Rather than disregarding traditional advertising mediums altogether, we transformed one. NIVEA MEN already had a football sponsorship with one of the world’s most supported teams: Real Madrid. We knew this would capture attention from the target audience, so we transformed this sponsorship into something men would want to and could be a part of.

Instead of communicating from business to consumer, we leveraged human to human connection. 30 influencers from all over the world were invited to Madrid to experience the life of a Real madrid player. From watching a match, to sightseeing, to getting ready for a game with NIVEA. The invitation was also extended to several lucky followers, who they made sure their followers were all there with them. Activating the right audience, through the right influencers, made sure everyone could be part of the game.

31 influencers were flown to Madrid for a weekend of activities with NIVEA and Real Madrid. Some of their lucky followers joined them as winners of the online activation.

They visited the grounds, had a tour of the changing rooms, met the players, enjoyed a kick-around on the training pitch, attended a Real Madrid game, explored the city and more. All activities were captured on film in photo and video content that the influencers could repurpose with #preparewithNIVEAMEN.

A majority of the content was shared live whilst the influencers were in Madrid, across channels ranging from Instagram, YouTube, Weibo, Facebook and Twitter. Instagram Stories provided a highly effective format for helping their followers make them feel like they were really there with them.

During the game, an in-stadium Twitter activation took place that boosted reach. Additional global press coverage from the game itself included the NIVEA x Real Madrid partnership.

45.100.000 impressions (sextupled the KPI)

1.800.000 engagements (quintupled)

8% social engagement rate (more than 2.5x industry standard)

1,161 earned posts (sextupled)

85% earned media

31 influencers (vs 22 KPI)

#2 trending topic in Spain on Twitter with #preparewithNIVEAMEN

This is NIVEA’s most successful digital campaign to date. Providing an experience with perfectly matched influencers drove high levels of earned media, press coverage, engagement and therefore ROI.

We were able to activate the right audience through the right influencers. By repurposing the traditional sports sponsorship, we facilitated game involvement from everyone; player, influencer and follower alike.