Winning Strategy

With just a couple of months left until the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, big budget brands have already started to unveil their football themed ad campaigns. Of course the big sports brands are leading the pack.

For example Nike, although not an official World Cup sponsor, has unveiled a creatively inspired campaign; their first instalment, ‘Risk everything’ focuses on the pressure placed on the players as they prepare to play on the world stage. The sombre advert creates a feeling of high pressure and conveys the seriousness of the upcoming event (whilst not explicitly naming the World Cup), set to a rhythmic beat which adds a countdown to the excitement of the event capturing the intensity brilliantly. A second ad instalment ‘Winner stays’ pulls out all the stops to draw in the fans, featuring a roll-call of football stars including Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar Jr., Wayne Rooney and many more. Both provoking a strong emotional response, I would guess it won’t be long before this campaign goes viral. And interestingly all without mentioning those banned/copyright enforced words at all!

We are not all avid football fans, but the World Cup is a time football can bring people together. Even those who don’t usually tune into football, tune in en masse for the World Cup. Many will venture out of their homes over the summer months to enjoy watching the games with others in a pub, bar or hotel. Others will be encouraged to get active (particularly kids wanting to become the next Ronaldo!) or maybe even take a short UK leisure break (perhaps these are the minority wanting to get away from football fever entirely!)

It’s not too late to start thinking about your business and how you can benefit from the World Cup without spending the big bucks required to actually sponsor the event. We are a multi-cultural nation with a passion for football, food and drink and the influence of the World Cup will create a surge in consumer spending in the services sector. Whilst it’s true that only official sponsors are allowed to mention the words ‘World Cup’ in their marketing, companies don’t need to have multi-million pound budgets to take advantage of the approaching sporting frenzy that’s about to take the world by storm. In fact, often it’s the non-official sponsors whose campaigns are the most memorable. Great examples were aplenty during the 2012 London Olympic Games and many marketing campaigns borne out of oppression (as it were, by LOCOG) were truly inspirational.

So, how can you get in on the action? Before you start planning a World Cup campaign, it would be important to know what the current trends are and what’s hot in the world of sports marketing. As an integrated agency specialising in the leisure market, LAW Creative are able to help you to plan your marketing strategy to get you ahead during the World Cup period and help raise your brand profile. Contact us today.