Fan Cup
View the case- Brand
- Lidl
- Year
- 2014
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Retail
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Installation
- Agency
- The White Zebra
Objective
Lidl, an official FIFA partner for the 2014 World Cup, wanted to grow its Facebook following across Europe in one campaign and carry its "enjoyable, rewarding shopping" message from stores into a digital, entertainment-led setting that read as inventive rather than promotional. It also wanted fans to feel like active participants in the tournament — scoring a goal for their own country — rather than passive spectators, with its product range staying visible throughout the experience.
Solution
A player opens Lidl's Facebook app on a computer, tablet or phone, picks one of 23 countries and is matched against a live opponent from another nation for a penalty shoot-out, with both countries' flags shown before kickoff. Taking turns as shooter and goalkeeper, the player sets the speed and angle of a shot, or positions the keeper to try to save the opponent's strike. Those inputs move a real foosball table inside a purpose-built arena in Frankfurt, and cameras capture the play and send it straight back to the player as an instant replay from several angles. Each result adds points to the player's home country on a running table of nations, and the six-week tournament plays out alongside the real World Cup until one country comes out on top.
Results
The campaign drew over 500,000 new Facebook fans in six weeks, lifting daily fan growth by 300% over the brand's usual rate, and engaged roughly 11 million Facebook users across Europe. More than 300,000 matches were played among the 23 participating nations, with over 100,000 already logged within the first few days, and average player engagement ran past 10 minutes per session. The branded game boards generated 120,000 hours of on-screen exposure, and coverage of the campaign reached 100 million media impressions worth an estimated €4 million in earned media. The Czech Republic won the nations tournament.
- 1
The player opens the Fan Cup app directly from Lidl's Facebook page on any device, logging in with a Facebook account and installing nothing.
- 2
The player picks one of 23 European national teams to represent, and the app matches them against a live opponent from another country, showing both flags before the match starts.
- 3
Each match opens on a live camera feed of a real table-football table inside a purpose-built Frankfurt arena, dressed as a mini-stadium for one of 25 Lidl product lines.
- 4
On offense the player sets the angle and power of a shot and confirms it, while the opponent positions a goalkeeper to guess and block the shot.
- 5
The chosen move is executed for real: figures on the physical table strike the ball offline, cameras capture the action, and the player gets a multi-angle video replay within about ten seconds.
- 6
Players alternate roles between shooter and goalkeeper across a penalty-shootout sequence, with the table's playing field switching to a different branded arena between turns.
- 7
A win or draw earns the player points that count toward their country's national score, which they can track on a nations leaderboard and keep playing to improve.
- 8
The competition runs as a knockout tournament alongside the real World Cup, narrowing the top 16 countries over several weeks down to a single champion — Czech Republic in 2014.
