Etihad - City2City

Etihad - City2City

It has long been a trend for airlines, among those in the Gulf in particular, to sponsor some of the world’s most famous sports teams in a bid to become involved with the passionate communities surrounding them.

For example when looking at football / soccer, Qatar Airways sponsors FC Barcelona, Emirates supports a range of clubs including Real Madrid and Arsenal, while Etihad has since 2009 sponsored Manchester City.

These sponsorships have in the past translated into in-flight safety videos, for example Emirates shot a video at a Benfica match, while a Qatar Airways video featuring the FC Barcelona players notched up 25 million views within three weeks of going live.

Recently Etihad took its football sponsorship programme one stage further to show how it helps the sport at a community, as well as a professional level.

“City2City” is a joint venture between Manchester City and Etihad, which takes the form of a micro-site and a series of short documentary films. Each film features the “untold stories of the grassroots game” in a different city.

The first episode featured the Chinese capital Beijing, following the story of local footballers Huang and Ding who are helping train a new generation of footballers in China.

The second episode was released on 20 April with the focus being New York. Introduced by football legend and New York FC head coach Patrick Viera, the film revolves around the story of Spanish Harlem resident and up and coming women’s soccer player Shaeline Diaz. So far this video has notched up over 750k views on YouTube.

Future cities in the series include Paris and Mumbai.

The videos were produced by acclaimed youth media brand VICE Media, which founder Shane Smith has said he wants to turn into the next CNN. This year the media company announced plans to more than double its presence by moving from being in 34 to 80 countries, and brand partnerships such as the one with Etihad are a key part of its strategy.

The tie-up has really paid off as the videos (which feature both full length 15-20 minute films and three minute short versions) are shot in a punchy, engaging style. And by having a mix of sporting celebrities such as Patrick Viera and human interest stories, the videos really draw the viewer in.

On the website, each film has a ‘call to action’ where visitors are invited to watch the clip and then answer a simple question in exchange for being in a draw to win Etihad tickets to Abu Dhabi.

Finally the series of being promoted across Etihad’s social media channels, with Etihad cabin crew providing destination tips around each of the cities featured in the films.

Key Take-Away

One theme we’ve talked about in our reports is the importance of making any sponsorship more than a logo badging exercise. After all, any brand with enough budget can pay money to be associated with a sport, event or a team.

But what can you do to add an element of realness and authenticity to it? Also, why you? Why can’t another brand do what you are doing and if you swapped the logos around would anyone notice?

Etihad is answering those questions by linking together three key elements: Its existing relationship with Manchester City, some of the key destinations that it flies to, and human interest stories via grassroots football.