Source of this article: Times Finance Author: Liu Ziyu
Right now, the European Championship is in full swing. Walking through the city of Guangzhou at night, walking into a brightly lit bar or fan club at random, you can feel the frenzy and passion born of football.
"The moment the goal was scored, it was as if the whole world was boiling with beer foam!" Across the big screen, the fierce competition on the green field echoed the enthusiastic cheers of the fans, and every time a goal was scored, the fans would always raise their glasses and cheer.
In this visual and emotional feast, beer, a time-honored drink, together with fried chicken, barbecue, crayfish and other late-night snacks, formed an indispensable "watching partner", which not only linked the emotions of fans, ignited the carnival atmosphere, but also brought a lot of new vitality to the summer economy.
Online consumption: ushered in the boom of "watching the game".
The two-piece set of "supper + beer" is an indispensable "viewing partner" for most fans to watch football at night.
Whenever night falls, fans gather in front of the screen, and the delivery people who are on duty late at night rush to deliver the takeaway orders that are piled up in their hands. From crispy fried chicken to cold beer, to a variety of package menus, food delivery platforms have become the go-to place for fans to enjoy the game and satisfy their taste buds.
"Watching football at home, takeaway must be arranged! Fried chicken 'click', beer 'dong dong', this is the right way to watch the ball game! Mr. Wang, a fan who calls himself "i person", lamented that watching the game alone late at night, the beer bubble brought him an immersive sense of watching the game.
Mr. Zhang, a veteran fan, said that after graduation, he and his friends were busy with each other, and they rarely contacted each other even in the same city, but recently everyone has started to move around frequently because of the ball game. "My friends love to come to my house to watch the game, take turns ordering takeout, and chatting while eating, it's like going back to the happy time of the college dorm room!"
The hot effect of the early morning event has undoubtedly brought high traffic and orders to the local life service platform. According to data released by Douyin Life Service, from June 14 to 27, the search volume of the keyword "European Cup" on the platform increased by 29 times month-on-month, accompanied by a significant increase in the number of group purchases of "watching partners" such as fried chicken, lo-mei, and hot pot, with a year-on-year increase of more than 105%.
Ele.me's order data also reflects the boom in the late-night snack economy. After the start of the European Cup, the number of takeaway orders between 0-4 o'clock on the platform achieved a 30% month-on-month increase, especially the first opening game of the German team, which directly drove the takeaway orders from 2-3 o'clock in the morning on June 15 to increase by 32% month-on-month, fully reflecting the fans' dual love for the event and food.
As the heat of the event heats up, superimposed on the high temperature scene in summer, the beer economy has also ushered in the moment of "hi" beer. According to Ele.me data, since the start of the European Cup, the takeaway volume of ice and cold drinks during the night snack period has increased by 100% month-on-month, and the sales of beer and pre-blended liquor have increased by 50% and 42% month-on-month respectively.
In addition, from the feedback data of Tsingtao Brewery's e-commerce portal, it was learned that from June 15 to 25, the number of cases of the brand's classic series exceeded 180,000, a year-on-year increase of 17%; The number of boxes traded for high-quality puree was nearly 8,000, a year-on-year increase of 104%.
For many merchants, the traffic of the European Cup is undoubtedly very attractive. According to the data, from June 14th to 27th, the number of stores that launched themed group purchase packages related to "European Cup" and "Watching Football" on the Douyin life service platform increased by 51% month-on-month, and the types of group purchase packages on the shelves around the demand for watching the game increased by nearly 43% month-on-month.
The enthusiasm of fans to watch the game also made the e-commerce platform enter the game quickly. For example, Taobao has become the official partner of the 2024 Euro Cup, and launched a variety of European Cup family buckets during the event, as well as the same jersey and other products for the event; During the 618 period, Jingdong opened a special interactive session of the European Cup, providing the activity of "watching the European Cup and coming to Jingdong Interactive to draw tickets for the top box of the European Cup".
In essence, this is a big competition to convert traffic into sales. Driven by takeaway platforms, e-commerce platforms, and merchants, the European Cup, a large-scale sports event, has quickly set off a boom of "watching games" and has become a new driving force to promote the vitality of online consumption.
Offline marketing: focus on the "hi" beer atmosphere
Since the start of the European Cup, the online market has been full of vitality, and the offline viewing scene is also in full swing. Many pubs, restaurants, livehouses and other comprehensive entertainment venues have won the favor and active recommendation of many fans with their unique cultural creativity, football atmosphere or immersive experience.
Searching Xiaohongshu found that under the entries related to watching the European Cup, such as "European Cup fan viewing map", "good places to watch football in the European Cup", "bar watching football games" and "football treasure place", there are many types of offline stadiums recommended by netizens, involving Livehouse, craft beer halls, sports bars, late-night food stalls, etc., among which elements such as "big screen", "drinking" and "business hours" are recommended keywords.
"HDTV, big screen, that's all standard for watching football. In order to create a better environment for watching football, the store has also made a lot of decorations, and also held a quiz and beer giveaway activity. "The owner of a music bar in Guangzhou told me that on weekdays, the questions that customers ask in advance are usually about band performances, such as when there is a live performance, which band is tonight, etc." Recently, customers have been coming for football and beer, but due to the small space in the store, it is not possible to book a week in advance. ”
Another sports restaurant that focuses on sports fan clubs began to lay out the marketing of the European Cup as early as two months ago. Walking into the store, the first thing you see is a whole wall of star cards, nearly 10 TVs in the stadium are broadcast live simultaneously, and each game has set up interactive activities such as star card lottery, beer surprises, and wearing jerseys to form a team.
"I came here at 12 o'clock on the spot, there were a lot of people, and the scene was very shocking, even at 3 o'clock in the morning, the store was still very lively. The experience of watching the ball is good, and the craft beer is also very good. A fan said that everyone cheered while watching the game, and the atmosphere was super strong.
The store's manager revealed that the number of customers doubled during the European Cup, but the increase in turnover was relatively less significant, and is expected to be around 30%. "Mainly affected by the unit price of customers, new customers tend to choose cheap beer, and the store has also carried out a lot of free beer activities." He said that making money is only one aspect, but more driven by feelings, hoping to provide fans with an immersive place to watch the game and enjoy "hi" beer.
Through the window of the European Cup, offline viewing venues such as taverns and restaurants have attracted the attention of many fans and drinking friends. Among the domestic beer brands, Tsingtao Beer, Yanjing Beer, Pearl River Beer and other brands deeply bound to sports marketing have also held a variety of creative promotions or themed activities related to watching the games.
Taking Tsingtao Beer as an example, its TSINGTAO 1903 pub, as an important cultural position of the brand, has some stores across the country that are open until 2 a.m., which also provides fans with a strong sports passion for watching and communicating in a place, so that fans can enjoy the game while feeling a strong beer culture atmosphere.
Relying on the offline pub position, Tsingtao Beer plans to hold more than 30 viewing parties in more than 10 provinces and cities across the country from June, of which the number of parties in Shandong, Heilongjiang, Hubei and other three provinces will be 5 or more. By providing themed participation spaces and fun and interesting interactions, Tsingtao Beer continues to create emotional value for fans, strengthen customers' viewing experience, and collaborate with fan co-creators and fan influencers to enhance fan participation and spread fan culture.
"As long as there is love in the heart, the fan group will never be broken." A fan who experienced a party for the first time said that beer culture and sporting events are a natural pair, and it is impossible for fans to remember the game without beer, and beer lovers are likely to become fans of a certain team at some point in time.