We devised the ‘Betfair Penalty Champions’ campaign where Manchester United and FC Barcelona fans could go head to head representing their club in a half-time penalty shoot-out, home and away.

At the start of the 2010-11 football season, Synergy was tasked with developing a campaign integrating Betfair’s two European football sponsorships, Manchester United and FC Barcelona that:

1) Brought Betfair’s rivalry and  fan v fan proposition to life
2) Monetised the pan–European fan bases for both clubs
3) Provided a money-can’t-buy and uniquely Betfair experience that engaged both clubs’ core fans
4) Used the clubs own databases and social media outlets to promote the campaign

Every £10 bet on a football fixture equated to an entry into the competition, driving incremental revenue from existing customers and encouraging new acquisitions. Ten entrants from each club were then chosen to take part in exclusive penalty training days hosted by club legends including Denis Irwin, Andrew Cole and Roberto Banano at their respective club’s training grounds. The Betfair film crew captured the semi-finalists’ best penalties and posted these on the campaign hub for voting to commence.

With promotion to millions of fans via FC Barcelona’s Facebook page, Manchester United’s digital channels and an extensive social media campaign, the semi-finalists registered over 142,000 votes - resulting in six finalists being picked to represent their club in a two-legged penalty shoot out. Through the recruitment, selection and shoot-out phases, Synergy helped to deliver significant incremental revenue, new customer acquisition, engaging online digital content, and 19 pieces of UK media coverage.  The Synergy Experiential team managed all on the ground activation at the club training grounds and, of course, the match day shoot-out experience for the six lucky winners in Manchester and Barcelona.

Betfair Penalty Champions winner Darrin Crawford said: “I’ve supported Manchester United all my life, so to be given the chance to play for them has been amazing. To walk out in front of all those fans is what dreams are made of and although I didn’t score, to be part of the winning team tops off a fantastic experience.”