UEFA Sponsor Heineken Builds CGM Site

Heineken has built a site to collect photos and movies created by football (read: soccer) fans. The effort is part of a campaign supporting the brewer’s sponsorship of one of Europe’s biggest sporting tournaments.

ChampionsPlanet.com aims to provide a platform for Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) fans to express their love of the sport throughout the Champions League Cup. The effort taps into a recent trend of advertisers sponsoring and encouraging consumer-generated media (CGM). In this case, fans participate by submitting text, photography and video of themselves responding to various challenges issued by Heineken. A selection of the best submissions are then posted to the site and voted on by visitors.

For instance, last week’s mandate to “Show us the craziest thing you can do with a football!’ drew an entry from a group of men who took turns trying to kick a ball over a large fountain in a public square.

Based on the strength of their submissions, a group of contributors will be invited to assist in developing content on ChampionsPlanet.com in future seasons. They’ll be given their own “TV channel” on the site, including a production crew, Heineken said.

“We believe that the interactive platform, along with our global ad campaign, will allow us to connect football fans globally and create active engagement between the fans and the UEFA Champions League,” said Walter Drenth, Heineken’s global marketing communication manager, in a statement.

Heineken may have more to gain from its sponsorship than affiliation with a powerful sports franchise. Unlike many big sporting events, the UEFA Champions League games happen mid-week, which may result in more mid-week beer consumption.

The UEFA Champions League pits the national league champion teams from each nation against one another.