We’re at the start of what promises to be a memorable summer for sports and music fans in the U.K. Following UEFA Euro 2024 and the first British leg of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, we have Wimbledon, countless festivals, and the Paris Olympics and Paralympics to look forward to.
Increasingly, these key cultural moments extend well beyond the concerts and games themselves. For many U.K. fans, they mean connecting with others and exploring through digital video and social media, from what to wear to a show to watch-along matches. We can also expect unpredictable moments to define the season; think about rapper Dave spontaneously inviting Alex from the crowd to perform at Glastonbury or the Lionesses celebrating in style after winning the Euros in 2022.
This summer presents an opportunity for British brands to authentically reach fans when they are most engaged. And there’s no tool quite like video to hit that goal, as 87% of Gen Z YouTube viewers in the U.K. agree that YouTube has content that allows them to go deep with what they love.1 To truly resonate, brands need to understand the different types of fandom, how they consume media, and the content that ignites their passions.
Own the moment with die-hard fans
Die-hard fans know the score — in fact, they might well remember every score from every match from the past five years. Behind-the-scenes videos, interactive experiences that put their knowledge to the test, and deep dives into archive content are all likely to feature in the playlists of this highly dedicated and engaged cohort.
While the opportunities here for U.K. brands are rich and numerous, these fans are also quick to detect a brand’s inauthenticity or when it’s simply jumping on the bandwagon. The solution? Develop authentic sponsorship partnerships and create content that aligns with viewers’ interests.
Take inspiration from Levi’s — a fashion company with a long history of cultural associations, especially in music and pop culture — which last year celebrated 150 years of its iconic 501 jeans.
To coincide with this milestone, Levi’s was the exclusive brand advertiser in the U.K. and other European markets for all YouTube live-streamed performances and catch-up content of the Coachella festival, a U.S. music event with a growing global presence.
Levi’s long-standing cultural ties helped make this sponsorship resonate authentically with serious music fans. Additionally, YouTube enabled the brand to scale its reach effectively. The sponsorship achieved a 4% lift in incremental reach (equivalent to 1.3 million users) and a 19-point increase in sponsor association with a core demographic of 18- to 34-year-olds in the U.K.2 It also utilised Google AI to customise voiceovers, in eight other European markets, helping drive engagement.
Tip for marketers: Utilise sponsorships to boost brand visibility and engagement with die-hard fans. Our analysis with Kantar of two years’ worth of YouTube sponsorships shows that, on average, advertisers experience a 17 percentage point lift in brand awareness and 18 percentage point increase in their association with the event they sponsor.3
Win over casual fans with tried-and-tested storytelling
You don’t need to be a super fan to be drawn into the atmosphere, excitement, and storytelling surrounding major sporting and music events.
Engagement with related video content on YouTube soars during significant cultural moments, attracting more casual fans and drawing in new ones. For instance, with each FIFA World Cup, the digital audience gets bigger. YouTube viewers watched more than 600 million hours of related content during the 2022 men’s tournament — from both Qatar and historic World Cups.
As the sponsor of the Welsh Rugby Union, U.K. price comparison site Go.Compare launched a series of engaging campaign videos during the Six Nations Championship, in partnership with branded content agency, Drum U.K. The objective was to reach a wider audience of casual and traditional rugby fans and further strengthen brand awareness.
Featuring the brand’s famous moustached opera singer alongside professional Welsh rugby players, the videos used the popular YouTube “challenge” format. The content is inherently entertaining and requires no expert knowledge, making it accessible and engaging for a diverse spectrum of fans, even those with minimal interest in the sport.
Tip for marketers: Got your video content all ready to go using a proven and recognisable storytelling format? Make it work harder with the right activation. To drive brand awareness and consideration, Go.Compare utilised a 100% share of voice of the Six Nations YouTube channel, maximising the moment with YouTube Mastheads and a YouTube Select lineup. To engage new audiences and non-rugby fans, the brand also used AI-powered video reach. The Six Nations campaign reached 21 million unique users across the U.K., with a 21 percentage point increase in top-of-mind awareness and a 20% Search Lift.
Fan the conversation with social fans
You can easily spot a social fan online: they’re the ones deeply engaged with video content, frequently commenting, sharing insights, and participating in fan theories and discussions.
However, being easy to recognise doesn’t necessarily make them easy to engage with. To effectively reach this cohort, brands should explore social and influencer strategies that enhance and support content fans know and love.
For example, The Sidemen football charity match has proved to be a fruitful opportunity for brand partnerships since it first ran in 2016. The British YouTube supergroup, which has amassed more than 43.6 billion combined views, is known for its engaging challenges, live streams, and active community interactions. This type of content is ideal for reaching social fans who thrive on deep involvement and sustained conversations.
Last year’s event not only provided substantial brand exposure for those involved, with more than 237 million views, but also successfully raised over £2.4 million for charities such as CALM and Teenage Cancer Trust.
Tip for marketers: It’s easier to fan an existing conversation than start a new one. Explore partnerships with relevant creators and pull on their expertise on how to connect with their fanbase and help your ad content cut through — which often means simply helping them “do their thing”. In an MTM survey, 57% of YouTube users in the U.K. said they wanted to support creators they relate to by watching ads on their videos.
4 ways to connect with fans on YouTube this summer
- Explore authentic sponsorships: Identify opportunities that genuinely resonate with your brand and feel natural and credible to your audience.
- Tap into the power of creators: Form partnerships with influencers and allow them to engage their followers with their own style and content.
- Use established YouTube formats: Drive engagement with storytelling formats, such as challenges, which are well-known to audiences.
- Employ AI-powered solutions: Test and learn with YouTube’s Video Reach campaigns to expand your audience reach efficiently and effectively.
