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The agency won the task after a battle against Saatchi & Saatchi London, Soul, St Luke's and the incumbent, DDB Copenhagen, in a pitch run out of Carlsberg's head office in Denmark.

The agency will roll out a fully integrated global campaign to support the sponsorship in 50 markets across the world. Forthcoming activity will involve TV ads, idents, press, poster and online work, as well as extensive in-store and promotional activity. Billings are likely to amount to around £20m

RKCR/Y&R will present a bank of work to Carlsberg's regional offices, each of which will decide what to run in their respective markets before the start of next summer's tournament, based in Portugal.

While some airtime comes as part of the sponsorship deal, regional media buying and planning will not be handled centrally, with each market having its own media budget.

The sponsorship deals entitle the top-line partners to perimeter signs across 31 of the tournament's matches, as well as exclusive display rights. RKCR/Y&R will also factor in on-site branding opportunities targeting fans.

Carlsberg was the first sponsor to sign up for Euro 2004 in March last year, and the deal cements a long history between the brewer and the tournament, dating back to 1988. The company has also signed up to sponsor Euro 2008.

Carlsberg International's senior marketing manager, Keld Strudahl, said RKCR/Y&R had met all the terms of the brief: "We wanted a fully integrated idea that would work equally well whether it was on TV, in-store, on the internet, or incorporated within a promotion. RKCR/Y&R presented that idea in great depth, and we believe all our markets will be impressed with the work and will use it."

He said Carlsberg's experience at co-ordinating global marketing strategies across all of its markets had been helped by the quality of RKCR/Y&R's work on the pitch.

As well as its investment in Euro 2004 and 2008, Carlsberg has also signed up to be one of five "pillar" sponsors of the FA Cup in the UK for the next four years, bolstering its commitment to sports marketing. Throughout Euro 2000, Carlsberg reported an 11% rise in sales, and afterwards, an annual sales rise of 5.4%.

The RKCR/Y&R managing partner, Tony Harris, said: "Football, beer and a great brand -- you couldn't ask for a better win to start the year off."

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