I don’t drink much beer, but I always liked the Birra Moretti keg that looks like a football. After spending some time squeezing my brain-cells, I still couldn’t come up with a club that has the Italian beer brand as a sponsor on their jersey or on billboards in their stadium. (If anyone knows or finds out, please let me know.)

Visiting the Birra Moretti website, it soon becomes apparent that the context-base of their marketing strategy is football; Marketing through Sports, to use more appropriate marketing terminology. The company applies a traditional mainstream marketing strategy, which according to Sam Fullerton’s Sports Marketing textbook ‘can be defined as the use of traditional marketing strategies that incorporate a sports theme into the marketing program for nonsports products.’ Mr Fullerton continues stating that ‘it is important to remember that the intent of a mainstream strategy is to use the traditional elements of a marketing strategy to create a sports overlay in an effort to sell nonsports products.’ That is exactly what Birra Moretti does.

Target Marketing. The company offers a fantasy football online game, Birra Moretti Calcio, that engages potential customers and (hopefully) entices them over a longer period of time.

Product. Birra Moretti offers beer kegs that look like a football. In addition, the packaging of a six pack might suggest the participation for a football-related sweepstake.

Promotion. Birra Moretti adds sweepstakes to the mix like La Serata Perfetta. La Serata Perfetta comes in collaboration with Italian pasta-maker Buitoni Bella Napoli. Participants can win a 12-month Sky Calcio subscription (among other things), that enables them to watch all Serie A matches, which might be much more fun with a glass-full of Birra Moretti, as their marketers might suggest.

Pricing. Not much I can say in this regard, except that I did not see many beer kegs in Italian supermarkets. Obviously, buying a beer keg gives customers more beer for the money, which means it’s a good option for football fans, who meet up with their friends to watch a football match on the couch.

Distribution. Birra Moretti’s distribution of beer kegs in supermarkets, where football fans shop for groceries and snacks for football-match viewings at home, is a must.