MEN EXPERT × FIFA World Cup 26 — Oslo Activation Report

01 · Executive summary

Eight matchdays in the middle of Oslo's football summer

For eight consecutive World Cup matchdays, L'Oréal Men Expert owned Jernbanetorget — the square in front of Oslo Central Station and the natural artery for fans heading to watch parties across the city.

The XXL Ball activation combined a branded container stand, a five-hole Maxi Golf football challenge, roving Refresh Squads and creator-led content. An estimated 1.08 million people* passed the site during the activation window, with steady queues at the Maxi Golf challenge through every peak.

The result outgrew the plan. The framework around FIFA and the Fanparks watch parties kept shifting, both in the run-up and along the way — the team adapted on the ground without losing a single activation day, and ended up delivering more traffic, more sampling and more visibility than originally scoped.

Sampling tells that story best: demand outpaced the first delivery, a full resupply was called in mid-week, and 100% of both deliveries were distributed — peaking on Friday 26 June, when Norway met France and half the resupply went out in a single evening.

*Approximation from our pre-event traffic model for Jernbanetorget — detailed under 05 · Traffic & matchdays.

Beyond the brief: every planned matchday delivered, a second full sample delivery called in and distributed, reach extended to the areas around the watch parties — and a full film, photo and creator package on top.

Operational call: from Sunday 21 June the stand closed at 21:00 — earlier than planned — after rough late-night crowds around the square. Crew safety came first; distribution was protected by concentrating on the 15:00–21:00 peak.

02 · The cultural moment

A country back at the World Cup

The summer of 2026 was always going to belong to football. For the first time since France '98 — a full generation — Norway were back at a World Cup, and the country met the moment: watch parties in every corner of Oslo, sold-out fan zones and hundreds of thousands of fans moving through the city on matchdays. The papers called it football fever. It was.

VG · 22.06.2026

Full fest i Oslo: – Vi er her til i morgen

VG · 25.06.2026

Utsolgt, utsolgt, utsolgt!

VG · 26.06.2026

VM-festen i gang: Stappfulle utesteder

Press clippings from VG, June 2026. Headlines and images © VG — shown as documentation of the cultural moment; click to open.

03 · About the activation

The strategy: take position in the moment

A whole nation sweating for its team is the sharpest moment a deodorant brand can ask for. The strategy was to take position in that moment — not buy a place in it.

01

The insight

Norway's first World Cup in 28 years would pull the country outdoors — to squares, streets and watch parties. Match-going men, sweating for their team, are exactly who the XXL Ball deodorant is made for: the brand didn't need to borrow the moment, it belonged in it.

02

The constraint

FIFA regulations blocked brands from sponsoring the watch parties themselves. The answer: a base on Jernbanetorget — Oslo's busiest square and the natural artery to every party — with Refresh Squads hijacking the zones around the parties, always via Karl Johan, the most frequented street in the city.

03

The play

Earn attention with play, convert it with knowledge: the Maxi Golf challenge made men queue voluntarily, every fan picked their own product from the range and got an intro to the differences, and creator content stretched the activation beyond the square. Internally the concept went by "Bigger balls than ever" — a name that never ran in a single piece of comms, and never needed to.

04 · The activation

One square, three ways to meet the brand

Every element pointed the same way: get a Men Expert deodorant into the hands of match-going men, and make it fun enough that they queue for it.

The Game

XXL Ball Maxi Golf Challenge

"Klarer du alle hullene på 5 spark?" — clear all five holes in five kicks and win a Men Expert kit. Everyone who played picked their own product from the range — Thermic Resist, Carbon Protect, Barber Club — and got a one-on-one walkthrough of the differences in the same moment. Knowledge of the range, not just awareness of the brand. The challenge drew consistent queues of men through all eight days.

Refresh Squad

Sampling where the fans are

FIFA rules blocked sponsoring the watch parties themselves — so squads in branded tees rolled sample wagons through the square and hijacked the areas around the parties instead, meeting a steady stream of football-going men. Every handoff came with the same choice of product and quick range walkthrough as at the stand.

Creator content

The deo-mic interviews

Content creator Herman worked the square and Karl Johans gate interviewing fans — with an XXL Ball roll-on as his microphone. Footage feeds the campaign edit and his own channels.

City coverage — base + hijacked watch-party zones

FIFA regulations blocked brands from sponsoring the watch parties themselves — so the Refresh Squads "hijacked" the areas around them instead. Running out of the Jernbanetorget base, every squad route ran via Karl Johan — the most frequented street in Oslo — before fanning out to the three biggest watch parties. One base, visible across the whole city centre. Marker positions approximate.

Map of central Oslo — base at Jernbanetorget with Refresh Squad routes to the three watch parties

Base — stand & squad hub Hijacked watch-party zone Refresh Squad routes

The XXL Ball container and course on Jernbanetorget — The XXL Ball container stand and Maxi Golf course on Jernbanetorget — sampling counter, product wall and five holes in constant rotation.

Heard at the stand

Collected by the crew across the eight matchdays — translated to English where needed.

What — is it completely free? I just have to play? So sick. Sweet.

Man, 24

I own a company in Monaco, and this is a really good marketing strategy — it's the things people remember.

Business owner, Monaco

I've been using this deodorant for years — the black one. I love it.

Man, 30

I've already tried two of these — excited to try the new one.

Visitor at the stand

You guys are doing God's work — free deodorant for people like me who forgot theirs at work. Well done.

Man, 19

Very good promotion, and a great job guys. Love the stand.

L'Oréal employee, Germany

05 · Traffic & matchdays

The rhythm followed the fixture list

Daily traffic followed the fixture list — and above all the national team. After Norway v Senegal's 02:00 kick-off in the night to Tuesday, both Tuesday and Wednesday ran noticeably quieter than modelled, Thursday built back slowly — and Friday, Norway v France, was in a league of its own.

Estimated footfall past the site — per activation day

Approximate passers-by at Jernbanetorget during each activation day, from our pre-event traffic model (base 250,000 daily passers-by at Oslo S, adjusted per matchday). Monday is adjusted up 35% for the traffic around the overnight Norway v Senegal match (kick-off 02:00); Tuesday and Wednesday are adjusted down 20% to reflect the observed midweek dip.

Daily activation window Norway v France — biggest match

Date	Focus match	Kick-off	Stand hours	Refresh Squad	Est. traffic
Fri 19.06	USA v Australia	–	15:00–23:00	–	132,500
Sat 20.06	Netherlands v Sweden	19:00	15:00–21:00	–	118,100
Sun 21.06	Spain v Saudi Arabia	23:00	15:00–21:00	✓	134,300
Mon 22.06	Norway v Senegal · France v Iraq	02:00 · 23:00	15:00–21:00	✓	155,900
Tue 23.06	England v Ghana	22:00	15:00–21:00	✓	102,500
Wed 24.06	Scotland v Brazil	00:00	15:00–21:00	✓	106,000
Thu 25.06	Ecuador v Germany	22:00	15:00–21:00	–	152,400
Fri 26.06	Norway v France	21:00	15:00–21:00	✓	178,900

06 · Sampling

Two deliveries. Nothing left over.

The first delivery was paced across the opening six days and cleared by Wednesday — peaking at 20% on the opening Friday and again on Monday's Norway v Senegal night, with steady 15% days around them.

The resupply landed Wednesday morning. With the square running quieter midweek after the overnight Norway match, Refresh Squad activity was stepped up the same day, clearing the rest of delivery one plus 15% of the resupply before close. Thursday took a further 35%, and the Norway v France Friday absorbed the final 50% of the resupply in a single evening.

Full distribution: demand called in a second full delivery — and by close on Friday 26 June, 100% of both had been handed out, paced to traffic rather than dumped early.

Refresh Squad handing out samples — Refresh Squad sampling by the wagon outside Fanparks' Fotballfesten — the biggest watch party in Oslo — ahead of a late kick-off.

Daily distribution — share of each delivery

Bars show the share of each delivery handed out per day. Delivery 1 arrived for the opener; the resupply arrived Wednesday 24 June and was fully distributed within three days.

Delivery 1 Delivery 2 · resupply

07 · Operations

Adjusted in real time, staffed for the peaks

One structural change was made mid-event: from Sunday 21 June the stand never stayed open past 21:00, after late-night crowds around the square turned rough on the first weekend.

The early close protected the crew without costing meaningful reach: the model shows the 15:00–21:00 window captures the day's densest hours — and 100% of the sample supply was still distributed by final close.

The stand ran with a consistent crew across all eight days, with Refresh Squads layered on top for the biggest evenings — and scaled up at short notice when the resupply landed mid-week.

Footfall through the day — Oslo Central Station square

Share of daily footfall by hour (traffic model). Commuter surges around 08–09 and 15–16 — workers arriving at and leaving Oslo S — sit on top of the matchday build-up; the stand window covered the full afternoon commute surge and the 19:00 peak.

Core stand window 15:00–21:00 Peak hour · 19:00

08 · Photo gallery

Queues, kicks and covered fans

A curated selection from the on-site shoot — engagement at the Maxi Golf challenge, Refresh Squad sampling and creator moments.

Gameplay in the middle of the square — a Refresh Squad member guides a player through the loop hole.

Queue at the course — "Klarer du alle hullene på 5 spark?"

Lining up a shot, squad watching the technique.

Full square context — gameplay, signage and onlookers at Jernbanetorget.

Working the ball down the course, orange XXL ball in play.

The challenge pulled in every generation.

The container stand in full swing — product wall, samples and the course in rotation.

Demoing the XXL Ball roll-on mid-square.

Refresh Squad walking passers-by over to the course.

09 · The content

A campaign that lives past the square

The activation was built to generate content as well as contact — and the package coming out of Oslo delivers on both.

The campaign film captures the full arc: the queues and kicks at the Maxi Golf challenge, Refresh Squads working the square and the areas around the watch parties, and Herman turning an XXL Ball roll-on into a matchday microphone. The horizontal 16:9 edit leads, with vertical cuts built from the same material for social.

Behind it sits the full photo bank from the on-site shoot — game action, sampling moments and brand visuals ready for MEX channels — plus Herman's deo-mic interviews as native creator content for his own audience.

Watch Herman's deo-mic video on TikTok ↗

L'Oréal Jernbanetorget — campaign film · 16:9 · 1:14 · open on its own page ↗

L'Oréal Jernbanetorget — the film

Campaign film · Horizontal 16:9 · 1:14 · Click to watch

10 · Learnings

Sharper for the next one

The scale of what worked is the headline: in an extremely short window we secured the best square in Oslo, built a standalone activation from scratch, put the brand in front of over a million passers-by and sampled out two full deliveries — every handoff paired with a product choice and range education. Against that, the takeaways below are small. But they're worth locking in.

01

When the activity is right, the rest sorts itself out

The excitement and engagement around the Maxi Golf challenge outgrew every expectation — queues held through the quiet midweek days as well as the peaks. That pull carried everything else with it: energy in the crew, dwell time at the stand, and samples moving at pace. Get the activity right, and most other things sort themselves out.

02

National-team gravity is real

Crowds follow their own team. Neutral fixtures — even Brazil and England — pulled far fewer people than expected, and late kick-offs drain the days that follow: Tuesday and Wednesday came in well below the model after the overnight Norway match. Weight supply toward national-team days, and treat the days after late kick-offs as slow starts.

03

Deadlines beat assurances

On a compressed timeline, suppliers pressed hard on delivery times are quick to promise that things will work out — and deadlines quietly slip. The fix: buffer every supplier deadline, ask for verifiable milestones rather than assurances, and escalate at the first slip, not the second.

04

Structure for the late change

FIFA changed the ground premise at very short notice — from a presence at the Fanparks to a standalone activation at Oslo S. The team turned it into a positive, but the pivot strained structure, communication and progress in a project already short on time. Next time the project is rigged for it from day one: clearer decision lines, tighter communication cadence and pre-agreed contingencies.

Overall

A premise change at short notice became a standalone activation that over-delivered on traffic, sampling and visibility: eight matchdays on Oslo's busiest square during Norway's first World Cup in a generation, more than a million passers-by, two full deliveries sampled out with product choice and range education in every handoff — and a film, photo and creator package on top. That is MEX Oslo, summed up.