World Cup communications - the story so far

So far the world cup has been processional as teams play with everyman behind the ball. Thus far the greatest spectacle has been the Ghanaian supporters and England’s arch nemesis the German team in action. The best save was ITV’s coverage of Marcel Desailly’s celebrations (after showing a car ad instead of the England goal to the HD viewers) and the worst foul is the constant drone of the vuvuzella trumpets. But how has the brand communication shaped up so far?

The TV advertising breaks are wall to wall with brands looking to associate with football and the world cup. In keeping with ‘event TV’ there are some efforts worthy of Messi’s trickery, most obviously Nike’s homage to Rooney, Ronaldo et al (including the marvelous fall from grace version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSr4QnwOePQ) and Carlsberg’s call to arms (now looking somewhat flaccid after that calamitous effort versus the USA)http://www.youtube.com/user/EnglandTeamTalk?v=66OuJZGDCHE&feature=pyv. Nike is not an official sponsor of World Cup 2010, yet according to Nielsen research, has achieved a far stronger association than any other brand. I guess it kind of helps to not only be so dominant beforehand but also to equip 9 of the 32 teams (but then again Adidas have 12). However, it’s not all communication perfection for brands like Nike, some of their localised support media is lamentable. There is a mind boggling example of this on the Cromwell Road with Nike recreating Mount Rushmore with what I assume are the faces of some of our English heroes but they may as well be chimps for all I know. The execution is appalling, in fact i’m not even sure it was Mount Rushmore, it looks more like a failed attempt at a climbing wall with some inexplicable features to clamber over. Man alive it’s dreadful – Nike’s very own Robert Green moment.

As governing body communication goes the FIFA site is slick and up to the moment, if a little starchy. The official sponsor links are somewhat hidden in ‘competition’ sections like the Castrol match predictor although the link to Visa’s Facebook match planner is well positioned in the news section. As often happens with ‘official’ websites it lacks a sense of fun which is somewhat at odds with the Ghana fan club and even ITV’s Desailly moment: http://www.fifa.com/index.html

These days the best campaigns so often cast TV advertising in the role of the invitation with a far richer, more interactive experience on line. That sense of ‘fun’ and integration with the core campaign is threaded through everything that Nike do, so on the website you can ‘write your future’ as the brand is (locally) imploring England to do the same: http://www.nike.com/nikefootball/write-your-future/campaign/tools?locale=en_GB

And if it is the lighter side of football that you’re after you can do no better than sign up for The Guardian’s Fiver; written in the very best traditions of British satire and English football fatalism:http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/series/thefiver.

A final word goes to Hyundai; quite brilliantly they were the only car marque to grow in the USA through the recession by offering to buy back any new Hyundai if you lost your source of income. Simple but deadly smart value creation from marketing. So is their most creative effort on the ITV sponsorship bumpers to replicate the Top Gear car football idea?