We all know there is a lot of money involved when it comes to the game of football. Not only in the U.K but also all over the world. Kit sponsorships alone rake in millions for a football club – the biggest example of which being the £750 million deal Manchester United have just signed with Adidas after their previous sponsors Nike felt they were asking for too much money (no doubt). Throughout this post we will look at how advertisement was used throughout the World Cup in the most interesting and unique ways.
Adidas
One of the biggest Markets during each and every world cup and thereafter is the clothing markets. As said above, millions are to be made from getting sponsored by a sportswear brand. Yet how much profit do these organisations make? After paying £750 million to Manchester United, how much will Adidas really expect to make? Well according to Bloomberg.com they’ll be making more than their money back within the first year.
“Profit will be between 830 million euros ($1.14 billion) and 930 million euros this year, the Herzogenaurach, Germany-based company said today”
Adidas have taken advertisement one step further this year and taken it right into the forefront of peoples working and social lives. In one of the biggest Capitals in the World, London, Adidas have taken the famous route master bus and given them a dramatic makeover that would be impossible to ignore by those commuting to work each day or those on a holiday in the big city. The buses, painted black, have been emblazoned with the World’s most famous players each wearing the kit and logo. Travelling through shopping hotspots such as Oxford Circus and Knightsbridge, they will grab the attention of both tourists and those having a casual shop – close by to the numerous Adidas stores speckled around London.
McDonalds
McDonalds aren’t exactly renowned for being a healthy fast food restaurant and it would have been a huge mistake for them to take the World Cup as an opportunity to bleat on about how there Big Macs are made from 100% British Meat or how the fruit bags will give you days of nutrition. Instead they decide to ignore the fact they sell food, and instead they focus solely on the entertainment and comedy value. In my opinion, a very smart move from McDonalds. The 90 second video from McDonalds shows a dynamic group of people showing off their talents with a football – a young boy, 2 teenage boys, an older man in a mobility scooter and a lady wearing very high heels.
The logo does not appear until the very end making the clip feel more like a typical viral video rather than the generic fast food advertisement – the reveal of the logo at the end feels very gentle and doesn’t take away too much from the entertainment of the video itself.
To watch the video – follow the link below:
Coca-Cola
As Head of Marketing for SLA, I have seen first-hand how important social media has become to both small, new and large and established companies. Coca-Cola being one of the most well-advertised and constant organisations have got with the times and forced two of the most prominent things in society to the forefront of their World Cup campaign – music and social media. There’s no kidding that the song itself ‘The World is Ours’ isn’t ever going to be a chart topper in the UK, but the social media side of things is very refreshing.
The World Cup is always about bringing countries from around the globe together, and through the use of Instagram to stitch together numerous uploaded pictures we see a very basic and yet effective music video created.
“We understand the power of music and football to connect with millions of people across the world – that’s why music continues to play a central role in our partnership with the FIFA World Cup™. For the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, we chose K’NAAN’s ‘Wavin’ Flag’ as our campaign song. The song topped the iTunes charts in 18 countries and sold more than 2.5 million downloads worldwide”
So, although over here the song didn’t have huge success, in 18 countries it very much did. So not only are Coca-Cola dominating the beverage industry, but also the music industry too.
To watch the video – follow the link below:
Nike
As hard as the others all tried, there’s no getting away from the fact that Nike absolutely dominated the World Cup in Brazil this year when it comes to advertisement and execution. Turning into a bit of a short movie rather than an advertisement we see animated versions of the most celebrated players of modern day football thrown into a future world where football is a business played by clones, rather than a game.
Filled with fun little mannerisms of each player you can see just how much attention was put in to make it fun to watch. After only 5 weeks of being posted on Youtube, the video has already raked up almost 65 million views.
If you haven’t already seen it, I would advise you to watch it by following the link below:
So what do you think? Seen any adverts through the month long celebration? Let me know in the comments below as to what you actually though of the above adverts.
Or tweet us @sla_sales with any other opinions.