New Zealand – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) has announced its sponsorship of Auckland FC with a campaign launch via marketing communications company TBWA\NZ.
The campaign aims to celebrate the new Auckland FC team, rewarding football fans through an activation. Under the ‘Auckland Forever’ platform line, TBWANZ launched the campaign across print, online, and OOH.
Drawing on fan culture, ANZ began a scavenger hunt of limited-edition Auckland FC shirts.
Over 200 shirts were strategically placed in various locations across Auckland, free for fans who find them on a first come, first served basis. ANZ posted clues about the shirts’ location through their Instagram page.
“There will never be another day one or game one. ANZ is incredibly proud to play a role in helping all of Auckland get behind this exciting new team right from the start,” Matt Pickering, ANZ general manager of marketing, said.
“As back of shirt sponsor for Auckland FC we needed a unique way to bring our sponsorship to life and demonstrate our support for the club and the region at Large. It was incredible to see so many people in their Day 1 shirts at the match and reward the fans whom have already shown so much passion for Auckland FC. What a special moment to be part of. Well done to the agency team for sending this one straight to the back of the net!” Pickering added.
“We wanted to create something that spoke to not just football fans, but recognised the city as a whole and the buzz that exists for the club. Football is on a huge growth trajectory with a fan culture that offers us such rich territory,” Shane Bradnick, chief commercial officer of TBWA\NZ, commented.
“The integrated solve between TBWA\NZ and Eleven, with support from AO Studios, was an incredible piece of work that generated a phenomenal amount of hype whilst smartly focusing on ANZ’s back-of-shirt sponsorship placement. The activation in particular was great to see, we had people camped out for hours, driving around for miles and generating a huge amount of goodwill for ANZ. It demonstrated how a bank can show up in culture, in a disruptive way,” Bradnick added.
