Allianz has a very strong connection to the world of football – as an official partner of FC Bayern Munich and naming rights partner of the Allianz Arena. The Allianz Junior Football camp is a perfect and very effective way to combine these engagements in one promotion. The central aspect in the development and planning of the camp was the internationality of the project. It offered a once-in-a-lifetime-experience for the chosen participants. They not only got exclusive insight into the world of FC Bayern and the Allianz Arena, but also met other teenagers from nine different countries and three continents.
Allianz companies were immediately taken and enthusiastic with the idea of the camp. Ariane Landim, Allianz Brazil: "We think, this is the kind of activity which has a great deal of positive impact on the companies’ image. It is social and exciting, nice and friendly. I can affirm that this strategy has been a success for Allianz Brazil."
After announcing the camp, the companies got into action. Flyers were produced, the promotion for the camp was published through various media channels. In the Netherlands the number one radio station did some great publicity for the camp– a live interview with Mark van Bommel, footballer of FC Bayern. The participating countries put their own juries together. "We were honored that the commercial director of one of the biggest soccer clubs in the Netherlands – FC Utrecht – participated in the jury", says Melanie van Thor, Allianz Netherlands.
With all the positive coverage in the media it was fairly easy to get the applicants interested. The young people had the chance from July 1-31 to send their application online. Then the juries of the nine countries had a hard job, selecting 32 teenagers, ages 14 to 16 years old, from over 2,500 applicants. The criteria were a strong interest in intercultural exchange, passion for football and an original application.
