A PROJECT REPORT ON

SPORTS MARKETING: 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP

SUBMITTED BY:

PRATIK THAKKAR

T.Y.B.M.S. [Semester V]

MITHIBAI COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT

Vile Parle (w), Mumbai - 400 056

SUBMITTED TO

UNIVERSITY OF MUMBAI

ACADEMIC YEAR 2014-2015

PROJECT GUIDE

MR. HARIKRISHNAN KURUP

DATE OF SUBMISSION

1ST OCTOBER, 2014

DECLARATION

I, Mr. PRATIK THAKKAR, of MITHIBAI COLLEGE OF MANAGEMENT of TYBMS [Semester V] hereby declare that I have completed my project, titled ‘SPORTS MARKETING: 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP in the Academic Year 2014-2015. The information submitted herein is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

______

Signature of Student

[Pratik Thakkar] CERTIFICATE

I, MRS. SHALINI PADHI, hereby certify that Ms. ANKITA RATHI of Mithibai College of TYBMS [Semester V] has completed his project, titled ‘ADVERTAINMENT’ in the academic year 2014-2015.

______

Signature of the I/C Principal Signature of the BMS Coordinator

[Dr.D.B.Gadkari] [Mrs.Shalini Padhi]

______Signature of External Examiner Signature of Internal Examiner

Acknowledgement No one walks alone on the journey of life. Just where you start to thank those that joined you, walked beside you, and helped you along the way continuously. A research cannot be said to be work of an individual. A research is a combination of views and ideas, suggestions and contributions of many people.

I take this opportunity to thank all the people whose cooperation and encouragement made the completion of this research project a possibility. First of all I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my mentor Mrs. Shalini Padhi under whose guidance the Research was undertaken. Without her supervision at each stage of research, the task would not have been accomplished .Last but not the least I wish to thank all the respondents who gave me some of their valuable time to fill up the questionnaires, without which the Research wouldn‘t have been a success.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1. To find out the buying behavior of the customers coming in to Big Bazaar.

2. To determine the current status of Big Bazaar.

3. To find out the customers response towards Big Bazaar.

4. To study the satisfaction level of customers in different attributes of Big Bazaar.

5. To identify main competitors of Big Bazaar.

1 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Technology, customers tastes and preferences play a vital role in today‘s generation. Research Methodology is a set of various methods to be followed to find out various information regarding market strata of different products. Research Methodology is required in every industry for acquiring knowledge of their products.

Area of study:

The study is exclusively done in the area of marketing. It is a process requiring care, sophistication, experience, business judgment, and imagination for which there can be no mechanical substitutes.

Research Design -

Exploratory Research.

Sampling Design:

Non Probability sampling- Convenience sampling

Sample Size:

50 Customers

Data Collection: -

Data is collected from various customers through personal interaction. Specific questionnaire is prepared for collecting data. Data is collected with mere interaction and formal discussion with different respondents (primary data). Some other relevant information collected from the company‘s site, brochures, articles (secondary data).

Tools of Analysis: -

The market survey about the techniques of marketing and nature of expenditure is carried out by personally interacting with the potential customers in Big Bazaar.

Limitations of the study

Although all efforts were taken to make the result of the work as accurate as possible as survey but the survey have following constraints.  Some customers were not willing to give appointment due to their busy schedule.  Due to time constraint and other imperative work load during the t period it could not be made possible to explore more area of concern pertaining to study.  Personal biases might have come while answer the questionnaire.  Some customers were not able to do justification to the questionnaire.

Executive Summary

As a result of growing consumer resistance to traditional broadcast advertising, firms are increasingly turning to alternative ways to reach consumers and enhance the value of their brands. One alternative that has received particular interest among many firms is Advertainment. However, managers remain uncertain of the legitimacy and the role of advertising their product through entertainment in their marketing strategies, and currently there is little evidence regarding whether firms‘ investments in alternative media is worthwhile. Advertainment has led to product placements in soap operas and branded entertainment through webisodes which have given companies a platform to convey about their product to the masses by connecting to them in more aggressive manner. There‘s a fierce competition for mind share in the world of marketing and promotion. ―On average, a Westerner now gets more than 3,000 marketing messages each day, up from 100 messages a day in 1984.‖ To combat shrinking television viewership caused by emerging technologies and the resulting erosion of the commercial ad, marketers have turned to nontraditional advertising venues, such as product placements, to reach the consumer. Product placement in entertainment media has become standard practice and is growing. Strengthening the power of product placement in films is the market shift toward promotional brand tie-in activities. The objective of such brand communication is to expose the audience to a brand, whereby the effect can be maximized in terms of increased awareness and higher recall, so that the customer will buy the brand which has maximum recall; and to satisfy the customer to optimum level. Financial consideration can often be in the form of explicit payments, free merchandise, or advertisers making deals to promote the film in their advertising in exchange for product placement in the film. From a brand perspective, tie-ins have the advantage of adding a longer shelf-life to the product exposure, rather than relying only on an opening weekend blitz to generate brand recognition and influence purchase behavior. Product placement has existed as an advertising tool in Hollywood from before the dawn of film. It was not however until the 80s that it started to gain great significance, both in terms of funding films but also in terms of increasing sales for the featured brands. India has the world's biggest movie industry in terms of the number of movies produced and numerous audiences to it. The customers can be targeted, influenced by a cost effective way, which also creates value for the brand through a powerful medium like Indian films, that is why many companies are breaking clutter and moving towards product placement. It‘s introduced in films to raise publicity funds for film making which turns out to be source of revenue covering certain percentage of publicity budget resulting in mutual benefit for brands as well as films. This report summarizes the history of Product Placement, demonstrating famous examples, either for their success or for their failure the report also gives insight as to how audiences react to product placement, do they think it as an effective alternative media, if it has any impact on them and if they find it ethical. The report incorporated case studies of few mainstream Hindi films, which include – Om Shanti Om, Goal,Chak De! India, fashion, dabanng, kuch kuch hota hai. It concludes with suggestions regarding areas for future research. It includes primary data conducted to know how people perceive product placements in movies thereby focusing further on the findings and suggestions towards the research. Product placement has come as a blessing in disguise for both, the brand and the filmmaker. . But a word of caution is to be always kept in mind, by both the brand and the filmmaker- if as communication purveyors they are looking for better and innovative means of reaching the consumer, the consumer himself is already bombarded with marketing tactics from all over and in the three hours of movie, he would want to forget about all these intrusions, including advertising. Thus overdose of brand placement will only drive away the consumer‘s from the cinema halls, resulting in a flop film and a failed marketing endeavor.

INDEX

CONTENTS PG.NO CHAPTER -1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 A Historical Perspective 1.2 Nature of Advertainment Message 1.3 Product Integration 1.4 Branded Entertainment CHAPTER – 2 FOCUS ON THIRD ELEMENT OF ADVERTAINMENT 2.1 What is Product Placement? 2.2 Brief History 2.3 The Process CHAPTER -3 DEPTH OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT 3.1 Product Placement Industry 3.2 Product Placement –Tool of IMC 3.3 Purpose of Product Placement CHAPTER-4 PRODUCT PLACEMENTS IN MOVIES 4.1 Marketer‘s View on Product Placement 4.2 Brands and Films 4.3 Impact on Creative Aspect of Movie Making CHAPTER-5 IMPORTANT ASPECTS 5.1 Why Companies are Using Product Placements? 5.2 Favorable approach by Advertisers & Marketers CHAPTER-6 STRATEGIES OF PRODUCT PLACEMENTS 6.1 Classification 6.2 Advantages of Product Placements 6.3 Downside of Using Product Placements CHAPTER-7 MEASUREMENT OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT 7.1 Clean Finance 7.2 Pricing CHAPTER-8 INFILM ADVERTISING ORGANISATIONS

CHAPTER-9 PRODUCT PLACEMENTS IN HOLLYWOOD AND BOLLYWOOD 9.1 Brief Overview of Placements in Hollywood 9.2 Brief Overview of Placements in Bollywood CHAPTER-10 ANALYSIS OF BRANDS CHAPTER-11 SUCCESS AND FAILURE OF PRODUCT PLACEMENTS CHAPTER-12 SCENARIO IN INDIA 12.1 Impact on the Bollywood (Without Infilm Advertising) 12.2 MNC‘s Cozy up to Bollywood Films CHAPTER-13 REVERSE PRODUCT PLACEMENT ETHICS OF PRODUCT PLACEMENT CHAPTER-14 CASE STUDIES CHAPTER-15 INFILM BRANDING INTO MARATHI MOVIES CHAPTER-16 CONCLUSION CHAPTER-17 FUTURE RESEARCH PRIMARY RESEARCH QUESTIONAIRE BIBLOGRAPHY

Sports Marketing – FIFA World Cup 2014

2 WHAT IS SPORTS MARKETING?

Sport marketing is a subdivision of marketing which focuses both on the promotion of sports events and teams as well as the promotion of other products and services through sporting events and sports teams. It is a service in which the element promoted can be a physical product or a brand name. The goal is to provide the client with strategies to promote the sport or to promote something other than sport through sports. Sport marketing is also designed to meet the needs and wants of the consumer through exchange processes. These strategies follow the traditional four "p"'s of general marketing product, price, promotion and place, another four "p"‘s are added to sport marketing, relating to the fact sports are considered to be a service. The additional 4 p‘s are: planning, packaging, positioning and perception. The addition of the four extra elements is called the "sport marketing mix."

Sport marketing is divided into three sectors. The first is the advertising of sport and sports associations such as the fifa world cup, Olympics, Spanish football league and the NFL. The second concerns the use of sporting events, sporting teams and individual athletes to promote various products. The third is the promotion of sport to the public in order to increase participation. In the first case, the promotion is directly related to sports. In the second case, the products can but do not have to be directly related to sports. When the promotion is about sports in general, the use of this kind of strategy is called ―marketing of sports.‖ When the promotion is not about the sports but sports events, athletes, teams or leagues are used to promote different products, the marketing strategy is denominated ―marketing through sports." when the promotion is about increasing participation amongst the public it is called "grassroots sports marketing." to promote the products or services, the companies and associations use different channels such as sponsorships of teams or athletes, television or radio advertisement during the different broadcast sports events and celebrations, and/or advertisement on sporting venues. ―Street marketing of sport‖ which considers sport marketing through billboards on the street and also through urban elements (street lighters and sidewalks, etc.) To help promote and gain publicity during major worldwide sporting events such as the football world cup, the Olympic Games, the super bowl or the winter Olympic Games.

One element that sport marketing takes advantage of is that athletes tend to be brand loyal and fans tend to be loyal to their favorite athletes and teams. This can be recognized through the contracts players and athletes sign with sports companies in which they get paid to wear or use their products in each game or sporting event. By doing so, the players and athletes and also their fans develop a loyalty to the products for a longer time.

2.1 HISTORY Sport has a universal reach. It is a kind of entertainment that can be accessed and understood by everyone. Most importantly, sport connects people emotionally. Marketers have been using this emotional connection to market their brands for over 100 years. Brands are linked with sports to get better attention from the potential customers. Get ready to dive into a brief history of sports and marketing!

Sports marketing first came to be in the 1870s in the form of tobacco cards that featured the baseball players of that era. But, the actual and considerable growth in sports marketing was observed over the last 70 years with the increase in television coverage of sports. In 1939 for the first time, a major baseball league match was broadcasted on television that helped babe Ruth to become the first 6-figure athlete in the world of professional sport.

In its initial days, sports marketing was only concerned with the placement of products and development of product credibility. During the early 80s, marketers began to use sports as one of their effective marketing tools. Sports sponsorship deals with the awareness of brands, whereas sports marketing are concerned with activation of sponsorship contracts. The main purposes of sports marketing are to create a connection between the brand and the symbol and to communicate this connection to the customers. The popularity of a particular sport reflects the probability that sports stars would be able catch the minds and hearts of the public. Because of this reason, the fifa world cups have become a major event for marketing.

With the emergence of new marketplaces, new brands also enter into the fray. Although the competition becomes tougher, additional investment also comes into the market. The epl (English premier league) is the best example for this. Many epl clubs have sponsorship contracts with the far eastern brands, such as change beer, kuomo tyres, mansion casino, etc. These brands are developing a global profile as well as reinforcing their domestic presence. In future, these far eastern brands may look to activate sponsorships in the far eastern nations from the English market. We can say that the face of the sports marketing is changing. Many established brands from England are starting to target these sponsorships with an objective to grow business in the emerging markets. For example, standard chartered bank looks at its sponsorship contract with the Liverpool fc, as a source to drive more business opportunities in the Far East.

Generally, companies see sports marketing as a tool to put their brands in front of a universal audience, but the contrary is also possible. For example, Aviva insurance is a global brand and it could have sponsored any event or team anywhere in the world. Instead, it sponsored the Norwich city. This is because, Aviva uses the excitement and passion generated by this team to develop an emotional connection with the public of Norwich, where most of the Aviva‘s staffs live.

The trend of sports marketing appears never-ending. The fifa world cup 2014 had created a great buzz worldwide and was anticipated to be the most sponsored and branded world cup till date.

2.2 BENEFITS OF SPORT MARKETING Sport marketing impulses memberships, sales, and recognition. These factors represent the biggest benefits for the companies, the athletes, the associations, the leagues, and sport event managers. Well planned, effective marketing helps to understand the customer and the marketplace. Also, informed marketing decisions help increase status and importance in people's lives, sport is considered a profitable and sustainable marketing source.

2.3 SPORTS MARKETING, REVENUE & THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INDIRECT AND DIRECT SOURCES

Sponsorship, athlete endorsements, stadium naming rights, TV advertising, TV network deals, signage, etc. Are all ways for a club to monetize the goodwill of their brand? All of these represent indirect revenue sources funded from advertisers whom are seeking one things - reaching a specific, targeted audience.

Without that audience - the fan base - however, none of these indirect streams would be possible. From a marketing perspective, therefore, a principal discipline of "sports marketing" must account for the marketing of the team (a.k.a. Brand) to fans. Direct revenue streams measured through ticket (single & season), merchandise, and concession sales.

Like retail, travel, gaming, or even retail banking, there is a related set of challenges to marketing and selling a sports product as found in any other vertical. Any definition of "sports marketing" must certainly account for the primal challenge.

2.4 THE MARKETING OF SPORTS TEAMS AND EVENTS

According to different authors and organizations the marketing of sports events and teams is defined as ―designing or developing a 'live' themed activity, occasion, display, or exhibit a sporting event to promote a product, a team, cause, or organization. Which in other words it can be defined as follows: the marketing of sports events and teams is the marketing strategy which is designed or developed a ―live‖ activity, which has a specific theme. Mostly this kind of strategy is used as a way to promote, display or exhibit different things, such as a sports team, a sport association among others. There are different events that can clearly exemplify this concept, such as the super bowl, the Olympic Games, the uefa champion‘s league and the fifa world cup.

The super bowl is an example of this concept because it is a massive sport event organized by a sport association, the nfl‘s, which looks to promote the event itself, the sport itself and as well the different football teams. The way this event is promoted is by TV and radio commercials but also by the contracts signed with other companies in order to transmit the event. For example in Mexico the NFL‘s signed a contract with a Mexican movie theatre, Cinemax, so some of the most important games of the event were transmitted in its different theatres. With this the nfl‘s obtained the promotion of the event in its country and in national TV but also it obtained the possibility to promote the event at major scale in the foreign countries, which means more audience, therefore the nfl‘s achieved the goal of promoting the sport event and the teams involved.

2.5 THE MARKETING OF PRODUCTS THROUGH SPORT

'Marketing through sport' is a concept that's been used since the 1980s, but has increased in importance in the last two decades due to the growth and expansion that the different types of sports have enjoyed since then. ―Marketing through sports‖ it is a marketing strategy that can be used in sports in two different ways. First, the use of marketing and promotion can be carried out through the sport or through the sports club. In the first case, the use of marketing is under responsibility of the different sporting associations, while in the second case, the responsibility falls on the different sports clubs. In this manner, marketing and promotion through the sport and through the club involve sponsorship, corporate events and boxes, licensed merchandise, names and images also known as ―endorsement‖, advertising through broadcaster, advertising such as advertising as ground signage/clothing/equipment advertising, promoting games, promoting using players/club/league or developing ‗business opportunities.‘ the peculiarity of sports is that ―sport is the only entertainment where, no matter how many times you go back, you never know the ending.‖ This singular fact is used by marketing companies as an advantage: every time the audience attends an event it will see the advertisements again and again, providing a wide range of opportunities for the different companies which operate on this field.

2.5.1 Sponsorship of events

One of the oldest examples is Wimbledon ball official supplier (1902- 2015[6]).the modern concept of products official supplying derives from the Victorian ages, for example in the past some of the companies supplied royal family for cheaper prices or even on cost because of the associated quality.

2.5.2 Sponsorship of teams

A real life example for representing the concept of marketing through sports is the case of the Spanish bank, bbva bancomer, and the Spanish football league. In this case bancomer which is the major sponsor of the Spanish league increased its period of participation in the league until 2013. So as the definition of this concept says, the company that is using this marketing strategy is not necessarily related to sports. In this case it is a bank and through sports or sports events it promotes its trademark and the services that it gives.

One of the prominent and very successful sports marketing example is Turkish airlines, the leading national carrier in turkey. Turkish airlines established a well-planned sports marketing strategy through several sports category with highly reputed teams, celebrity players and sport associations including Manchester united, fc Barcelona, euro league, top star nba player Kobe Bryant, Turkish top football teams, turkey national football team, number one tennis player Caroline wozniacki.

Another example of sports marketing through sponsorships, is the renovation of the contract between adidas and the Mexican football federation (fmf). In august of this year the ceo of adidas Herbert hainer in companion of the president of the fmf, justino compeán announced the renewal of the contract in order to permit adidas to continue producing and designing the uniform of the Mexican teams until 2018. This is an example of sports marketing because as it was define, sports marketing is a marketing strategy in which companies related to sports products or services promote their trademark through design, production or other resources. In this case adidas, which is completely related to sports, is the company that is using sports marketing as a strategy, by designing the uniforms of the football team and as a consequence its trademark is being promoted every time there is a game. 2.5.3 TV advertising during broadcast sports events

Finally another example of marketing through sports is the strategy used by Gillette match to promote its personal hygiene products through representative figures of each sport on television during broadcast sports events. Gillette uses for this issue characters from football soccer such as Thierry henry, from tennis roger Federer and from golf tiger woods. In the commercial these celebrities appear using the products of the company showing the results in order to demonstrate that if successful people use the products you should use them to. It is a clear example of this concept, because the company using this marketing strategy is not related to sports at all, but through important personalities of each sport it has the possibility to get to its target audience.

Marketing of athletics through social media websites

2.5.4 Marketing of athletics through social media websites

With technology growing at such an exponential rate, marketing someone's product or team, etc. Through certain media sources can result in positive revenue and create more attention to the not only fans but the broader audience. With the rapid growth in social media websites and the easy-to-access ideal through smart phone apps, this form of marketing can become very beneficial in the long run. Several different sports groups and companies have attempted to market their products to create team awareness and popularity through social media websites. The most commonly used websites to promote a company‘s products through social media are Facebook and twitter. Facebook has received more than 1.6 billion visits a week and twitter receives more than 400 million visits a month, so marketing products and teams through these websites could be deemed a very handy way to create recognition. Here are a couple of examples of companies and teams raising awareness through Facebook and twitter account pages:

Baylor rewards program: when fans decide to "like" or "follow" Baylor athletics on either twitter or Facebook, they are given day-to-day updates on their favourite‘s teams. From a marketing aspect, the Baylor athletics page on Facebook and twitter (@baylorathletics) keeps track of fans who have "tweeted" or "commented" on certain links, posts, or tweets. There is an incentive for these fans to post and tweet because at the end of each year, the top three posting or tweeting fans who are selected, receive prizes, from free jerseys and merchandise to season tickets.

Michigan presale incentive: Michigan created a very clever way to enhance the total amount of "likes" or "followers" for their Facebook and twitter pages in order to obtain recognition. In order to have the opportunity to apply for pre-sale tickets for their Michigan football games, at the largest football arena in the nation 'the big house,' fans are required to "follow" or "like" their page on Facebook or twitter, which allows them to be able to purchase pre-sale tickets for any game that they desire, making this method of marketing a great tool to gain awareness for their team and many other things.

Louisville slugger scavenger hunt: after the St. Louis cardinals won the World Series in 2011, hill Erich & bradsby, makers of Louisville slugger bats and other baseball equipment, created a scavenger hunt through twitter in order to raise awareness for their company. The hunt involved baseball hats, scattered all over the city of St. Louis, Missouri. The Louisville slugger twitter page posted "tweets" that hinted at where the hats were located within the city. The fan or participants used their mobile phones in order to be up to date on the specific "tweets" referring to the hunt. If a fan or participant found one of the several hats, the participant was told that they were to be kept by the seeker. The reason this company held a scavenger hunt was to receive recognition and to increase their followers on twitter. The statistics shows that their fan base skyrocketed 143%.

Because of this marketing tool, these fan based website pages have increased greatly in numbers and give them the recognition that they were looking for

2.6 GRASSROOTS SPORT MARKETING

Grassroots sport marketing is part of the field of marketing known as social marketing. This refers to marketing something that is of benefit to the public, and is normally done by government or charities rather than private sector organizations. It is normally done with a much smaller budget than marketing of sports teams and event or marketing of products through sports as it does not bring any direct financial benefit. Although this marketing normally drives people to clubs where they will pay to play sport it still needs to be subsidized in order to be run. The money therefore comes from local councils with a remit to increase participation or from public health sector which wants to decrease the cost of disease.

3 FIFA WORLD CUP 2014

3.1 FIFA

The fédération internationale de football association (fifa /ˈfiːfə/; English: international federation of association football) is the international governing body of association football, futsal and beach soccer. Fifa is responsible for the organisation of football's major international tournaments, notably the world cup which commenced in 1930 and the women's world cup which commenced in 1991.

Fifa was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, membership now comprises 209 national associations. Member countries must each also be members of one of the six regional confederations into which the world is divided: Africa, Asia, Europe, north & Central America and the Caribbean, Oceania and South America.

Although fifa does not control the rules of the game, it is responsible for both the women's world cup organisation of a number of tournaments, and their promotion, which generates revenue from sponsorship. In 2013, fifa had revenues of over 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, for a net profit of 72 million, and had cash reserves over 1.4 billion U.S. dollars.

3.2 HISTORY

The need for a single body to oversee association football became apparent at the beginning of the 20th century with the increasing popularity of international fixtures. Fifa was founded in England on 21 may 1904; the French name and acronym persist even outside French-speaking countries. The founding members were the national associations of Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Spain (represented by Madrid football club; the Spanish federation was not created until 1913), Sweden and Switzerland. Also, that same day, the German association declared its intention of affiliating through a telegram.

The first president of fifa was Robert Guerin. Guerin was replaced in 1906 by Daniel burley woolfell from England, by then a member of the association. The first tournament fifa staged, the association football competition for the 1908 Olympics in London was more successful than its Olympic predecessors, despite the presence of professional footballers, contrary to the founding principles of fifa.

Membership of fifa expanded beyond Europe with the application of South Africa in 1908, Argentina and Chile in 1912, and Canada and the United States in 1913.

During World War I, with many players sent off to war and the possibility of travel for international fixtures severely limited, the organisation's survival was in doubt. Post-war, following the death of woolfell, the organisation was run by Dutchman Carl Hirschman. It was saved from extinction, but at the cost of the withdrawal of the home nations (of the United Kingdom), who cited an unwillingness to participate in international competitions with their recent world war enemies. The home nations later resumed their membership.

The fifa collection is held by the national football museum in England.

3.3 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP

The 2014 fifa world cup was the 20th fifa world cup, the tournament for the association football world championship, which took place at several venues across Brazil. Germany won the tournament and took its fourth title by defeating Argentina 1–0 in the final.

It began on 12 June with a group stage and concluded on 13 July with the championship match. it was the second time that brazil has hosted the competition, the first being in 1950. Brazil was elected unchallenged as host nation in 2007 after the international football federation, fifa, decreed that the tournament would be staged in south America for the first time since 1978 in Argentina, and the fifth time overall.

The national teams of 31 countries advanced through qualification competitions that began in June 2011 to participate with the host nation Brazil in the final tournament. A total of 64 matches were played in 12 cities across Brazil in either new or redeveloped stadiums. For the first time at a world cup finals, match officials used goal-line technology, as well as vanishing foam for free kicks.

All world champion teams since the first world cup in 1930 –Argentina, brazil, England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Uruguay – qualified for this competition. The title holders, Spain, were eliminated at the group stage, along with previous winners England and Italy. Uruguay was eliminated in the round of 16 and France was eliminated at the quarter-finals. Host and 2013 confederations cup winner Brazil lost to Germany in the first semi-final. By winning the final Germany became the first European team to win a world cup in the Americas.[7] this result marked the first time that the same confederation had won three successive world cups (following Italy in2006 and Spain in 2010).[8][9]

As the winners, Germany qualified for the 2017 fifa confederations cup. During the 2014 fifa world cup, the fifa fan fest in the host cities received 5 million people, and the country received 1 million guests from 202 countries

4 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP MARKETING

The marketing of the 2014 fifa world cup includes sale of tickets, support from sponsors and promotion through events that utilize the symbols and songs of the tournament.

Marketers utilized the internet and social media platforms like YouTube and twitter to generate buzz around their individual campaigns. Electronics and Headphones Company, beats by dre, captured the world‘s attention with its five-minute clip highlighting footballers‘ pre-match routine. The spot featured Brazil‘s Neymar along with other well-known players and celebrities, including ESPN‘s Stuart Scott, united states men‘s national team soccer member joy antidote, tennis star Serena Williams and newly-acquired Cleveland cavalier, Lebrun James.

―Social media is a powerful tool to sponsors and non-sponsors alike,‖ said Dave mingy, president and founding partner of glideslope, a global consulting agency. ―The emergence of social media — which is an activation platform has absolutely levelled the playing field between official sponsors and ambush marketers.‖

If beats by dre had been a fifa sponsor, its five-minute clip might have turned into a 30-second commercial piece due to the official partnership totalling millions of dollars. At the same time, beats‘ use of top-tier talent for its creative would have been significant less.

While mingy said it is ―too early to tell‖ if there exists a dilution of official fifa sponsorship by non-sponsors, it is certainly at the forefront of marketers‘ conversations when they‘re considering investing significant dollars to gain official sponsorship status of a mega event.

―the proliferation of social media by non-sponsors — particularly on the recent world cup stage — is going to make a lot of us scratch our head and take a deeper look,‖ mingy said. ―One will be left to wonder in the very near future if it will take a significant change in policy or legislation to better protect the official rights of the partners. Without it, it‘s likely that the value of a well-executed ambush marketing campaign will only become more attractive.‖

Despite the presence of ambush marketers, official sponsors still capitalized on their partnership with fifa. Brands like Anheuser-Busch inbev and adidas were present both on the pitch as well as online. As mingy noted, ab inbev matched the sideboards around each stadium to the national beer brands of the teams playing.

For example, if United States was playing, ‗Budweiser‘ signage could be seen close to the pitch. During Brazil matches, the company pushed brahma, the national beer. While viewed as a minor detail, it is the forethought and the subsequent execution that then makes individuals, like mingy, tip their ―marketing cap‖ to ab inbev.

―they were very much acting with their finger on the pulse making sure the side boards were reflecting the most appropriate national beer for the global viewing audience, particularly the audience in that home nation,‖ he added.

Through its social media marketing efforts and the ‗all in or nothing‘ campaign, adidas became the most talked about brand related to the 2014 fifa world cup as its social media followers increased by 5.8 million across all major platforms. Its strategic and deliberate creation of planned and reactive content helped drive the brand‘s conversation online. ―This world cup has been an outstanding success for adidas and clearly underlines our position as the world‘s leading football brand,‖ said adidas group CEO Herbert hainer.

Additionally, kt tape, which served as the official kinesiology therapeutic tape supplier for the U.S. men‘s national team, saw an uptick in 4-5 percent sales growth during the month-long spectacle, according to president john McKay.

Besides official sponsors and ambush marketers, there were ‗winners‘ and ‗losers‘ on the athlete side as well. Uruguay‘s Luis Suarez perhaps made the most noise at the world cup — and for the wrong reasons.

―What price did Suarez pay for the bite?‖ Asked mingy, a question on everyone else‘s mind as well. In Uruguay‘s final group match against Italy, Suarez bit Giorgio chilling, which ultimately resulted in a nine-match international ban and a four-month suspension.

―Suarez is one of the world‘s top players who might have met his final strike from a marketing perspective,‖ said mingy, who noted that 888 poker had already cut ties with Barcelona‘s newest striker. ―He is an incredible talent on the pitch but marketers will have to think long and hard about associating their brand with his image and personality and what type of baggage could be associated with him.‖

Added Cristiano Jonquiere, director of planning at saravah, a brazil-based content and branding design firm: ―I believe that any brand should be aware that, in the heat of such an important match, any athlete has the chance to lose his mind one day — as Suarez did. Once Suarez is an idol, I believe he will probably be hurt in the short-term, especially if we imagine that the future achievements in his career will probably make this episode less significant to his image in the long-term.

―On the other hand, if the same situation happened to a player that is not viewed as an idol, an incident like this could hurt his image for a much longer term.‖

On the flip side, U.S. men‘s national team goalkeeper, Tim Howard, grabbed positive headlines following his record-setting 16- save performance against Belgium in the knockout stage.

The Everton net minder ―became a household name in the space of sport in the u.s. at least in the near term,‖ according to mingy. Yet, the downfall for Howard may not only be his age (35) but the fact that he‘s garnered much of his success playing overseas.

How his management team at Wassermann media group strategically markets him in both the short and long term, considering his playing schedule and national appeal, will be something to closely watch. Following his playing days, there may be opportunities for the new jersey native away from the pitch to still be associated with u.s. soccer, possibly as a national spokesperson or even as a head instructor at national camps. However you slice it, Howard‘s play in the world cup put his name into the national spotlight.

―There could be a very long runway for Tim to enjoy some lucrative opportunities based on this single tournament for years to come,‖ mingy said.

4.1 MARKETING STRATEGY

After the 2006 fifa world cup™ fifa unveiled its new commercial strategy, the main feature of which was a new, three-tier sponsorship structure. The primary tier consists of the fifa partners, the second tier of fifa world cup sponsors and the third tier of the national supporters for each fifa event.

The six fifa partners have the highest level of association with fifa and all fifa events as well as playing a wider role in supporting the development of football all around the world, from grassroots right up to the top level at the fifa world cup™. This allows fifa and its partners to form true partnerships, adding great value to the engagement for both sides.

Fifa world cup sponsors have rights to the fifa confederations cup and the fifa world cup on a global basis. The main rights for a sponsor in this tier are brand association, the use of selected marketing assets and media exposure, as well as ticketing and hospitality offers for the events.

The national supporter level is the final level of fifa‘s sponsorship structure, allowing companies with roots in the host country of each fifa event to promote an association in the domestic market.

One major benefit of fifa‘s sponsorship strategy is the wide product category exclusivity which is afforded to all commercial affiliates, allowing each brand to distinguish themselves from competing brands in their product category.

The diagram below depicts how fifa‘s three-tier sponsorship structure will be implemented for the 2014 fifa world cup™ in Brazil.

4.2 LOGO

The official logo of the competition is entitled "inspiration", and was created by Brazilian agency Africa. [1] The design is based around a photograph of three victorious hands together raising the world cup trophy and its yellow and green colouring is meant to represent Brazil warmly welcoming the world to their country. It was unveiled at a ceremony held during the 2010 world cup in Johannesburg. The design was selected from the submissions of 25 Brazilian-based agencies invited to submit designs. Brazilian graphic designer alexander wollner has criticised the design, suggesting that it resembles a face palm, as well as the process through which it was chosen, which had a jury that excluded professional graphic designers.

Fifa also commissioned an official poster that was unveiled in January 2013 and designed by the Brazilian creative agency crama. The official slogan is "all in one rhythm" (Portuguese: "juntos num só ritmo") which is a registered trademark.

4.3 MASCOT

The tatu-bola, an armadillo that defends itself from predators by rolling up into a ball, was chosen by fifa in September 2012 as the official mascot from 47 designs created by six Brazilian agencies.

The then-unnamed mascot was first unveiled to the public during a segment of the Brazilian news show fantástico.[7] an online public vote was used to determine the name in which three potential names were offered,[8] with the winning name being announced on 25 November 2012:[9] 1.7 million people (about 48%) voted for fuleco, ahead of zuzeco (31%) and amijubi (21%).[10] the name is a portmanteau of the words "futebol" ("football") and "ecologia" ("ecology").[9]

As well as appearing throughout the tournament, fuleco also featured on a global promotional tour of the fifa world cup trophy that visited 88 countries between September 2013 and the start of the tournament.

4.4 MERCHANDISING

globo marcas have been appointed the master licensee by fifa for all retail products related to the 2014 world cup.[12] a wide range of products have been produced, with the best-selling being those related to the fuleco mascot as well as the official match ball.[13][14] the caxirola, the officially-recognised tournament instrument, a percussive instrument created by Brazilian musician carlinhos brown, can also be purchased, although its use is banned within stadiums in contrast to the prominentvuvuzela in 2010.[15][16]

Additional related items include the now customary releases of an official video game (released by ea sports for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360platforms) and a sticker collection by Panini, which could also be collected in virtual form on fifa's website.

4.5 MUSIC

An official song has been created for every world cup finals since 1962. In January 2014, fifa and sonny music announced that the official song for the tournament will be "we are one (ole ola)" by pitbull, Jennifer Lopez and Claudia leitte.[19] a customized version of the song "dare (la la)" by Shakira, who provided the official song of the 2010 tournament, will be used as a secondary theme song.[20] sonny also launched a global music contest – entitled 'supersong' – to select a song for the competition's official album, one love, one rhythm.[21] the contest allowed any person to submit a song via a website, with the winning entrant to be professionally recorded by the singer Ricky martin.[21] in February 2014, american elijah king was chosen with the song "vida".[22] in march 2014, fifa also announced the addition of an official anthem, selecting the song "dar um jeito (we will find a way)", recorded by avicii, carlos santana, wyclef jean and alexander pires.

4.6 BALL

As part of the marketing for the competition, the local organising committee and adidas arranged a competition to name the match ball to be used in the competition. Adidas brazuca was selected by a public vote organised with over one million Brazilian football fans voting.[24] the name brazuca was chosen with 77.8% of the vote.[25] two other voting options were given: bossa nova (14.6% of the vote) and carnavalesca (7.6% of the vote).

5 SPONSORSHIP

The sponsors of the 2014 world cup are divided into three categories: fifa partners, fifa world cup sponsors and national supporters.

5.1 FIFA PARTNERS

a. Addidas

www.adidas.com

One of the main focuses of adidas is football kit and associated equipment. Adidas remain a major company in the supply of team kits for international association football teams and clubs, including Bayern Munich, real Madrid, Chelsea, Manchester united (starting in 2015-16) and a.c. Milan.

Adidas also makes referee kits that are used in international competition and by many countries and leagues in the world. The company has been an innovator in the area of footwear for the sport, with notable examples including the 1979 release of the Copa mundial moulded boot used for matches on firm dry pitches. It holds the accolade of the bestselling boot of all time. The soft-ground equivalent was named world cup and it too remains on the market, timeless and iconic.

According to the final judgement, adidas has stolen the conception of the world famous predator boots' innovation from the Hungarian inventor oroszi lászló.

Fifa, the world governing body of football, commissioned specially designed footballs for use in its own world cup tournaments to favour more attacking play. The balls supplied for the 2006 world cup, the teamgeist, were particular noteworthy for their ability to travel further than previous types when struck, leading to longer range goals. Goalkeepers were believed to be less comfortable with the design, claiming it would move significantly and unpredictably in flight.

Adidas also introduced another new ball for the 2010 world cup. The jabulani ball was designed and developed by Loughborough University in conjunction with Chelsea. It received much criticism from players, managers and pundits for being too hard to control. the lighter and more aerodynamic ball led to many shots and passes being over hit. The adidas brazuca was the match ball of the 2014 world cup.

Adidas has numerous major kit deals with clubs worldwide, including Bayern Munich, real Madrid, Manchester united, Chelsea, a.c. Milan, and Ajax, benfica, Lyon, marseille, river plate, fluminense, palmeiras and flamengo. National teams sponsored include Germany, Spain, Russia, and japan, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Nigeria, Denmark and Sweden.

Adidas has endorsed players, including Lionel messi, kaká, zinedine zidane, david beckham, Luis suárez, arjen robben, xavi, gareth bale, robin van persie, karim benzema, thomas müllerand James rodríguez.[24][25][26] As well as the aforementioned predator boot, adidas also manufacture the f50 and adipure range of football boots. Adidas also provides clothing and equipment for all teams in major league soccer.

In april 2013, adidas and opta sports announced the introduction of a new football player type - the engine.[27] the engine‘ is the archetypical box-to-box footballer who covers every blade of grass, seeks goal scoring chances, tracks down his opponent and displays relentless energy from the first minute to the final whistle.

In July 2014, adidas and Manchester united agreed a world record $1.29 billion kit deal over 10 years starting from the 2015/2016 premier league season, the most valuable in sports history, and replacing rival nike as the club's equipment partner.

"adidas is all in" is the current global marketing strategy for adidas. The slogan aims to tie all brands and labels together, presenting a unified image to consumers interested in sports, fashion, street, music and pop culture.

b. Coca-cola

www.coca-cola.com

Coca-cola was the first commercial sponsor of the Olympic games, at the 1928 games in Amsterdam, and has been an Olympics sponsor ever since.[109] this corporate sponsorship included the 1996 summer Olympics hosted in Atlanta, which allowed Coca- Cola to spotlight its hometown. Most recently, Coca-Cola has released localized commercials for the 2010 winter Olympics in Vancouver; one Canadian commercial referred to Canada‘s hockey heritage and was modified after Canada won the gold medal game on February 28, 2010 by changing the ending line of the commercial to say "now they know whose game they're playing".[110]

Since 1978, Coca-Cola has sponsored the fifa world cup, and other competitions organised by fifa. One fifa tournament trophy, the fifa world youth championship from Tunisia in 1977 to Malaysia in 1997, was called "fifa — coca cola cup".[111] in addition, Coca-Cola sponsors the annual Coca-Cola 600 and coke zero 400 for the mascara sprint cup series at charlotte motor speedway in concord, north Carolina and Daytona international speedway in Daytona, Florida.

Coca-cola has a long history of sports marketing relationships, which over the years have included major league baseball, the national football league, the national basketball association, and the national hockey league, as well as with many teams within those leagues. Coca-cola has had a long time relationship with the nfl's Pittsburgh steelers, due in part to the now-famous 1979 television commercial featuring "mean joe" greene, leading to the two opening the Coca-Cola great hall at Heinz field in 2001 and a more recent Coca-Cola zero commercial featuring troy polamalu.

Coca-cola is the official soft drink of many collegiate football teams throughout the nation, partly due to Coca-Cola providing those schools with upgraded athletic facilities in exchange for Coca-Cola‘s sponsorship. This is especially prevalent at the high school level, which is more dependent on such contracts due to tighter budgets.

Coca-cola was one of the official sponsors of the 1996 cricket world cup held on the Indian subcontinent. Coca cola is also one of the associate sponsor of Delhi daredevils in Indian premier league.

In England, Coca-Cola was the main sponsor of the football league between 2004 and 2010, a name given to the three professional divisions below the premier league in football (soccer). In 2005, Coca-Cola launched a competition for the 72 clubs of the football league — it was called "win a player". This allowed fans to place one vote per day for their favourite club, with one entry being chosen at random earning £250,000 for the club; this was repeated in 2006. The "win a player" competition was very controversial, as at the end of the 2 competitions, Leeds united a.f.c. had the most votes by more than double, yet they did not win any money to spend on a new player for the club. In 2007, the competition changed to "buy a player". This competition allowed fans to buy a bottle of Coca-Cola or Coca-Cola zero and submit the code on the wrapper on the Coca-Cola website. This code could then earn anything from 50p to £100,000 for a club of their choice. This competition was favoured over the old "win a player" competition, as it allowed all clubs to win some money. Between 1992 and 1998, Coca-Cola was the title sponsor of the football league cup (Coca-Cola cup), the secondary cup tournament of England. Introduced march 1, 2010, in Canada, to celebrate the 2010 winter Olympics, coca cola sold gold colored cans in packs of 12 355 ml each, in select stores.[112]

In 2012, Coca-Cola (Philippines) hosted/sponsored the Coca-Cola pba youngsters in the Philippines.

c. Hyundai – kia motors

Fifaworldcup.hyundai-kiamotors.com

The hyundai motor company is a South Korean multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The company was founded in 1967 and, along with its 32.8% owned subsidiary, kia motors, together comprise the hyundai motor group, which is the world's fifth largest automaker based on annual vehicle sales in 2012 . [6][needs update] in 2008, hyundai motor (without kia) was ranked as the eighth largest automaker.[7] as of 2012, the company sold over 4.4 million vehicles worldwide in that year,[8] and together with kia total sales were 7.12 million.[9]

Hyundai is currently the fourth largest vehicle manufacturer in the world. Hyundai operates the world's largest integrated automobile manufacturing facility in ulsan, South Korea, which has an annual production capacity of 1.6 million units. The company employs about 75,000 people worldwide. Hyundai vehicles are sold in 193 countries through some 6,000 dealerships and showrooms.

d. Emirates

www.emirates.com

From 2004, the airline changed its slogan to fly emirates. Keep discovering in 2008, emirates launched a slogan mainly revolving around their route network of 100 destinations in 59+ countries across six continents – fly emirates. Keep discovering and fly emirates. To over six continents. most recently emirates launched a campaign to promote Dubai as a destination using the slogan fly emirates. Meet Dubai.

Other slogans used in the past by the airline include.

 Emirates. The finest in the sky  Be good to yourself. Fly emirates  When was the last time you did something for the first time? Fly emirates.  Fly emirates. Keep discovering  Hello tomorrow

Emirates introduced a new design in august 2008 for its 16,000 uniformed staff, designed by Simon jersey plc. The off board uniform includes the emirates hat, red kick-pleats in the skirts, more fitted blouses and the return of red leather shoes and handbags. For the on-board uniform, male and female cabin crew wear service waistcoats in place of the previously worn service jackets and tabards. The male flight attendants wear a chocolate brown suit, featuring pinstripes, with a cream shirt and a caramel, honey and red tie. Both male and female pursers wear this chocolate brown colour, but with no red featured.

Since its formation in 1985, though to a limited extent until all aircraft were repainted, emirates aeroplanes carried a section of the United Arab Emirates flag on the tail fins, a calligraphy of the logo in Arabic on the engines and the "emirates" logo on the fuselage both in Arabic and English. The colour scheme used since 1985 was changed in November 1999 to the one still in use today. This change saw the modification of logotype, the enlargement and move of the English logo (the Arabic remaining smaller) towards the front of the aircraft and a different, flowing flag on the tailfin.[104] some newer aircraft such as the airbus a380-800, have the emirates logo painted on the belly of the aircraft. Emirates aircraft also have the fifa world cup logo on them, as emirates is the official airline sponsor. [105]

In cricket, emirates sponsors cricket Australia,[106] lord's taverners,[107] and pro arch tournament.[108] their branding also features on international cricket umpires shirts.[109] emirates has also become an official partner of the international cricket council until 2015. This deal gives emirates association with all major icc tournaments, including the 2011 and 2015 icc cricket world cups, icc champions trophy and icc world twenty20. emirates are the twenty20 shirt sponsor of Durham county cricket club and hold the naming rights to the riverside ground now known as emirates Durham international cricket ground, the Dubai international racing carnival, Melbourne cup carnival, and the Australian jockey club's autumn and spring carnival.

Emirates is the major sponsor of the emirates team new Zealand challenger to the 34th America‘s cup in sailing. Emirates are also major sponsors of English premier league club arsenal, taking over in 2006, after four years as the primary sponsors of rivals Chelsea. Arsenal's emirates stadium is named for emirates. In august 2009 the Scottish junior football association announced that emirates would sponsor their Scottish cup competition. In 2011, emirates sponsored the cross- Thames cable car, emirates airline in London. Emirates were also the major sponsor of the Deccan chargers team of Indian premier league, the largest domestic cricket tournament in the world. Starting with the 2012 season, emirates will sponsor the us open series, a six-week summer tennis season leading up to the us open. Their sponsorship runs till 2019.

Emirates airline is the sponsor of afc travel and play in afc champion‘s league, aff Suzuki cup, as well as the primary shirt sponsor of the football clubs ac Milan, arsenal, hamburger sv, New York cosmos, Paris saint-germane and real Madrid.

e. Sony

www.sony.net

It was for the tr-6 radio that sonny first contracted atchan, a cartoon character created by fuyuhiko okabe, to become its advertising character. Now known as "sonny boy", the character first appeared in a cartoon ad holding a tr-6 to his ear, but went on to represent the company in ads for a variety of products well into the mid-sixties.

―Make-believe‖ sonny announced a brand strategy at ifa 2009 to replace the "like.no.other" moniker. the words "make- believe" form the "sonny group brand message." the words are designed to unify the company's efforts at communication, and to reinvigorate the sonny brand. This marks the first time any message has served to represent the company's entire range of products. Previously, the company adopted separate strategies in its promotion of entertainment and electronics products.

Following the announcement of the "make-believe" brand strategy, the company included the logo at the end of advertisements. not until November 2009 did it launch its first advertisement. Sony expanded the initial ad to print, television, digital, and outdoor advertisements across Europe. The company launched the "make-believe" strategy in the United States in January 2010.

Sony budgeted us$100 million for its "make-believe" campaign in 2010.[6] that same year, sonny rolled out the second portion of the campaign, focused on promoting its 3d offerings.[6] it broadcast television advertisements featuring american football player Peyton manning as well as pop singer Justin Timberlake.[6] the ads were intended to teach consumers about 3d and reduce misconceptions about the technology.[6] as a part of the push, the company planned to conduct several thousand demonstrations in retail settings, allowing consumers to see 3d technology first-hand.[6]

f. Visa

www.corporate.visa.com

Visa has been a worldwide sponsor of the Olympic Games since 1980 and is the only card accepted at all Olympic venues. Its current contract with the international Olympic committee and international Paralympic committee as the exclusive services sponsor will continue through 2020.[76] this includes the Singapore 2010 youth Olympic games, London 2012 Olympic games, the Sochi 2014 Olympic winter games, the riot de janeiro 2016 Olympic games, the 2018 pyeongchang Olympic winter games, and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic games.

Visa extended its partnership with the international Paralympic committee through 2014, which includes the 2010 Vancouver Paralympic winter games, the 2012 London Paralympic games and 2014 Sochi Paralympic games. In 2002, visa became the first global sponsor of the ipc.

Visa is the shirt sponsor for the Argentina national rugby union team, nicknamed the pumas. Also, visa sponsors the Copa libertadores and the Copa sudamericana, the most important football club tournaments in South America.

Until 2005, visa was the exclusive sponsor of the Triple Crown thoroughbred tournament.

Visa sponsored the rugby world cup, and the 2007 tournament in France was its last.

In 2007, visa became sponsor of the 2010 fifa world cup in South Africa. The fifa partnership provides visa with global rights to a broad range of fifa activities - including both the 2010 and 2014 fifa world cup and the fifa women's world cup.

Since 1995, visa has sponsored the u.s. nfl‘s and a number of nfl‘s teams, including the san Francisco 49ers whose practice jerseys display the visa logo.[79] visa's sponsorship of the nfl‘s currently extends through the 2014 season.[80]

Starting from the 2012 season, visa became a partner of the Caterham f1 team. Visa is also known for motorsport sponsorship in the past, having previously sponsored PacWest racing's indycar team in 1995 and 1996, with drivers Danny Sullivan and mark Blundell respectively.

5.2 FIFA WORLD CUP SPONSORS

5.3 NATIONAL SUPPORTERS

6 MARKETING ACTIVITIES

6.1 JOHNSON & JOHNSON BRINGS ITS HEALTHCARE EXPERTISE TO LIFE THROUGH THE GLOBAL 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL

Through its global sponsorship and the care inspires care™ program, Johnson & Johnson aims to foster caring among individuals and their families and communities in brazil, and support and care for the players, fans and volunteers at the 2014 fifa world cup brazil™.

a. Enhanced medical care on the pitch Johnson & Johnson is bringing its expertise to fifa with solutions that will elevate the quality of athlete care on the field of play. For the first time at the fifa world cup™, we‘re making it possible for the medical teams to be equipped with a standardized, fully-equipped emergency medical bag for team physicians to use on the pitch at every match.

b. Tour do carinho (caring tour) In the months prior to the event, we traveled throughout Brazil on the tour do carinho (caring tour) to bring our caring message to communities across the country, while continuing its 80-year-legacy of encouraging healthy lifestyles among Brazilian families.

The tour do carinho featured a nationwide blood donation program, encouraging and facilitating blood donations, and engaging communities in all 12 host cities. The campaign collected more than 20,000 donations, helping to save more than 80,000 lives.

c. Enhanced medical care for fan and volunteers To aid the millions of fans attending the tournament, we are helping to standardize uniforms for medical workers and medical signage in the stadiums so people can easily identify where to go if they are in need of medical assistance. And at each city‘s fifa fan fest™, we created a family area for parents and children to enjoy the 2014 fifa world cup Brazil™ experience. Here families can register children to receive official id bracelets, send messages of care to children in need across brazil, take a photo with 2014 fifa world cup brazil™ mascot fuleco™, use dedicated diaper changing stations and watch tournament action in a comfortable place.

Johnson & Johnson also is helping to care for the 14,000 fifa world cup™ volunteers through training and by supporting volunteer centers in each of the 12 2014 fifa world cup brazil™ stadiums, where they can receive free health screenings (oral health, glucose checks, body mass index checks, cardiac health), Johnson & Johnson family of consumer companies products, and take a break from their duties in a comfortable setting.

d. Champions of care volunteers We are helping to care for and celebrate the 14,000 2014 fifa world cup™ volunteers who embody the caring spirit of Johnson & Johnson. The 12 winners will attend the fifa world cup™ final as our guest and attend an awards ceremony celebrating their contributions.

e. Commercial display At each Johnson & Johnson stadium commercial display, we will engage fans in creating a care package that will be shared with children in need across Brazil. We‘ll also share important information about blood donation, and offer fans an opportunity to take their photo with mascot, fuleco™ to share their fwc experience with family and friends.

f. Fifa 11 for health – caring for children in brazil Johnson & Johnson is supporting ―11 for health,‖ fifa‘s school-based program that raises awareness of the importance of a healthy lifestyle through 11 key health messages. Fifa has brought this program to more than 130 schools across the 12 host cities, and impacted an estimated 7,500 school children in brazil in the lead-up to the fifa world cup™. Johnson & Johnson is providing uniforms, equipment and supportive messaging materials to enhance the impact of this program.

6.2 HYUNDAI FIFA WORLD CUP

a. Hyundai Fan Park

Inspired by previous Hyundai Fan Parks staged during the 2002 and 2006 FIFA World Cups, Hyundai expanded Hyundai Fan Park beyond the host country shores to major football capitals around the world thus further elevating the fun and Hyundai’s visibility. Staged in the major cities of the qualifying countries, Hyundai Fan Park will convey thrills and excitement to fans worldwide

b. Fan of the Match

Fan of the Match, one of the FIFA World Cup™ programs exclusive to Hyundai, aimed to stir up fun and excitement at the match venues by rewarding the most outstanding fans. The fan with the most colorful, zaniest costume was presented to the crowd on the giant screen on half-time at all Hyundai 38 matches. All 38 ‘Fan of the Match’ winners were automatically entered into the ‘Fan of the Tournament’ contest at FIFA.com. The winner of the ‘Fan of the Tournament’ was awarded a valuable prize.

c. Perimeter boards

Perimeter boards (A-boards), which were installed in all Hyundai 38 matches, raised the visibility of the 'Hyundai' logo to unprecedented heights

d. Hyundai Best Young Player Award

Hyundai further leveraged its FIFA partnership with the launch of the Hyundai Best Young Player Award (HBYPA) on Dec. 2, 2010. Hyundai is proud to be the exclusive presenter of the HBYPA, a coveted honor recognizing the most outstanding FIFA World Cup™ performances by footballers under 21 years of age. The trophy is awarded to an exceptional young player who demonstrates skill, creativity, maturity and a positive attitude, making a crucial contribution to their team’s performance and delighting fans with their ability and application.

e. Online program

Hyundai recognizes the growing importance of the digital domain and expanded its worldwide web investments to publicize information about its official partnership with FIFA and improve the quality of the interactive experience with the brand through special programs such as 'Be there with Hyundai' and 'Fan of the Match.' Hyundai created the FIFA World Cup™ micro-site (fifaworldcup.hyundai.com) which offered entertaining yet informative contents including the ultimate quiz and sponsorship history. It also elaborated on the FIFA World Cup™ global marketing program and offered the very latest World Cup news

f. Goodwill ball (GWB)

In the run-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ gigantic four-meter high footballs ignited the hopes and passion of football fans. A total of 32 ‘Goodwill Balls’, one for each of the 32 qualifying countries embarked on national tours to collect the best wishes of the football fans for their national team. Exclusive to Hyundai, the “Goodwill Ball Roadshow” has become a signature event for the company since its inauguration at EURO 2000™. Popular with the fans, the balls have been gathering momentum at the 2002 Korea/Japan and 2006 Germany World Cup™ and EURO 2008.

g. Be There With Hyundai

Through the ‘Be There with Hyundai’ program fans had the special opportunity to submit slogans which could be selected to be attached on the national team buses. With the start of the program dating back to EURO 2004™, this program has become one of Hyundai’s most well-known marketing programs.

h. TV Commercial

Hyundai launched a special edition TV Commercial for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™, illustrating the joy and excitement of fans towards the tournament.

i. Outdoor advertisement

In order to maximize exposure, Hyundai took advantage of the best outdoor advertisement opportunities found in high traffic areas such as airports, city centers and Fan Fest zones within the host country as well as on all other major continents.

6.3 PEPSI

Pepsi launched an interactive video that was the highlight of their “Now is What You Make It” campaign. The video allows consumers to interact with different objects online, creating a custom experience, such as a video with a personalized autographed ball. This campaign was also supported by “limited edition” items that blended together sports, music and art. This campaign has been successful because it gives people a personalized experience that is as much art as it is advertising.

6.4 NIKE

Nike has had one of the most successful campaigns with their video “The Last Game”, which has had over 62 million views within the span of a few weeks. The five minute video uses animation to tell an in-depth story of World Cup players that need to “Risk Everything” to overcome massive odds. The stories are relatable, told well, and global in nature. It also highlights the Just Do It Nike brand with the “Risk Everything” campaign theme. The campaign is also tied up neatly with a custom social network created by Nike for soccer fans called “talk futbol 24/7”. The social network allows Nike to participate in a continuous dialog with soccer’s most dedicated fans, people who are willing to buy the latest Nike gear.

6.5 COCA COLA

Coca Cola’s brand promise of fun, freedom and expression was showcased during their World Cup campaign. They demonstrated these values with a short film that shows how Coca Cola gave people from developing countries a free trip to the World Cup, let people express themselves through a crowd sourced “Happiness Flag”, and will bring fun to schools in need with through free soccer balls. All of their work during the World Cup reinforced their brand’s core promise, and did it in very creative ways.

6.6 VISA

Visa took a unique perspective on their marketing for this World Cup by bringing together Nobel Laureates to discuss their deep held feelings for soccer. You wouldn’t expect Nobel Laureates to get competitive when it comes to sports, but soccer brings it out in them. Instead of focusing of focusing on selling the Visa service during their ad spot, they were able to tell a compelling story about passion for soccer. They did so using some of the smartest people in the world, which in turn helps build trust in the Visa brand. Also, Visa’s “Everywhere you want to be” slogan ties in nicely with the World Cup. See the “United in Rivalry” campaign here.

6.7 ADIDAS

Adidas has created the largest marketing campaign in sports history. Instead of focusing on creating new social network like Nike, or interactive videos like Pepsi they took a more traditional approach and engaged well-known celebrities to promote their brand. They used some of the biggest names in soccer and music to create powerful videos in their “All In” or “Nothing” campaigns. These videos worked well because of the broad emotional appeal, high production value, and the music by Kanye West.

7 SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING

Social media marketing is the process of gaining website traffic or attention through social media sites.

Social media marketing programs usually center on efforts to create content that attracts attention and encourages readers to share it across their social networks. The resulting electronic word of mouth (eWoM) refers to any statement consumers share via the Internet (e.g., web sites, social networks, instant messages, news feeds) about an event, product, service, brand or company. When the underlying message spreads from user to user and presumably resonates because it appears to come from a trusted, third-party source, as opposed to the brand or company itself, this form of marketing results in earned media rather than paid media.

Social networking websites allow individuals to interact with one another and build relationships. When companies join the social channels, consumers can interact with them and they can communicate with consumers directly. That interaction feels more personal to users than traditional methods of strictly outbound marketing & advertising.

Social networking sites and blogs allow followers to “retweet” or “repost” comments made by others about a product being promoted. By repeating the message, all of the user’s connections are able to see the message, therefore reaching more people. Social networking sites act as word of mouth. Because the information about the product is being put out there and is getting repeated, more traffic is brought to the product/company.

Through social networking sites, companies can interact with individual followers. This personal interaction can instill a feeling of loyalty into followers and potential customers. Also, by choosing whom to follow on these sites, products can reach a very narrow target audience.

Social networking sites also include a vast amount of information about what products and services prospective clients might be interested in. Through the use of new Semantic Analysis technologies, marketers can detect buying signals, such as content shared by people and questions posted online. Understanding of buying signals can help sales people target relevant prospects and marketers run micro-targeted campaigns.

World Cup Sponsors Take On Digital

Coca-Cola, McDonald’s and Budweiser are all looking to bring the in-stadium experience to computers and mobile devices worldwide during the 2014 World Cup. Here’s a look at what these three global brands are launching on digital to capitalize on the passionate base of consumers watching.

a. Coca-Cola

Coke plans to use an integrated digital and retail campaign to reach fans around the world this June. The brand is releasing small collectible bottles that can be activated through an augmented reality Facebook application, accessed through consumers’ phones. It also plans to release a photo sharing campaign and digital sticker program in lieu of its traditional physical sticker book.

b. McDonald’s

In its sixth year as a World Cup sponsor, McDonald’s is leveraging its social media entities in different campaigns in the weeks leading up to the tournament. Arcos Dorados, the main McDonald’s franchise operator in Brazil, is asking fans to tweet photos of their favorite moments at the fast food chain. These photos will then be used in an outdoor media campaign throughout the country over the summer. McDonald’s also launched its Player Escort contest, run through the brand’s Facebook site. The program offers children around the world “a chance not only to meet their football heroes, but to hold their hands and accompany them on to the field of play at the largest football event on Earth.”

c. Budweiser

Calling it the “biggest social conversation ever,” Budweiser is set to launch a digital campaign that is expected to drive sales and engagement. With a 17% increase in marketing spend due to the games, the beer giant is launching a dedicated website and mobile app for the games. The site will aggregate social media activity and will launch a branded series from Brazil during the event, while the app will allow user to find the closest bar pouring Bud and showing the game.

8 MEMORABLE MOMENTS FROM THE MOST SOCIAL WORLD CUP EVER!

This is the first World Cup where brands have heavily activated around the tournament through digital channels – when they have no sponsored right to do so. Since South Africa 2010, Facebook has more than doubled its monthly active users, Twitter users now send more than 10x as many tweets per day and now Instagram exists!

8.1 RECORD BREAKING SOCIAL MENTIONS New sporting records were set for tweets sent, Facebook interactions and inappropriate photos involving Mario Balotelli and the Queen.

8.2 PRE-TOURNAMENT

The weeks and months leading up to major events are always hugely important for brands to maximize their time with big names before disappearing behind FIFA’s commercial curtain.

Digital campaigns leading up to the World Cup Finals generally centered on gaining maximum exposure for high-end advertising campaigns featuring star players.

Adidas and Beats by Dre caught the eye, but Nike stole the pre-tournament show.

Nice storytelling, a hint of humor and Rooney’s dodgy Scouse accent helped earn their 64m YouTube views for The Last Game, without any of their stars presumably even having to appear in front of a green screen or step into a recording booth.

Good job they got in early as the only player in the campaign that made it as far as the semi-finals was David Luiz, who perhaps took Nike’s ‘Risk Everything’ message too seriously.

8.3 KICK-OFF

Time to unveil the shiny new technological toys.

The official FIFA.com site had a new live center and a social hub that was packed full of detail and data, with sponsors like McDonald’s, Hyundai, Castrol and Budweiser handed some prime real estate, while Sony had a destination of their own at One Stadium Live.

Facebook created a World Cup hub to access content, while Twitter rolled out a number of innovations including hashflags, man-of-the-match voting (sponsored by Budweiser), score updates and dedicated match pages for each game.

ITV used Grabyo and partnered with Paddy Power and Twitter Amplify to maximize their live rights, while everyone enjoyed some friendly fun at the expense of Robbie Savage

Every detail of the tournament was analyzed – even down to who won the World Cup of arm-folding (some welcome news for Totten ham fans).

8.4 THE FINAL

Things turned out nice in the end for adidas in their battle with Nike as Messi and Muller, Argentina and Germany all manufactured their way to the final, seeing off the Nike-sponsored pair of Brazil and the Netherlands in the semi-finals.

Adidas had David Beckham on their YouTube show The Dugout, the official ball, the winners of the Golden Glove, Germany's Manuel Neuer; the Golden Ball, Argentina captain Lionel Messi and the Golden Boot, Colombia's James Rodriguez.

9 ILL-EFFECTS OF SOCIAL MEDIA ON SPONSORSHIP VALUE

This is the first World Cup where brands have heavily activated around the tournament through digital channels – when they have no sponsored right to do so. Since South Africa 2010, Facebook has more than doubled its monthly active users, Twitter users now send more than 10x as many tweets per day and now Instagram exists!

The social media landscape has been transformed in four years, and gives an indication to why brands are putting the effort into activating around Brazil 2014. Surely all this chatter around an event is a dream come true for the official sponsors? It’s not quite that simple.

In a recent study by Unruly Media, only four of the top 11 most viewed brand ads about the World Cup were from sponsors. Less than half. Continental Tyres – one of the leading official sponsors, didn’t feature at all. Sony – an official partner, are nowhere to be seen.

Unsurprisingly, Nike use their assets and force the relation in the minds of consumers. All the Nike-sponsored teams and players were involved in their heavy-cost ad that implies they are official sponsors – but they’re not. If you did a poll, how many would say Nike were a main World Cup sponsor?

Beats have come out trumps from this World Cup through an impressive ad utilizing their playing assets. Again, no ‘right’ to have a World Cup conversation but used World Cup players to enable the link with the consumer.

Obviously the study isn’t flawless, but it does continue to highlight an interesting question. In the digital age, is there still the same value in being an official sponsor?

To answer the question, it’s worth dissecting a sponsorship package to understand where the value still lies, and where better to look, than FIFA.

FIFA state that a sponsor benefits from: “Wide product category exclusivity which is afforded to all Commercial Affiliates, allowing each brand to distinguish themselves from competing brands in their product category.” Now, whilst this has been aggressively reinforced in and around the stadiums, this is far from true in a digital space. To start with, look at the table above. Nike above adidas, Samsung above Sony and Nissan above Hyundai. Not looking that distinguished from competitors there… What about beer brands? Budweiser, official sponsor, have activated heavily around the World Cup:

But has that stopped Newcastle Brown Ale benefitting from the platform? Not one bit.

Another key benefit outlined by FIFA, is “offering a unique platform vis-à-vis their competitors.” Social media has enabled brands without the official connection to ambush these ‘unique platforms’. You only have to consider the Suarez incident.

There was a clamor for attention from brands off the back of the biting incident, but how many were official? The only one that springs to mind, was the Uruguayan McDonald’s Twitter account, which was more than likely not signed off in the higher echelons of McDonald’s as FIFA would absolutely frown upon sponsors discussing the incident!

Aside from the conversation, what else do FIFA sponsors have the ‘right’ to use? They can use official tournament title and logos – but is it beneficial, or is that in fact a hindrance? When using social media, audiences have developed an eye for official titling, and have almost developed an instinctive filter to those posts. Besides, as seen with the Snickers tweet above, who needs to reference the World Cup when over 5,000 tweets per second are being sent? Everyone knows what you’re talking about. In fact, could we go further and ask whether it could be better to work unofficially?

So, taking all this into account, does the traditional sponsorship model need altering to include further digital rights and should sponsors be negotiating harder to get this cover? Surely when their competitors begin to be more prominent in discussions over the World Cup, for example, surely they have a right to question costs?

Perhaps the new ideal ‘bigger brand’ model will follow the likes of Nike and Beats who find themselves less restricted by buying direct player assets and activate on an unofficial basis. Bigger brands will increasingly explore these opportunities in a creative capacity to give them the right to participate more heavily in these conversations. As for the smaller brands, they’ll continue to jump in and out when there’s a product link, and get small wins when they can.

There’s obviously still value in sponsorship. Access to assets like players and visible advertising rights are ultimately beneficial. However, social media allows a conversation to be had by brands when they couldn’t do so before without treading on toes and this is where sponsors need to be tougher on their sponsorships to maximize the value they receive on a digital platform, as well as a physical.

10 SPONSORSHIP WAR – NIKE V/S ADIDAS

Any sponsorship can be assessed based on 4 lenses:

 Business alignment – how strongly does the sponsorship align to business objectives?  Cost / value equation – what definable value is the company receiving from the sponsorship for the investment  Quantifiable results – does the sponsorship deliver on what it promises and how quantifiable is the spend  Leverage – how well does the sponsorship offer opportunity to leverage connections with potential customers (both internal stakeholders and external consumers)

10.1 BUSINESS ALIGNMENT

Soccer has about 2 billion fans worldwide, followed by basketball with 1.2 billion, according to sports research consultancies Repucom and Sport+Markt. Roughly 70% of the soccer related product market is controlled by Nike & Adidas (with Puma 3rd). However Nike only entered the soccer product market in 1994, whereas Adidas has been associated and aligned since 1949. Adidas is the market leader however Nike is hot on its heels and has a strategy to be number one.

In 2013, Nike‟s soccer related revenue was $2b (up 21% from a year earlier, and about double the pace of revenue growth for the broader company) and Adidas was $2.4b

Adidas launched the „One Brand Anthem‟ strategy bringing together its three lines of business (sports, style, and street) into one global campaign for the first time ever and engaging with consumers across multiple platforms and touch points.

They called it All In or Nothing. Nike has taken a #riskeverything strategy and wants to win in soccer globally.

Risk everything is all about success despite pressure and Nike has focussed on blending product placement with entertaining content and real time marketing. The question is whether all the social connection converts into sales. So let‟s call it 1-1 at this stage.

10.2 COST / VALUE EQUATION FIFA predicted it will generate $1.4 billion in sponsorship revenue from twenty-two different companies from the 2014 World Cup.

The six FIFA Partner status companies contribute roughly 56% or $783 million. So assuming equal contributions from each of the Partners, the 2014 World Cup cost Adidas about $130.5 million in FIFA sponsorship alone.

Adidas also reportedly spent US$68m on its advertising campaign.

Industry analysts have also calculated that based on $21.2 billion revenue target for Adidas in 2014, then Adidas may have assigned a $2.14b marketing budget (the same spending ratio at last year‟s 10.1%).

So with a sponsorship cost saving, Nike slips a sneaky goal ahead. 2-1

Nike and Adidas fought out their 2014 World Cup strategy with sponsorship of National teams and individual super stars. Together they sponsor 19 of the 32 teams in the tournament.

Nike sponsored 10 teams, including hosts Brazil and the rising stars United States, while Adidas sponsored 9, including the last World Cup champion, Spain, and both this year‟s 2014 finalists Germany and Argentina.

Yet it‟s the first time Nike has kitted out more teams than Adidas.

So 3-1 to Nike.

However with Germany and Argentina both #Allin the final, Adidas is claiming victory. That‟s 2 goals to Adidas. It‟s all tied up again.

3-3.

Adidas sponsor Colombia‟s James Rodriguez, who won the golden boot (for being the leading goal scorer in the tournament), as well as Germany‟s Thomas Muller and Argentina‟s Lionel Messi.

4-3 to Adidas! It‟s a goal fest.

Yet Nike boasted about the fact that 53% of players on 2014 World Cup squads wore Nike boots.

And Gonzalo Higuain of Argentina and Miroslav Klose of Germany (who broke the all-time tournament scoring record), both wore Nike Hyper venom boots in the final.

4-4 at half time in the „delivering good value‟ game.

Hold onto your seats for the second half.

10.3 QUANTIFIABLE RESULTS FIFA has stated that more than a billion fans worldwide accessed information about the tournament through its digital platforms.

“This has been the first truly mobile and social World Cup,” said FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

And there were more than 3b interactions on Facebook (more interactions than the Super Bowl, Oscars & Olympics combined). With the Final generating 280 million interactions from 88 million users, including comments, likes and posts.

There were 672m posts on Twitter with 32.1 million during the final. Not quite pipping the 35.6m posts during the Brazil- Germany semi-final.

Yet there were 618,725 tweets a minute registered after Germany scored the winning goal in extra time to defeat Argentina 1-0. That beat the 580,000 tweets a minute generated during Brazil‟s humiliating 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Germany in the semi-final. Interestingly this compares to 381,605 tweets a minute during the 2014 Super Bowl, according to Twitter.

There were also over 2.1 billion #WorldCup-related searches on Google.

However back to the game, let‟s look at some of Nikes‟ and Adidas‟ digital media metrics.

The Risk Everything YouTube Video has been viewed over 16.6M times, with a 35:1 like: dislike ratio.

Adidas‟ All In or Nothing YouTube video has amassed over 38M views, however with a 6.3:1 like: dislike ratio.

Yet Nike‟s Last Game video has received a whopping 64m views! With a fantastic 36:1 like: dislike ratio.

Nike reports their campaign has proved to be their most social and mobile campaign ever, with 22 million campaign engagements to-date (likes, comments, shares), and 650,000 uses of the hashtag #riskeverything in social media.

However, Adidas‟ #Allin hastag trumps Nike‟s with 917,000 uses.

And Adidas had the fastest growing Twitter handle (@Brazuca which has over 3.9M followers) during the tournament with the official (crowd sourced) name of the match ball, Brazuca.

Maybe a goal each.

5-5

Nike has had a 21% increase in soccer revenue for the year June 1- May 31 preceding the 2014 tournament and is closing in on Adidas‟ market leadership.

Ultimately it will be interesting how sales pan out for both companies in the next 6 months.

So a close chance for Nike ricocheting off the post.

10.4 LEVERAGE As we enter extra time, and the „delivering good value‟ game is still tied, it‟s critical to understand how Adidas has leveraged their sponsorship. This could be the clincher to outweigh Nike‟s guerrilla attack.

As mentioned before Adidas named the match ball (Brazuca being the winner) and has created extensive leverage through social media and digital platforms – YouTube, Facebook, & Twitter.

They ran promotions to win soccer balls signed by sponsored players by following Adidas‟ soccer-related Twitter accounts.

Additionally, they created the Adidas‟ SoundCloud page (107,000 followers) as the home to World Cup-inspired music playlists, and conducted The FIFA World Cup Chant Challenge, giving fans the opportunity to create an original chant for their respective national teams and enter to win a trip for two to the World Cup. Adidas also had extensive on-site activations including opening a Creation Centre in Sao Paulo, and3D light projection shows in Rio de Janeiro. However I‟m not privy to how well these performed and how they were measured.

So no goals!

It‟s still 5-5 nearing the end of extra time. Maybe a penalty shoot-out will have to decide it?

Although it feels to me that Adidas has overinvested in the hope to stave off Nike‟s threat. My feeling is that Nike will knock them off.

Gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllll!!

6-5 to Nike I say, with a calculated goal in the dying seconds of play.

11 SOCIAL MEDIA WAR – NIKE V/S ADIDAS

Adidas is a top-tier “FIFA Partner”, which means that they partner with the world‟s soccer governing body all year-round, regardless of whether or not it is a World Cup year or not. According to a recent article from Analytic Partners, FIFA anticipates that it will generate $1.4 billion in sponsorship revenue from twenty-two different companies from the 2014 World Cup. Of that $1.4 billion, it is estimated that the six FIFA Partner status companies will contribute $783 million, or 56% of the total. Assuming equal contributions to this total from each of the six official FIFA Partners, the 2014 World Cup will cost Adidas about $130.5 million in FIFA sponsorship alone. Both Nike and Adidas have an impressive digital presence, and both have been leading the soccer industry with regard to viral campaign marketing. The two brands are constantly vying for the coveted top spot, which Adidas has held for some time. But how do they stack up against each other on the top social media platforms?

Though Adidas beats Nike in 2 of 5 platforms in terms of followers, Nike‟s +36 million Facebook followers shoot it well past Adidas in terms of overall social media followers with 40.02 million, compared to Adidas‟ 19.86 million. Though their numbers differ, the platform driving the majority of their social media strategy continues to be overwhelmingly evident in Facebook‟s numbers in terms of the platforms contribution to the brand‟s total social media following, both roughly at 89%.

Adidas, though it only has about 50% of the total social media reach that Nike does, at least on these five platforms, does have the major advantage of being an official FIFA partner going into the World Cup in the battle for the top spot in soccer – or is it a major advantage?

The 2010 World Cup saw from Nike one of the more brilliant and more successful campaigns in recent history with its “Write the Future” initiative. To put into perspective just how successful Nike was, several reports have quoted Nielsen data from the 2010 World Cup that indicated that Nike was more talked about online in reference to the World Cup than ANY of FIFA‟s official sponsors for the tournament. Even though Nike was not an official tournament sponsor, it forced its way into the World Cup conversation with “Write the Future”, driven largely by social media and viral marketing tactics.

So far in the final months leading up to the World Cup it appears that Nike has a solid foothold in the social media world just as it did in 2010. Its “Risk Everything”, “Whatever It Takes”, and “Dare to be Brazilian” videos have seen a lot of attention throughout the various digital platforms and one can be sure to see more of the same in the coming days before and during the World Cup. And because no marketing campaign is complete without a digital/social component in today‟s market, Adidas has come with its share of original content as well, flexing the “all in or nothing” message, which was seen last summer more geared towards the launch of new club team kits, to work into the World Cup and highlighting the Brazuca, the official World Cup match ball, and the brand‟s “Battle Pack” set of boots in several videos.

In a world where profitability pressures are in many cases at an all-time high, a strong return on investment has never been more important for marketers to achieve. In the sports marketing world, this is something that is always tricky to calculate with 100% accuracy, and is variable by case as with most everything. Without knowing exact cost figures from Nike‟s “Write the Future” World Cup campaign from four years ago, it is very difficult to assess ROI for the initiative. However, we cannot ignore the massive success Nike saw from the 2010 campaign and what they were able to achieve without the level of sponsorship tied specifically to the World Cup than its rival Adidas had.

Social media is but one component in what is a vastly complex and comprehensive marketing strategy and plan for both Nike and Adidas for the World Cup. One has to wonder though, if Nike was able to achieve such success without the FIFA partnership, is it really worth it for Adidas to shell out the $130.5 million to align itself with FIFA for the World Cup? Might it be better served to repurpose those funds to other marketing tactics that might drive greater results? Or, is it that Adidas is well aware of the potential for the $130.5 million very well could be better used elsewhere, but the risk of letting Nike in the door to replace them at FIFA‟s table is too great of a risk and far more to their detriment than shelling out the cash for not quite the return that the company‟s finance department would like to see? Sometimes, a “spend to defend” strategy can be very effective and can often be the best option for many brands, however, it is not sustainable for the long-term. How Adidas and Nike are able to work their respective social media networks for the World Cup will be very telling for the future of the dynamic between these two brands in global football moving forward. A