Digital Tournament Cup draws marketing agencies to the Erve Asito Stadium

On Friday 3 May, the very first edition of the Digital Tournament Cup will take place. A football tournament where sportsmanship and digital expertise come together at Heracles Almelo’s stadium. The Digital Tournament Cup is a football tournament in which nine major online marketing agencies from the Netherlands, along with a team from Heracles, will compete against one another. The initiative, set up by two employees from Traffic Today, promises an afternoon and evening full of competition and fun in a stunning football setting.

From Rotterdam to Doetinchem

The agencies come from all corners of the Netherlands. Overijssel is the main contributor, with seven participants. But teams from South Holland, Gelderland and Flevoland are also coming along. Normally, the competition takes place in the digital arena, but this time the battle will be fought on the football pitch. And not just any football pitch. The venue is the Erve Asito Stadium, the home ground of Heracles Almelo.

A dream come true

“For many boys and girls, it’s a childhood dream to be able to play football in a real football stadium. Now these dreams can still come true! It’s great that Heracles Almelo is willing to get involved,” said organiser Jordin Holsappel.

Previous derbies a great success

“The original idea came about two years ago. I’d stayed in touch with a former colleague from Adwise (an online marketing agency in Almelo, ed.). By then, I’d made the move myself to Traffic Today in Deventer. Naturally, there was some friendly rivalry between us about which agency was better, so we thought it was time to settle it once and for all. Not literally, of course, but in a sporting manner. The plans for a ‘Digital Derby’ were set in motion,” Jordin continues.

“Because Adwise works with Heracles, they arranged for us to play the match at the stadium. Really cool, of course! We then set off for Almelo in a packed Eagles coach to cheer on the team. Unfortunately, we ended up losing on penalties, but the evening was a huge success! We did, however, come to the conclusion that a rematch was in order. Even though they won, we were the better side…’’

Reaching tens of thousands of people

The rematch took place last February. Both agencies pulled out all the stops, and the online reach of the posts before and after the match exceeded tens of thousands of people. Adwise even managed to win an award for it. As a result, the success was also noticed by other online marketing agencies. “We regularly received messages from other agencies asking, ‘When are we going to have a go at it?’ That’s why we’ve made it bigger this time.”

Playful campaigns

Koen Dommerholt, co-organiser, explains: “It’s also a sort of friendly online competition. We both try to come up with fun posts. Last time, we also had the LED display in the stadium switched on to add to the atmosphere. Adwise had come up with some playful copy for that, in which they poked fun at us. And that’s the beauty of the Digital Derby: we try to outsmart each other, but always with mutual respect.”

Who will be credited with the first edition?

On Friday 3 May, the Erve Asito Stadium will be the setting for a major contest. This time, Traffic Today and Adwise will be competing against eight other opponents. And every participant is there with one goal in mind: to lift the very first Digital Tournament Cup.