The fans are almost unstoppable

 
Commercial Broadcasting Publicis breaks all boundaries with the Fan Championship M'08 and still doesn't get a red card for ambush marketing. 
TV advertising - that was once upon a time. "Commercial broadcasting is the new form of corporate communication that transcends all known formats. Publicis shows how it's done and launches M'08, the "first fan championship in football history" for Migros in the run-up to the European Championships next year, when Switzerland will host the football spectacle. "Then, of course, everyone will want to advertise. Our country will be flooded with advertisements, posters and TV commercials about football and the European Championship," Jean Etienne Aebi is convinced. He expects a lot of good and solid advertising, which has only one disadvantage: "It will get lost in the general advertising maelstrom."
This should not happen to Migros. With M'08, Publicis and Aebi have created a new communication tool for the major distributor that can do more than just advertise. M'08 is a show, a spectacle and fan involvement "at its best", as the creators and managers enthused at the launch. The M'08 is its own TV production based on broadcasting, which determines the first fan champion in football history in an exciting and entertaining competition and also entertains numerous sideshows. And all this under a uniform M'08 appearance that unites Migros' entire fan commitment.
On Wednesday of this week, the first round of 16 flickered across the screen - the Swiss fans won against Sweden. The disciplines "throwing the TV out of the window", "shouting a goal" and "opening beer bottles" were "played" - without a license, because it's not about football. And here the hard-working fans managed to open 24 bottles in 20 seconds - non-alcoholic beer, of course.
More exciting are the facts and figures that give an idea of the new advertising dimension surrounding this M'08: In order to stage the Fan Championship on Swiss television in front of an audience of millions, SF 1 alone booked a total of 18 times 6 minutes of prime time. A special M'08 stadium was built in Switzerland's largest television studio as the venue. Like every mega-event, the M'08 also has its own fan anthem. "Unhaltbar" by Adrian Stern should even make it into the charts thanks to Universal.
The fact that the M'08 is far more than just a normal advertising event is also demonstrated by the numerous sponsors involved. In addition to the Migros companies Sport XX, M-Electronics, Do-it & Garden, Micasa and Le Shop, international companies such as Volkswagen and Disney also support the Fan Championship.
Of course, the communication side of this idea offers just as many opportunities as it does hard work. A booklet with a match schedule will be published in millions and will provide an overview of all teams, matches and M'08 activities. M'08 fans can stock up on M'08 caps, M'08 pulse warmers and individually labeled M'08 shirts in the M'08 store. Migros will also be stocking its best products in the stores with its own M'08 editions: M'08 detergent "for champions", M'08 washing-up liquid "with lawn scent", for example.
Ringier Press has been secured as a media partner, and of course Migros Magazine will also be close to the action.
As a central communication platform, the Internet has become a goal net and a playing field. The biggest Swiss cross-media campaign of all time is rounded off with www.M08.ch: Here you can find out everything about the M'08 and the associated activities. Blogs and forums enable direct contact with fans and like-minded people, and an online version of the Fan Championship also ensures excitement and customer loyalty.
Of course, there is also excitement at SF: How will the ratings for this new "commercial broadcasting" develop?
Andreas Panzeri