What a feeling for the nation as England Women beat Germany 2-1 this past weekend to win Euro 2022.
It was the first major trophy victory for the Lionesses and ensured adulation across the country as football finally came home.
What I loved, too, was the terrific ‘moment marketing’ by a host of top brands in placing themselves in the post-match conversation.
Below, I pick out my 6 favourites.
NIKE
Kit sponsor Nike created flags and t-shirts for the squad to wear on the pitch at full time, featuring the brand’s famous swoosh and the word ‘Home’.
You’ll have seen this if you were watching the coverage on BBC Sport – and it was simply a brilliant activation by the sportswear giants.
The word ‘Home’ was obviously a nod to the iconic phrase from football anthem Three Lions.
And they followed this up with a press wrap on the front of the the Metro newspaper, celebrating the names of the squad on the back of it, too.
SPECSAVERS
Specsavers are known for their reactive moment marketing – and the Lionesses victory in Euro 2022 offered up another prime opportunity for them.
Their formula is: relevant conversation + relevant brand angle + tone of voice = opportunity.
And they were quick to act on the final whistle, here, too.
They used an image of manager Sarina Wiegman’s now famous glasses to help spell out ‘00 more years of hurt’, in another nod to the Three Lions song made famous by David Baddiel, Frank Skinner and the Lightning Seeds.
This is another masterclass as it’s on brand, funny and celebratory all in one.
DOMINOS
Dominos honoured ex-employee Lucy Bronze by renaming the branch where she used to work after the Lioness following England’s semi-final win over Sweden.
The pizza brand’s sign was replaced with the lettering ‘Lucy’s’ at the Headingley store where she worked while studying at Leeds Metropolitan University.
And they produced a wonderful piece of social media creative after the final victory over Germany, creating a St George’s Flag out of their famous pizza boxes.
Wonderful work.
NETFLIX
Netflix, like Specsavers, are known for their funny approach to social media – and they were at it again for the Lionesses win in Euro 2022.
The newest villain in their hit show, Stranger Things, is Vecna – a once human turned undead wizard.
He’s a formidable foe in the Upside Down, which makes their England Women post featuring him even more hilarious.
In it, Netflix show the monster watching the game, instead of his usual activities such as controlling minds and paralysing people.
PEPSI MAX
Tournament lead sponsor Pepsi MAX, working with agency Creative Players, were another brand to draw inspiration from ‘Three Lions’ with a wonderful post-match OOH activation.
They projected the words ‘It’s Home’ – with the word ‘coming’ scrubbed out for artistic effect – on the White Cliffs of Dover and in the hometowns of the players.
ROYAL MAIL
The Royal Mail were in impressive form on social media with a brilliant reactive tweet after the Lionesses victory.
Again leaning into ‘Three Lions’, they produced a superb graphic – a football-shaped parcel bound for ‘home’ first-class.
Simple. But highly effective.
Paul Brown 