A museum used Euro 2024 to champion immigration
The Media Plan
Immigration may not seem the most obvious topic for a campaign running during Euro 2024.
However, Migration Museum saw an opportunity to take its messaging of “championing immigration as a cultural force for good” to the masses during the tournament and briefed the7stars to plan a reactive yet “hard-hitting” campaign.
The London-based charity, whose mission is to explore the movement to and from the UK and showcase its positive impact for individuals, communities and the nation, worked with Wonderhood Studios on the creative, which highlighted the contributions of players from migrant backgrounds.
“England Without Immigration” ran during the football competition’s quarter-final and final. It showed the England line-up an hour before kick-off, with the names of players who would not have been there without migration crossed out post-match.
For Lauren Clark, a planner at the7stars, the need to show “support and pride” for the team “has always been pertinent”, but particularly after Euro 2020, when negative online sentiment and racist abuse “overshadowed” the players’ performance.
The target audience was “any and all football fans enjoying the game” and the work revolved around “the amazing contribution” made to the England men’s team by players from migrant backgrounds. Fifteen of the 26-man squad had the option to play for other countries either because they were born outside the UK or they have parents or grandparents of other nationalities.
Clark told The Media Leader: “This includes young talent such as Kobbie Mainoo, Jude Bellingham and Bukayo Saka, and more senior players including Kyle Walker, Declan Rice and Harry Kane. Yet, despite this, immigration remains a polarising issue in the UK and England players all too often still bear the brunt of racist abuse at major tournaments.”
The7stars worked with Kinetic and Alight Media on the fast-turnaround plan to tap into the “buzz and excitement of match day”, using more than 1,200 MiXR digital OOH screens in pubs and bars across the country. Alight began rolling out the digital retail media network in November 2023.
Inventory was provided pro bono and Clark said those sites “could not have been a more perfect fit of environment and partner” for Migration Museum.
“By appearing in prime locations around the UK when people were most engaged in the match, we were able to bring the topic of immigration to the table,” she explained.
“We wanted to be present at the point when people were watching the game live, so bars and pubs where the match was being shown were the natural environment for us to show up in. This allowed us to integrate into groups when contextual attention was high and conversation was rife.”
The campaign also included social media activations, with engagement particularly high on X, while it also attracted earned media coverage including on Sky News.