Our interactive, swipeable GIF format puts the user in control of how GIFs replay. It’s excellent for reliving the most memorable moments of the game over and over again, and a great way to unlock more content from a brand’s hero video.

  3. Promoted Moments: Quite simply the best of Twitter at a glance. Since launching in December 2015, Moments has provided another way to keep up with conversation on Twitter. For brands, Promoted Moments has opened up a new curated storytelling space. Already we’ve seen Tesco, Sky, and Samsung creatively make the most of the new format.


  4. Periscope: There have been two big Periscope announcements recently that will play a crucial role in how brands use the app. Firstly, broadcasts — both live and replays — have been brought directly into Twitter; and secondly, there’s the innovative integration that allows GoPro Hero 4 owners the opportunity to broadcast live direct from their cameras.

     
  5. Emojis: It’s hard to ignore the growing global phenomena of emojis and the role they play in daily conversations. This is something brands have already begun tapping into. Whether that be the thought-provoking #EndangeredEmoji campaign from WWF or the Starbucks Twitter emoji for the launch of their #RedCups or the superbly engaging emoji auto-response campaign #TacoEmojiEngine.

The opportunity for brands to bring their #EURO2016 campaigns to life has never been bigger and we can’t wait to see how the evolution of Twitter and our ad products will help them achieve their goals.

Bonus: Need a reminder of when the games are? Click here to download a printable pdf of Twitter’s #EURO2016 calendar (best printed in A0).

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Source: 1. 12/12 - 13/12. Twitter Internal Data team - search terms associated specifically with the EURO 2016 Draw
2. Twitter commissioned study conducted by Research Now, Dec 2015, UK, 18-49, n=1119 (Twitter 574, non-Twitter 451)