The Stevenage Challenge
Stevenage might be an ideal location for commuters, but its proximity to the homes of Premier League teams West Ham, Tottenham and Arsenal make it a tricky spot for a football club. Minnows Stevenage currently lie in the bottom tier of the Football League, narrowly escaping relegation in a prematurely halted 2019-20 campaign. And yet, an ingenious marketing campaign from Burger King has made Stevenage one of the most popular teams in the FIFA video game franchise.
Sponsorship deals with top teams are highly lucrative, but Burger King instead opted to become the shirt sponsor of Stevenage FC. Beyond the 3,000 fans who turn out to home games at the Lamex Stadium, the mega-brand realised that the tie-up would result in a place on the hugely popular FIFA video game. Burger fans were encouraged to play as Stevenage on the game, and upload videos of their achievements in exchange for food prizes.
The result? The club has sold out of its official shirts for the first time in its history and has become the most used team on streaming service Twitch. Not bad for the reported £50,000 Burger King paid for the shirt sponsorship.
Period Red
Pantone, the company who founded the universally recognised Pantone Colour Matching System, has launched a new colour – in partnership with Swedish feminine products brand Intimina – to end menstruation stigma.
The new shade of red, entitled ‘Period’, is the latest addition to the company’s renowned 2,625 colour swatch book and – as part of the Seen+Heard campaign – encourages detailed discussions about menstruation regardless of gender to challenge ubiquitous and outdated attitudes which stigmatise periods despite the fact they are experienced by literally billions of people.
Apparently, the colour is “an energising and dynamic red shade… that represents a steady flow during menstruation”.
Stoptober. Sobertober. October.
October marks the first in a spate of annual healthy-month campaigns punctuated this year by an inevitably sad, socially distanced Christmas. If you can fit broad medical advice into a pun on the name of month then you have an annual health campaign.
Grumpiness aside, the MacMillan campaign to Go Sober for October is an incredible success every year, with over £1.6m raised already. Combined with the NHS Stoptober smoking campaign, whiskery circus Movember and the Dry January/Veganuary ‘twofer’ we can look forward to a winter of abstinence, with only a brief pause before Lent.
And just think, if all of these temporary promises stick we’ll soon be a nation of moustachioed, teetotal vegans. A chilling thought.