How Official FIFA Sponsors Are Leveraging The World Cup

There are only 20 global and Brazilian businesses that are considered official partners of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Those 20 companies—separated into tiers of FIFA Partners, FIFA World Cup Sponsors, and National Sponsors—are granted the opportunity to use official FIFA trademarks and, most importantly, use “World Cup” and attendant phrasings in their marketing. Many of those companies have already launched campaigns in the run-up to the World Cup, emphasizing soccer as a global game and a unifying presence. Most are encouraging fans to create and share content, and many are offering ways to win trips to the actual matches. Below is a summary of many of those campaigns.

FIFA Partners

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola launched Happiness Flag, a microsite that collects fans photos which the brand is planning to turn into a physical flag that will be unveiled at the opening match on June 12. More than 210,000 photos have been shared so far. Its video advertisements have focused on how the World Cup unites and brings hope to nations around the World. 

As creator of the official World Cup ball (dubbed brazuca), Adidas has the opportunity to tell the story about what it takes to get to the World Cup through the perspective of a ball. And it’s done that quite literally. The brand’s microsite features a number of interviews with footballers as well as action shots provided by a ball specially fitted with a camera.

Interested parties can also follow the ball’s Twitter account (to win prizes) and follow along on the Adidas Football YouTube channel.

I’m @brazuca, match ball of the 2014 FIFA #WorldCup. Yes I’m a ball. Yes I’m tweeting. Join me on my journey! #ballin pic.twitter.com/KerKWgFdez

— brazuca (@brazuca) December 3, 2013

Hyundai/Kia

Kia is encouraging fans to take selfies of themselves and their friends (ideally in front of a Kia) in their sporting apparel for the chance to win tickets to matches. 

Hyundai launched a World Cup microsite where fans can support their team through a variety of actions: pinning a message on the virtual Fan Park map, attempting to predict which teams are going to win, and playing a quick game of shoot and save. The site also features global soccer ambassadors Iker Casillas, Ricardo Kaká, and Oscar.

Hyundai also created becausefutbol.com, a Tumblr with a number of shareable gifs and images highlighting the intense passion of soccer fans.

This World Cup, we’re celebrating all the best moments in fan passion. Join us: http://t.co/WtYSG1UbY7 #BecauseFutbol pic.twitter.com/Gww6s5QMZE

— Hyundai USA (@Hyundai) May 8, 2014

The brand has also partnered with FIFA to help fans submit and vote for their team’s slogan; the winning entries (found here), along with Hyundai branding, will be placed on the team’s buses in Brazil.

Sony

Sony’s World Cup campaign is called One Stadium; the microsite can be found at fan.football.sony.net. The brand has enlisted fan ambassadors to write articles and film videos about their favorite teams. Sony has also created a social network, One Stadium Live, which pulls in curated, relevant content from Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, thereby allowing individuals to filter by language, team, and social network.

Another Sony campaign tasked fans with creating a song that Ricky Martin recorded, and a current campaign asks individuals to submit creative designs to help decorate a prefabricated stadium.

World Cup Sponsors

McDonald’s

The fast food giant launched microsite (gol.mcd.com) which features a YouTube video of various people displaying their soccer skills and a demo of a soon-to-be-released app that will unlock an augmented reality experience on limited edition fry boxes made specifically for the World Cup. More from C-Net.

McD’s is also sponsoring FIFA’s Fantasy World Cup game, where fans can pick individual players and win prizes based on their performance.

Budweiser

Budweiser’s campaign, “Rise as One,” centers on the World Cup as a unifying presence in spectators’ lives.

Its microsite (riseasone.com) features short documentaries created in tandem with FOX Sports and Vice, as well as short-form stories about ordinary soccer heroes.

This summer, the whole world will Celebrate as One. Check out Part Two of our #WorldCup story: http://t.co/ZTj9260Epn pic.twitter.com/dd83yWbax1

— Budweiser FC (@BudweiserFC) May 21, 2014

According to Adweek, the brand will also be using Twitter cards to ask fans to vote for the “man of the match” with the intention of subsequently promoting the winner.

At the World Cup, Budweiser is partnering with the Pestana Rio Atlântica hotel to open a Budweiser hotel, complete with appearances by celebrities, musicians, and famous footballers.

Johnson & Johnson

J&J launched Care Inspires Care, a microsite that celebrates caregivers and those who care for others, with the intention of eventually sending one honoree to the World Cup final.

Castrol

Castrol’s campaign pits Brazilian superstar Neymar against American Gymkhana racer Ken Block performing various skill challenges against each other.

Castrol is also sponsoring the FIFA World Cup Performance Index, which rates players in the World Cup on a variety of metrics.

Continental

Continental launched contiroadtorio.co.uk, which encourages fans to play a number of micro-games in order to win a chance to go to the World Cup. In addition, the brand launched an app called Contiriokick through which players vie to get the most virtual passes in a row with friends. Beyond that, Continental has also launched a road show with interactive games and additional chances to win trips to the World Cup by Instagramming with the hashtag #contiroadtorio.