Sponsors ready Champions League activity

Sony is planning to focus its advertising around a series of experiential events in Munich. The technology business, which sponsors the league alongside its Playstation brand, is hosting its annual ‘Das Stadion’ experience at this year’s UEFA Champions League Festival.

Fans can watch the finals of the Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 video game tournaments Sony launched last month as well as seeing music acts including soul singer, Aloe Blacc in the run up to the match

Elsewhere, Ford is hosting a virtual penalty shootout on the eve of the match in Munich to promote its new B-Max model.

The experiential campaign invites participants to take three virtual penalty kicks before using specialist Sony Hawk-Eye software to measure the power and precision for each shot. Ford is the longest-standing UEFA partner and will give participants personalised video analysis of their performance.

Heineken is looking to roll out its Starplayer app, a game that lets players compete with friends to predict what happens next in a match, during the final but says the majority of its promotions will be around a series of live screenings around the world it is funding.

Separately, Adidas, which is the official kit supplier for both competing teams, is seizing the opportunity to launch a new TV campaign for its Predator Lethal zones boot. Arsenal and Netherlands player Robin Van Persie and Barcelona and Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernandez are shown in the commercial testing the boot against high-pressure water jets, giant fan propelled air blasters and exploding ball cannons.

The ad will air during the final and will be shown throughout next month’s UEFA European Championship matches next month also.

Tomorrow’s match is expected to attract more than 100 million television viewers around the world.

For sponsors, the match offers an unusual amount of worldwide exposure particularly in and around the host stadium, this year at Bayern Munich’s Allianz Stadium. Indeed, last year’s final between Manchester United and Barcelona attracted a worldwide audience of 178 million, the highest of any sporting event in 2011.

UEFA has forced all non-sponsors of the tournament to remove their branding from the venue, which includes its naming rights owner Allianz, to protect the exclusive rights of the tournament’s official partners.