Soccer: Euros 2024 - Best Brand Marketing Campaigns

Adidas Goes Sentimental: Spotlighting Football Heartbreak & Hope: Adidas’s ode to 20-year-old England midfielder Jude Bellingham in its Hey Jude video ad (more than 819,000 views since its June 13 release) captures the emotional highs and lows of England supporters.

Soundtracked by The Beatles’ song of the same name – which fans often serenade Bellingham with – it revisits previous Euros heartbreaks via grainy footage and disheartened commentary – from now-manager Gareth Southgate’s 1996 semi-finals’ penalty to early-stage Euros exits – before a hopeful tone shift foresees fans celebrating an English victory.

The clip concludes with a shot of Bellingham and the tagline “you got this” – a continuation of the namesake Adidas ad focusing on how athletes deal with extreme pressure (see Brands Breaking Barriers with Sport).

Ülker Honours Germany’s Turkish Diaspora’s Nostalgia: Germany’s Turkish diaspora of more than 1.3 million people (the largest population outside of Turkey; Statista, 2023) is celebrated in heritage Turkish confectionery brand Ülker’s Euros ad, Our Homeland Is in Our Hearts.

The emotive video (more than a million views) follows a homesick Turkish man through Berlin, switching between his daily life in urban Germany and nostalgic memories of his Turkish childhood, punctuated by Ülker confectionery. It concludes with the protagonist revealing a Turkish football T-shirt under his hoodie and finding a community in a crowd of Turkish football fans.

Specsavers’ Should’ve Euro Translations Transcend Advertising: British optician Specsavers has translated its famous “should’ve gone to Specsavers” tagline into the languages of all 24 competing nations for print and out-of-home ads. With the intention of transcending advertising and becoming part of the vernacular, the campaign aims to provide all fans a tongue-in-cheek reactive slogan for referee judgements they disagree with.

Adidas’ Homage to the Beautiful Grassroots Game: Adidas’s campaign The Ultimate Guide to Street Football pairs football-loving kids with professional players (including Argentine Julián Álvarez and Portuguese Bernardo Silva) to deliver accessible tutorials on street football.

With a distinctive style reminiscent of American filmmaker Wes Anderson’s work, the video swiftly cuts between the pairings, explaining the rules of games such as Head Tennis (the ball can’t touch the floor, headers only). A voiceover prompts viewers to screenshot the on-screen rules, encouraging at-home participation.

For more on brands supporting grassroots sports, see Retail & Media World Cup Strategies.

Paddy Power Plays with English Stereotypes: Tapping into the English proclivity for self-deprecating humour, Irish betting brand Paddy Power mocks England’s position as favourite to win with a comedic ad (reaching more than 35,000 views) starring English actor Danny Dyer (known for his cockney small-time gangster roles).

It showcases stereotypes of English football fans, sarcastically subverted from the perspective of their European neighbours: a German man notes England’s “humility”, while an Italian woman praises their “effortless style” as the camera pans to a cameo from the Four Lads in Jeans (a group of men from Coventry, heavily mocked for their laddish style in 2019, who became an Internet meme).

Nike Reveres the ‘Madness’ of Football Geniuses: Nike Football highlights the extreme feats of skill, dedication and pain it takes to become an elite footballer in its Awaken Your Madness campaign (surpassing 1.6 million views since its June 13 release).

Set to the frenetic soundtrack of American singer-songwriter Screamin’ Jay Hawkins There’s Something Wrong with You, it features football superstars Kylian Mbappé (France), Erling Haaland (Norway) and Vinícius Júnior (Brazil), with the narrative oscillating between grainy shots of their football-obsessed childhood and their current eccentric training rituals. Mbappé whispers to the ball before he takes aim, Vini Jr sprints with an oxygen mask and Haaland enjoys training in the rain. A cameo from Brazilian football royalty Ronaldinho proclaims: “You have unlocked the crazy that all the greats have.”