Burger King challenged the gaming boundaries creating an unprecedented brand experience to win back a key target that was drifting away (Millennials/GenZ).

To build brand relevance, the activation breathed our DNA and our "underdog" character. We partnered with one of the smallest teams with presence in FIFA19 knowing that if our logo was on its kit, it would appear on the game. Once in, we turned Stevenage into the biggest club online.

Instead of outspending we outsmarted our way in with a win-win strategy. #StevenageChallenge improved brand relevance metrics, but also several business indicators for Burger King and Stevenage F.C.

Millennials and Gen Z are Burger King's most strategic audience: they generate +50% of our traffic. They also make up 80% of gamers globally, an industry growing rapidly that gave us both global reach, and relevance.

This activation was born to strengthen our connection with a key target and boost the values that define Burger King. Our ambition was to make BK the King of gaming and do it "Our Way", reconnecting with an audience that was distancing itself from the brand. All of which would ultimately have an impact in sales, although not our primary focus.

Objectives:

1. Drive brand relevance to millennials and Gen Z, an audience disconnected from the brand.

2. Reflect our authentic and courageous essence in gaming culture, differentiating Burger King from other advertisers.

3. Achieve organic reach to spread our DNA without relying on paid media.

Gaming is a reality that brands cannot ignore. Keeping in mind the duplicity between the gaming audience and Burger King's key target, it won’t come as a surprise that gaming became a strategic territory to regain this target.

BK had to enter gaming, but we weren’t alone. The presence of brands reached 60% including KFC, Wendy's, McDonald’s, TacoBell, but also brands with whom we shared affinity and attention were investing large budgets in gaming.

If we wanted to connect with this demanding audience, we had to offer more than brand presence. There is one rule we always follow at Burger King: to break them. This activation wouldn’t be any different, it needed to breathe our DNA and that "underdog" character that characterizes us. We had to challenge the gaming world and do something completely different.

Burger King is the brand where everyone is welcome. To become the Kings of gaming, our "guests" had to be the protagonists. If we wanted people to play one of our key decisions was choosing the game. We studied sales, reports, and audience data, but we prioritized the game’s potential.

FIFA19 was the 13th best-selling videogame in the world, first in strategic countries for Burger King such as Spain or UK and it connected directly with another “king of entertainment”: soccer. FIFA had something else, it gave us the possibility to play, literally, with the world’s best players.

We came to the finding that in "FIFA", no matter which team you play for, you can choose players. While it is common for brands to pay millions to sponsor big teams or athletes, in Burger King we realized there was a way to sponsor them without paying them a penny.

We entered gaming, but we did it “Our Way”. A small soccer team was our gateway to gaming. We partnered with a team that was at the bottom of the table in the fourth division of English League: Stevenage F.C becoming its main sponsor. Many thought it was a terrible investment, but we knew that our logo would appear on the next editions of FIFA, and they knew our plan to turn the Club into the biggest online.

Who would play with a team in the fourth division of the English League? Probably no one. What could we give in return? products. We turned the videogame launch into a promotion.

#StevenageChallenge invited gamers to play with Stevenage, sign the best players and score goals to get “free food” through our App. Seven challenges with which users could redeem our products. To win, they had to share the video on Twitter.

AWARENESS, AUDIENCE ATTRACTION

- Most used team in FIFA "career mode" .

- Reach: +227M impacts, +150 media outlets.

- Earned Media: $+2.5M

- UGC: +25,000 goals, +12,500 minutes, +21.6M interactions.

RELEVANCE

Spain:

- Highest category growth: "affinity" +3.2pp, "unique" 3.2pp and "dynamic" 3.9pp (highest growth in key targets).

- Brand Preference: GenZ +3pp, millennials +2pp

UK:

- Affinity" +4.6pp, "unique" 3.4pp with growth in key targets.

- "Brand I associate with" (GenZ +7pp, millennials +8pp).

Germany:

- "Modern brand" (GenZ +20pp, millennials +9pp)

- "Brand I associate with" (GenZ +10pp, millennials +16pp).

USA:

- "Modern brand" (GenZ +2pp, millennials +9pp)

- "Brand I associate with" (GenZ +3pp, millennials +9pp).

TRAFFIC, SALES: (Confidential data)

STEVENAGE F.C.:

- Merchandising sales: +300%.

- Official kits: sold out for the first time . Shipped to +40 countries.