Google Pixel's football masterclass

Welcome back to The Activation, where we breakdown branded worlds across sports and entertainment.

Our aim, to make you the smartest person in the room when it comes to sports and entertainment sponsorship activation.

Brought to you by End Product.

Rich Johnson

This week, we’re looking at how Google Pixel quietly became the most visible sponsor in English football by doing something refreshingly simple.

Let’s cut to the chase.

We tracked all the “Shot on Pixel” branded posts from their partners at Liverpool, Arsenal and the Lionesses from the last 6 weeks (from 1st July).

What we saw is pretty impressive.

And just as impressive as the stats is the perceived total buy in and ease of authentic activation from all rights-holders.

Each rights-holder is clearly bought into the idea, but none are following the same script.

Instead each club has been given the freedom to build their own creative style within a shared “Shot on Pixel” world.

Let’s breakdown the different approaches and learnings that all rights-holders and brands can be taking into their own partnership activation strategies.

Disclaimer: All analysis and assumptions are opinions from an external perspective only.

It feels like Arsenals approach to “Shot on Pixel” content revolves around the idea of access through intimacy, giving us a mobile first peek in near real-time into the moments you don’t see.

📌 Key Formats:

👑 Top performer (since 1st July): Madueke signing selfie – 17M views

Overall stats since 1st July: 43 “Shot on Pixel” posts | 65 million views | 5.1 million likes

🎯 The big insight:
Phones lower the guard
Players can be comfortable filming themselves vs being filmed
That comfort translates to trust, and fans can feel it

A lot of the content looks like a player could’ve posted it to their own story
It doesn’t just feel authentic, it is authentic

Liverpool’s Pixel content is a different beast.
It’s been much more centered to on-pitch action, and their pitchside capture style can be rather cinematic at times.

Last year they also managed to lean into reactive celebration moments showing joy (and carnage) or players and fans.

Van Dijk took a pixel into celebrations for one game and of course the Mohamed Salah pitchside selfie of Liverpool’s title winning victory achieved global headlines.

📌 Key Formats:

👑 Top performer (since 1st July): Van Dijk pitchside free kicks – 7.2M views

Overall stats since 1st July: 25 “Shot on Pixel” posts | 51.9 million views | 2.5 million likes

🎯 The big insight:
Pixel powers an important part of the Liverpool content machine and over the last few seasons the results have spoken for themselves
When the sponsor is the tool, it becomes embedded in the creative workflow, not tacked onto it

The Lionesses’ Pixel content captured the everyday rhythm of elite women’s football and makes it feel familiar, consistent, and normalised.

📌 Key Formats:

👑Top performer (since 1st July): BTS of Sarina Wiegman on stage with Burna Boy at the celebrations - 1.1 million views

Overall stats since 1st July: 12 “Shot on Pixel” posts | 3.3 million views | 171k likes

🎯 The big insight:
The best way to grow the women's game is to show it as it is, not over-style it, or over-explain it

This is less about novelty and more about normalisation content and access around the womens game and that’s a powerful shift

“Ok, I get it, Google Pixel is used for content creation, whats the big deal”

There is lessons in here.

For me the one word that would sit as the central part to any Pixel strategy deck would be “Access”.

(This applies to any rights-holders here wanting to pitch Pixel).

We actually hardly see the product, but we get the access.

“Shot on Pixel” builds real proximity for fans, through tone, perspective and format.

And although perceived as simple, and also by no means the only partner in this lane (See Snapdragon x Man Utd, or Samsung at the Olympics), they are executing at the biggest scale and with the most frequency and consistency.

For clubs, teams, and federations, this activation is a demonstration of going all in for a partner.

This is a lesson in trust.

Pixel gave rights-holders:

This is by no means the full extent of all Pixels sports marketing activity of which they are doing some really nice work.

Kudos to Google Pixel, agencies and the rights-holders involved.

▶ This had the potential to be terrible, but it’s actually pretty good: As F1 takes it summer break, VISA leveraged their Racing Bulls title partnership by launching a social mockumentary series “Bring your driver to work day” and it’s actually fun, watchable and fans are loving it. 9/10

▶ Branded content you can taste: Another F1 summer break activation, this time Peroni channeling la dolce vita with Charles Leclerc. 10/10

▶ Is it still fashionable to talk about Ryan Reynolds content?: I think he’s understood sports marketing quicker and better than some people who have spent decades in the industry. This latest spot to promote Aviation Gins co-branded Wrexham gin purposefully plays into naivety around football rivalry. 8/10

▶ Everyone has been talking about the Kelce brothers Taylor Swift podcast, but have missed their brilliant own brand marketing: The Kelce brothers have just concluded an epic social soap opera called “The Brewmite” promoting their own brand ‘Garage Beers’. Its a mix between Karate Kid and Step Brothers with (ex) athletes. A great example of an episodic social show, which is unhinged, takes you through a story and doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s been a huge hit on Instagram, you can watch the full film here. 10/10

We put a ton of research and effort into these breakdowns to help make you the smartest person in the room when it comes to sports and entertainment sponsorship activation.

If you got value from this, we’d love to chat.

We (End Product) are the modern sports marketing agency making brands in sports and entertainment relevant.

We help:

1) Create partnership strategy and activations for brands that makes them relevant with fans

2) Help rights-holders look good when selling to brands through compelling storytelling, talking brand language and deal construction

Reach out on LinkedIN or [email protected] to chat

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See you next time,

Rich