Anadolu Efes receives gold Devotion Marketing Award

After conceiving and executing one of the biggest viral fan-interaction moments in the sports world this year, Anadolu Efes Istanbul has been honored by Euroleague Basketball and its fellow clubs as the winner of the gold Devotion Marketing Award for 2013. Gokce Dayi, Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager for Efes, accepted the award on behalf of his club at the European Basketball Marketing Summit '13 on Wednesday in Barcelona. 

In voting by Euroleague Basketball and its member clubs, Efes was rewarded for a combination of improvement in its media and communications plan activations, as well as its successful campaign to involve fans with the team, highlighted by a video that was seen by millions of people around the world. The ground-breaking production starred fans singing a popular club anthem with the accompaniment of an orchestra for the team's surprised players, who thought they were attending a classical music concert. More than 145 people worked for more than two months on the project and 750 total were part of the performance. Efes had previously won the gold award in 2010. 

This year's silver Devotion Marketing Award went to Alba Berlin for its initiative at brand repositioning and trailblazing work in social media, where it developed different channels to interact with and involve its fan. Alba had been the gold award winner in 2009. 

The 2013 bronze award was won by Euroleague champion Olympiacos Piraeus, which successfully upgraded its ticketing program last season, adding new channels and seeing its individual ticket sales jump by 125% compared to a year earlier. Nikos Lepeniotis, Marketing Director for Olympiacos, accepted his team's award at the summit.