Brand's stepping up presence ahead of Euro 2012.

With just 37 day's to go before the European Championships the race is on  for brands to win the hearts and minds of fans before the big kick off. Total Digital Football has a round up of the latest brand campaigns.

With England ending their much feted search for a manager by appointing Norwegian speaking, globe trotting, and all round good egg Roy Hodgeson. Uncle 'Woy' and his softly spoken dulcet tones will now begin the difficult task of rallying his troops ahead of the tournament where England by all accounts are predicted to bow out in unspectacular fashion. Thankfully the brands who sponsor the official England side has started the excitement with a number of television and online campaigns with an aim to boost our nation's faltering hopes at the tournament.

First up official snack provider of the England national team Mars who recently launched a brand new advert in line with the Euro's staring England players Theo Wallcott, Glenn Johnson and Scott Parker, along with PFA player of the year Robin Van Persie. All of which can be viewed in the video below. It's part of a wider campaign over the course of the tournament which includes a give away of 1000 special limited edition t-shirts. Coupled with extensive social media presence pushing the "play your part" tagline over Facebook.





Carlsberg are also ramping up there presence in the market, to go with the brands new phone application which they recently launched. In conjunction with the offical beer of the tournament the brand is also the official beer of the England national team. To celebrate the brand has launched a limited edition pack for the tournament, featuring Leighton Baines, Darren Bent, Joe Hart and Ashley Young (see above). They have also arranged a tie up with Sports Direct to make sure that all customer's are entitled to a 10% discount on all England branded products. Expect the brewer to also up it's digital offering through Facebook and brand ambassador Gareth Southgate. 

Eager not to miss out on the branding frenzie the official sports drink of England Lucozade, has just released a new advert. The 30 second advert which made it's debut during the break of Monday's Manchester derby. It star's the drink brand's ambassador Ashley Young, talking about the importance of remaining focused for the whole 90 minutes, presumably if it doesn't involve throwing yourself to the ground to win a penalty. Along with this the energy drink is currently running a promo to win an official England football from especially marked up packets.

So with the Championships just over a month away brands tied to England and the tournament in a  official capacity are making there presence felt. In a busy summer of sport brands will be looking to make there mark with consumers, and this is where i feel that truly interactive online and creative campaigns will stand out brands for there competitors.