The 2018 Russia FIFA world cup was not only the cup of tea for football fanatics, but also for several brands in taking a huge step ahead in their promotion. A global event with international influences could get deeply strategized by the brands for their promotion and this is what happened when the football fever was on in Russia this year. Some brands really tried to score bigger goals with this event as they got a massive target audience. Since FIFA has followers from multiple counties, it wasn’t that hard for the brands to get noticed from the event. The football extravaganza became a boon for many brands as they could find millions of people from every continent at the event and in homes watching the event.
For such promotions and advertisement campaigns, the first thing done by brands was to get sponsorship for the event. And Russia itself got branded by hosting FIFA for the year 2018. The strategy includes releasing FIFA bounded commercials and campaigns where brands featured famous football players such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Gabriel Jesus etc. A World Cup is, after all a World Cup and the biggest event in world sport. It’s the period when advertisers’ show-off and showcase some of their best ideas. Here are some brands with some cool campaigns kicking goals over the entire football season and beyond!
Adidas
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Golden Boot Sponsored by Adidas
Adidas secured a clean marketing sweep this FIFA by being the chief partner like all the other years. The famous sports brand swayed digital, outdoor and on-ground activations to create a bond with all the fans. Adidas has an over 40-year alliance with the tournament. The company has also made a commercial exclusively for the FIFA featuring plenty of big names in soccer including Lionel Messi, Paul Pogba, David Beckham, Mo Salah, Jose Mourinho, Gabriel Jesus and Luis Suarez among others. It also had appearances from Pharrell, Caroline Wozniacki, Usain Bolt, Von Miller, Damian Lillard, model Karlie Kloss and rapper A$AP Ferg, who narrated the 90-second spot.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola ran a global consumer promotion for the world’s largest sporting spectacle across 207 countries, and the response has been overwhelming. With 10 million FIFA cans on shop shelves, Coke generated a buzz around the tournament. Coco-Cola released an anthem for the World Cup and along with that, Coca-Cola leveraged its jersey sponsorships and stadium graphics to encourage over 5.5 million engagements and create $5.9 million in social value. Along with this, Coco-Cola also released custom cans with pictures of Soccer stars in it. Before starting on its global tour, the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola travelled across Russia for three months, spanning more than 16,000 kilometres and visiting 16 cities, making it the longest host country tour in history.
Visa
Visa was one of the first sponsors to release its activity, unveiling its ‘Visa’s Ultimate FIFA World Cup’ campaign starring Swedish footballer Zlatan Ibrahimović in mid-April. World Cup-themed videos were viewed more than 75 million times, generating 100 million actions, which included social shares. In total, Visa’s digital activations generated 1.7 billion impressions, besting its goal of 1.2 billion. Being the exclusive payment services partner at the FIFA World Cup has a demonstrable impact on Visa’s business and brand. Throughout the tournament, international travellers outspent Russian locals at the matches: specifically, international Visa cardholders spent 15% more in total in-stadium than Russian cardholders. Visa built brand equity among this global, multi-channel audience by having the Visa logo on field boards for more than seven hours on broadcast during the 64 matches of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
Nike
Though the battle of brands was won by Adidas, Nike made a massive recognition in developing a strategy for the FIFA World Cup this year.3 out of the 4 teams that reached the semi-finals were Nike sponsored and the Grand Finale between Croatia and France was an all Nike affair. Nike’s global campaign this year chose to relinquish the typical parade of well-known faces and focus profoundly on Brazil and its street football traditions. The result is a campaign that feels more gutsy and reliable than other extravagant outcomes, but the explicit nature of the spot carries risks. As a sponsor of both the French and Croatian teams, Nike was definitely one of the main “players” in the final match. Nike printed 20,000 Jerseys with two stars. Some people found Nike’s move risky, but the risk totally paid off. According to a study commissioned by Campaign, over 50 % of consumers thought Nike was the official tournament sponsor. Nike made an ambush marketing strategy and featured players such as France star Kylian Mbappe for the grand success.
McDonald’s
McDonald’s showcased a diverse montage of scenarios from countries ranging from Brazil to Sweden, Russia to Iran, as the world watched 90 minutes of the action unfolded right before their eyes. With the campaign “We’re with you” McD made a massive impact in the football ground. While most brands go all out to make their FIFA World Cup ads as grand as possible, McDonald’s makes things simple and relatable, although it appears as if the people who do not have time to step into the kitchen are also not watching campaign films. Rolled out on June 13, 2018, McDonald’s We’re With You spot has generated a meager 9.5K views within the span of 8 days. McDonald’s was already well-known for its World Cup sponsorship before the opening fixture and managed to maintain a health awareness lead over Burger King so that there is no competition for them kick goal right away in 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Budweiser
Budweiser is the most talked FIFA partner in 2018 edition. Budweiser’s new campaign was created to inspired, engaged and energized the 3.2 billion football fans for the biggest sporting event in the world. Budweiser launched a series of TV ads for its “Light Up the FIFA World Cup,” which featured Budweiser Red Light Cups, beer containers which glow when the fans cheer using noise-activated LED lights. The sponsored videos within this campaign generated 6.6+ million likes on Instagram leading to a greater engagement among the social media users. The campaign added an extra revenue of 10.1% outside the native US and promoted the brand across countries like Brazil, China, and the UK. Budweiser will also be the official alcohol supplier of the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar. The”Lightitup” campaign partnering with AB InBev created a massive response in Russia. Besides the #LightItUp campaign, Budweiser also sponsored the Man of the Match trophy, which is given to an honorary MVP of each World Cup match. The result was increased awareness of Budweiser around the globe, as the brand continues to expand into new markets.
FIFA Russia 2018 is over.. Now, all the eyes are gazing towards Qatar 2022! Check out the latest post on Qatar 2022: https://brandthechange.com/2018/09/qatar-2022-a-bid-to-sports-tourism/
