Lidl Fan Cup

Objective

Lidl, Europe's leading grocery retailer and official FIFA partner in 2014, aimed to reinforce their innovative brand image during the World Cup and translate their core message of exciting and successful shopping into a football-themed digital experience that would engage European fans.

Solution

Lidl Fan Cup was a 6-week digital-physical hybrid tournament with the tagline 'Play online. Shoot offline.' Fans from 23 countries competed through a Facebook application that allowed them to remotely control 50 electromechanical foosball tables (100 playing fields total) housed in an arena in Frankfurt, Germany. The system used microcontrollers, steered motors, and multi-layered software architecture spanning four computer centers. Game mechanics included randomly-switched playing fields, 10-second video processing with instant replay display, and 84 seconds of Lidl product branding per game. Players engaged from any device without installation required.

Results

The Lidl Fan Cup campaign achieved 500,000+ new followers and 100 million media impressions, with €4 million in earned media coverage. Players averaged over 10 minutes engagement per session, and Lidl branded arenas generated 120,000 hours of cumulative branding exposure.