How eToro used sports sponsorship to add 17M users
Summary
As cryptocurrency trading became a mainstream topic of conversation in 2018, eToro activated a game-changing sports sponsorship strategy that drove huge awareness across the world, helping the brand’s user base grow from 10 million in 2018 to 27 million in 2022. This is how they did it.
2017’s crypto boom propelled cryptocurrency, particularly bitcoin, into the spotlight as a topic of mainstream conversation. Having traditionally concentrated marketing activity around paid digital ad channels, eToro wanted to make a unique move to raise brand awareness and build long-term customer loyalty. Sports sponsorship with cryptocurrency was seen as the optimum platform to do this.
eToro’s sport sponsorship strategy overview
Premier League Aggregation Strategy (2018 – Present) A high-density, multi-club partnership in the world’s most watched sports league, including top 6 teams Tottenham and Arsenal, focused on driving brand exposure worldwide.
Bundesliga Aggregation Strategy (2021 – 2022) An additional aggregation strategy, following the success of the brand’s efforts in the Premier League, including Champions League side RB Leipzig, to increase brand awareness in Germany and around the world.
Serie A Aggregation Strategy (2021 – 2022) An additional aggregation strategy, following the success of the brand’s efforts in the Premier League, partnering with eight Italian teams to increase brand awareness in Italy and around the world.
European Front of Shirt Strategy (2020 – Present) Becoming the main partner of high-profile clubs in secondary European leagues to boost brand awareness in additional key markets.
Australian Rugby (2021 – Present) A long-term brand building platform in eToro’s key Australian market, with the brand appearing on the national team’s kit and becoming the naming rights partner of all inbound Tests, including The Rugby Championship.
Formula E – DS Techeetah (2021) An experimental partnership, with eToro paying for the deal via a £1m investment into the DS Techeetah investment account, aimed at educating audiences on the potential to grow their wealth via investing.
The Racing League (2021) A naming rights partnership, with eToro becoming the principal partner of eToro Racing Team in Racing League 2021 aiming to drive awareness and educate audiences on crypto.
How did this strategy benefit eToro?
Sustained Long-Term Global Awareness
Amid increased competition from competitors, eToro wanted to establish a point of difference to drive awareness and customer loyalty. The ‘always on’ aggregation model gave the brand a huge match day presence in key European leagues, including the Premier League (3.2BN annual viewers), where branding appeared at 35% of all games via LED perimeter advertising and interview backdrop logo placement.
Enhanced Exposure in Key Regions
eToro supplemented this approach with strategic uniform partnerships with high-profile teams in Europe’s secondary leagues, and other sports, including Rugby Australia (see below), to drive added brand exposure in markets of particular interest.
“We’ve seen an influx of Aussie retail investors into financial markets over the past 12 months…Our vision is to open the global markets to everyone and we see this partnerships as an opportunity to reach the fans behind the team.” – Robert Francis, Managing Director, Australia, eToro
Global Media / PR Exposure
eToro’s football sponsorship strategy was ground-breaking as the first Premier League sponsorship deal paid for in bitcoin. The innovative move positioned eToro as a crypto pioneer, gaining global media coverage from leading financial publications as a result, including the Forbes (see below).
“It has been a huge six months since eToro signed a sponsorship agreement with seven Premier League clubs. The announcement of the deal was a watershed moment as the worlds of blockchain, crypto and football finally converged.” – Joe Wallen, Back of the Net: eToro Leads Football’s Fintech Revolution, Forbes
Elevated Trust & Credibility
Sponsoring in Europe’s leading leagues positioned eToro alongside fellow blue-chip financial sponsors, including Barclays and Standard Chartered, increasing consumer trust. Paying for their first Premier League partnership in bitcoin also heightened credibility for crypto at a key moment for the digital currency.
Enhancement of Brand Marketing Campaigns
eToro integrated club partner IP and legend appearances from the likes of Joe Cole and Per Mertesacker to increase engagement with brand marketing campaigns. Meanwhile, the brand leveraged their partners’ 75m+ social media following to deliver year-round digital marketing campaigns to drive awareness online.
Unique Acquisition & Retention Proposition
Each team partnership provided eToro with a unique rights package, providing opportunities for the brand to drive customer acquisition and retention. This included match day VIP hospitality, match tickets and signed merchandise for competitions, giveaways and to incentivise users to open accounts with eToro.
Global Customer Education Platform
Following a successful first year, eToro evolved their activation strategy to concentrate on educating users on how to invest successfully. They did this via fan-focused activations, including fan workshops at club-owned venues (stadiums / training ground) and the eToro Fan Financial Statement, all designed to make fans think about how they invest their money.
What Results Did eToro Achieve Using This Sponsorship Strategy?
eToro’s sports sponsorship strategy has had a game-changing impact for the business, with their Premier League partnerships becoming the brand’s most cost-effective UK marketing channel, according to Dylan Holman, Head of Global Sponsorships, eToro.
The partnerships helped the brand to achieve a massive increase in users, from 10m (2018) to 27m (2022), driven by a huge, sustained uplift in global awareness, brand trust and credibility.
“The ‘always on’ approach gave us an excellent platform to accelerate global reach, while the additional activations allowed eToro to grow massive awareness and maintain fan interest to educate them on investing. It has become our most cost-effective UK marketing channel as a result.” – Dylan Holman, Head of Global Sponsorships, eToro
To find out more, get in touch with the team.
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