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The two companies teamed up with the film's producer, Entertainment Films, to run promotions giving away 10 flights and VIP tickets to a football match in any European city to which bmi flies. Bmi destinations include Milan, Barcelona and Rome. Signed film posters and merchandise were also up for grabs.

Rivals.net produced a microsite to support the promotion.

±±¾©Èü³µpk10 aims Rivals.net considered the film perfect for its brand because it is an archetypal fans' film that taps into the aspirations of its target audience. The online aspects of the promotion were designed to create hype about the film within the sports fan community. Entertainment Films did not develop an official site for the film, so the Rivals.net microsite fulfilled the role.

Creative A number of creative executions were used on the microsite to ensure the film gained maximum awareness. Rivals.net branding appeared within the film, and stills featuring this product placement were used in the campaign creative to maximise the sponsorship.

Online executions Rivals.net created a mini-site within its main web site, which was promoted in advertising for the film and in splash screens for the competition. An email marketing campaign was sent to 100,000 addresses, pushing the competition and microsite.

Offline executions The competition was promoted in bmi airport lounges, as well as on airline tickets and joint-branded leaflets, within its in-flight magazine and on posters at Heathrow Airport. Rivals.net appeared within the movie on pitch-side advertising hoardings and within scenes such as Ricky Tomlinson's press conferences. "We didn't need to market it offline,

says Chris Reed, marketing director at Rivals Digital Media.

"Ricky Tomlinson did it for us with his promotion of the film, which was usually accompanied by a clip that featured Rivals.net branding."

Results The campaign, which ran online and offline from September to November last year, attracted more than one million page impressions and more than 10,000 entries to the competition. For an outlay of between £10,000 and £20,000, Rivals.net achieved blanket coverage throughout traditional and online media, as well as product placement throughout the film. "The film smashed everybody's expectations,

says Reed. "We got an amazing amount of benefit back for our initial outlay, which will be revived when the DVD is released later this month and when the film is broadcast on TV in the autumn."