Brack wins Sponsoring Excellence Award 2026 with "Unboxing Football"

Sponsoring Switzerland presented the 7th Sponsoring Excellence Award at the Kunsthaus Zurich on March 11, 2026. The online retailer Brack won with its "Unboxing Football" campaign and impressed the independent jury with a holistic approach that merges sponsorship, brand and corporate strategy.

Brack has been the naming partner of the Brack Super League since the 2025/26 season, thereby expanding its commitment as an SFA youth partner to include the highest division in Swiss football. The company offers fans real added value and lives its commitment on all five pillars of the marketing mix: Product ranges, merchandising, price, creative on-site activations and the relocation of the staff party to the stadium make BSL a holistic approach with clear successes.

Focus on innovation and impact

Jury president Oliver Niedermann emphasized the quality of the projects submitted: "Year after year, the Sponsoring Excellence Award impressively demonstrates how innovative and effective sponsorship is developing in Switzerland. The quality and strategic depth of the projects submitted reflect a market that is developing dynamically and creating real added value for brands, partners and target groups. With "Brack - Unboxing Football", we are honoring a project that exemplifies this development: It thinks sponsorship holistically, consistently combines brand and commitment with the corporate strategy and creates an experience that goes far beyond traditional presence."

The six-member independent jury scrutinized all the projects submitted, paying particular attention to the criteria of innovation, relevance, creativity and impact. The high ratings resulted in three special prizes and two Achievement Awards.

Three special prizes for outstanding projects

UBS received the special Activation prize for Swiss Skills. As the main partner of SwissSkills, UBS 2025 presented itself to over 120,000 young people with a unique experience at the careers fair. UBS positioned itself as a progressive brand and, above all, as an innovative, approachable employer and promoter of young professional talent. Under the claim "Activate your superpower!", young people were able to discover their strengths in an interactive superhero transformation. AI and gamification made the stand experience unforgettable.

The special Responsibility prize went to AXA for its 150th anniversary. AXA Switzerland's anniversary was dedicated to biodiversity. In Winterthur, AXA created microforests and green roofs on bus stops and enhanced the biodiversity of the park surrounding the headquarters. Throughout Switzerland, the "Flora Futura" initiative supported the biodiverse enhancement of around two million square meters - around one square meter per customer. AXA also went on a roadshow with the Flora Futura Box and celebrated the anniversary with employees at a themed party.

Raiffeisen received the special Pioneer award for the local bonus. To mark its 125th anniversary, Raiffeisen launched the local bonus on Lokalhelden.ch in 2025. Local Raiffeisen banks provided a donation pot for charitable projects in their region. The allocation of funds was based on a participatory approach: the higher the number of votes for a project, the greater the amount of funding allocated. This gave cooperative members and young customers the opportunity to experience cooperatives and their bank's commitment to the region.

Big Bang Awards and Audience Award

This year, for the first time ever, Sponsoring Switzerland also presented awards for special, one-off achievements. These were provided by Migros with its campaign "MERCI. 100 Jahre Migros" campaign and SRG/SSR, which created a ground-breaking public experience with high visibility throughout Europe at the Eurovision Song Contest Basel with innovative media collaborations and content produced together with sponsors and partners.

In the run-up to the awards ceremony and on the festive evening itself, over 280 people from the Swiss sponsorship scene had the opportunity to vote online for the Audience Award: This year, it went to the Association of the Swiss Gas Industry with the "gazenergie x Swiss Volunteers" project.

Sandra Caviezel new President

The General Assembly of Sponsoring Switzerland took place in the run-up to the Night of Sponsorship. Following the resignation of President Andrea Meier (Head of Corporate Communications Swisscom) and Board member Sven Schäfer (Head Group Brand Activation, Sponsorship & Events, UBS), the focus was on the election of the new presidency and new Board members. The AGM elected Sandra Caviezel (Head Brand Activation, Sponsorship & Events Switzerland, UBS) as the new President. Marco Greco, Head of Marketing at Ochsner Sport, was elected to the Board to replace Sven Schäfer.

Further information on the winning projects can be found at https://sponsoringschweiz.ch/award/sponsoring-excellence-award-2026/projekte/ available. The Award Night 2027 will take place on March 17, 2027.

More information: www.sponsoringschweiz.ch