Hazard, De Bruyne, Lukaku, … just a few names of the golden generation of the Belgian National Football team. Never in history have the Belgian National Football team had more chances to win a big tournament. And this potential victory could be felt in the whole of Belgium. With the EURO 2020 being postponed for a year the excitement and the expectations were higher than ever before. Not only for the team but also for the supporters. As the main sponsor of the Belgian National Football team alias the Red Devils and the biggest telco provider in Belgium, Proximus wanted to create a national feeling by literally showing the emotional state of the whole country. The Belgian Heartbeat is an activation that for the first time in sports history shows the statistics of the supporters. Revealing insights with infographics on how emotionally engaged Belgium’s were during the competitions.

Instead of analyzing statistics on player performance, we measured in real time the emotions of the supporters watching the matches.

How does it work:

Supporters from all parts of the country received a tracking device measuring heartbeat, movement, and decibels. During the match, every supporter’s statistics were captured. Custom software converted those individual data into averages and linked them in real-time to a particular action on the pitch. These supporters’ statistics revealed some surprising insights that we shared with the sports press via a match report where all the data was collected in an infographic.

The Belgian Red Devils are loved by many brands and brands are fighting for the same attention, sharing the same love for our star players. So Proximus needed to highlight their partnership in a different way.

Research showed that Gen Z and Millennials want to understand how a sponsor is meaningful apart from financial support. The real why for Proximus as a Belgian brand seems to be clear, but there’s more common ground with the “federation”. First, football has always been an interconnector for society with the Red Devils as the ultimate nationwide unification. Secondly, and more important is the increasing use of digital data for football analytics. For Proximus the perfect combo to broaden from connectivity to the more unknown technology partner for the Belgian fans.

We decided to combine these insights and launched a fully digital and technological idea in favor of the Belgian supporter.

Before the Euro 2020, we teased, announced, and explained the action with digital led-boarding during the friendly game beginning of June, display bannering on DPG news sites, videos on SoMe (organic), and influencers kicking off a contest for their followers to win a polar device and be part of the panel.

Before each match of the Red Devils, we pulled off social organic and engaging content such as a poll. Our influencers reminded their audience to watch the game.

And after each match, we’ve sent the match reports to the press with infographics. We presented the emotions we all could have felt, together with the statistics of the supporters on digital OOH and SoMe.

• Our supporters’ stats were used on National TV during live commentating.

• We reached 78% of all Belgians.

• The campaign reached 2,5 million Belgians with paid media.

• On social media, the supporters’ stats generate the highest engagement rate ever for a Proximus campaign with an engagement rate of 14, 52%.

• Thanks to The Belgian Heartbeat campaign everyone felt part of one big team supporting the Belgian Red Devils.