While bars in U.S. cities were packed with revelers riveted to World Cup's start this past weekend, evidence of the world-wide event was hard to find at retail.
That's a far cry from countries where soccer is a national
pastime. In England, sales this past Saturday tied to the England vs. U.S.A.
game were said to rival Christmas holiday selling, driven by sales of items
such as beer and meat for barbecues, jerseys and widescreen TVs.
But in an interview late April with Brandweek, Reinaldo Padua, Coca-Cola's assistant vice president of Hispanic marketing for North America, said the brand was widening its World Cup push in the U.S. because of the growing youth soccer participation.
"Our efforts in the past were usually more concentrated in the Hispanic market. They are core fans of soccer," said Mr. Padua. "But with the growth in the practice and popularity of this sport, we are at that tipping point where during the weekends and in the summer you see soccer moms taking kids to practices and games. We're looking for how to fuel that active living among their kids, and the company has decided to leverage that trend and take this to [a more general] market."
"Companies are looking beyond the Hispanic market this year," John Guppy, owner of the Chicago-based firm Guilt Edge Soccer Marketing, concurred to The Christian Science Monitor. "It's probably the first time this has been a trend with direct corporate investment."
Among the
offline and online World Cup marketing efforts planned over the month-long
event:
- McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. are running a "Taste the Glory" campaign with peel-off game pieces available on Big Macs and Egg McMuffins. Game pieces include instant prizes or a special code to play EA's 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa game online for a chance to win other prizes such as EA's new game, video game consoles, and tickets to the U.S. vs. Brazil game in New York this August. Online, www.mcdonaldsfan.com is seeking out the "Ultimate FIFA World Cup Fan" from each country.
- At participating Best Buy stores in Los Angeles and Miami, customers can have their pictures taken in front of a green screen of a World Cup-themed background. At CupisYours.com, fans can put themselves on a mock cover of ESPN the Magazine while holding the Cup.
- Puma City NY at South Street Seaport in downtown Manhattan will be showing all the World Cup games over the next month, as well as featuring DJ's, musical artists, foosball and ping pong tournaments, and athlete appearances.
- Sony launched its own "Twitter Cup" online in which national teams compete in a virtual tournament based on how many tweets their teams receive.
- Castrol, the lubricant manufacturer, has developed a "Castrol performance index" at Castrolfootball.com to rate players based on how well they play during the tournament.
- Coke's "Longest Celebration" campaign on YouTube encourages people to submit their own videos of goal celebrations and watch others.
- The "Bud House" online reality show features 32 people
-- one from each country in the tournament -- living together during the
Cup. Each member is kicked out as their national teams are disqualified.
Discussion Questions: Is marketing around the World Cup still mainly a Hispanic opportunity in the U.S. or is it appealing to a wider audience? Have you seen any innovative marketing around the World Cup?
- Stores look forward to World Cup rush - The Financial Times
- Coke's New World Cup Goal: Mainstream U.S. Consumers - Brandweek
- McDonald's Connects Customers Around the World With FIFA World Cup(TM) Excitement - McDonald's/PRNewswire
- Best Buy and Sony Offer Exclusive In-Store World Cup Photo Experience for Soccer Fans and Enthusiasts in Los Angeles - Best Buy
- Restaurants look to score sales goals during World Cup - Nation's Restaurant News
- World Cup 2010: As viewers go online, so do ad dollars - The Christian Science Monitor