Valencia and Feldschlösschen: Ice hockey campaign for the "Most Valuable Fans"

The election of the MVP, the Most Valuable Player, is a familiar ritual after an ice hockey match. But what about the spectators? They also make an important contribution to the success of their club with their support. Feldschlösschen's new ice hockey promotion therefore transfers the award to the stands and selects the MVF, the Most Valuable Fans. This is intended to emphasize how important the support of the fans is for the success of every club.

Very close to the fire

The promotion is being carried out in collaboration with SC Bern, a sponsoring partner of Feldschlösschen, and contributes directly to the brand purpose "Feldschlösschen connects": Strengthening the bond between friends and fans and celebrating moments of togetherness. For ice hockey fans, every match is a celebration of their passion - and a cold beer is simply part of it. "With our promotion, we are celebrating the unifying power of ice hockey and Feldschlösschen," says Valencia CEO Michael Gerber. This concept was also well received by the customer Feldschlösschen and its partner SC Bern: "We were impressed by the MVF concept right from the start, as it brings fans into contact with our brand in an authentic and emotional way," says Jérôme Rueff, Brand Director Feldschlösschen.

Behind the scenes with fan photos

The promotion mechanism is based on emotional moments: Fan groups can apply together as MVF with a photo. Be it with a selfie from a cell phone or a picture from a photo booth waiting for fans in the stadium during home matches. The pictures are uploaded to a website and MVFs are regularly chosen from among them. The winners can cheer on their club in exclusive MVF seats directly behind the ice hockey board, including an MVF jersey and drinks voucher. The top pick will also be chosen from all MVFs at the end of the regular season. The lucky ones will experience an SC Bern game in a VIP lounge, including dinner and a meet & greet with SCB players.

An all-round package

Valencia was able to convince the client of the idea and the MVF concept in a competitive presentation and was subsequently responsible for the detailed development of the concept, the creation of all advertising materials and assets, as well as project coordination. "We relied on AI integration for the development of the visuals, which meant we were able to dispense with some of the time-consuming shoots," explains Valencia CCO Tommy Schilling. One of the biggest challenges of the project was the efficient collaboration with various partners and stakeholders: Client, club, promotion agency and many more. This is where Valencia was able to benefit from its many years of experience in project management. "For a job like this, it is particularly important to involve the client and all other partners such as the club or the promotion agency in weekly meetings and to drive the project forward in short sprints," says Roman Bärtschi, Junior Consultant at Valencia.

Omni-channel communication

The promotion is advertised via various OOH touchpoints around the ice hockey stadium: photo booth, fan bench, match advertisements, animations on the videotron and posters. A shoot with SCB players was organized especially for the latter. Online communication takes place via the social media channels of the client and the club. Various assets were created for this purpose, which can be reused by the partners. The programming of the website, including the upload mechanism and connection to the photobooth, was also created within the Valencia Group by the subsidiary Nueva. A software solution specially developed for Feldschlösschen promotions was used, which could be adapted to the project efficiently and cost-effectively.

The promotion started at the beginning of the 23/24 ice hockey season and runs at SC Bern and in a modified form at EV Zug.

Responsible at Feldschlösschen: Jérôme Rueff, Brand Director Feldschlösschen; Kristina Schuhmann, Senior Brand Manager; Patrizia Heinimann, Brand Manager Feldschlösschen; Claude Blatter, Senior Sponsoring Manager Feldschlösschen; Dominique Zingg, Head of Content Studio. Responsible at Valencia Communication: Michael Gerber, CEO, Partner; Tommy Schilling, CCO, Partner; Iraklis Hungerberg, Senior Account Director; Sebastian Refardt, Text/Concept; Roman Bärtschi, Junior Consultant; Amadea Waldmann, Junior Art Director; Markus Brink, Senior Account Director; Michelle Mathis, Junior Art Director. Responsible at Nueva: Remo Brunner, Managing Partner. Responsible at Spool: Mathis Felsche, Project Manager; Marcel Brauchli, Production and Logistics Manager; Kyra Wiederkehr, Junior Project Manager.