Globo Brings Russian Culture to Brazil for World Cup Coverage

06.26.2018

With the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia underway, prominent networks in Latin America-including DirecTV, Globo, ESPN and Fox Sports-are using magic, humor, music and pride to position campaigns around the excitement soccer brings, and the networks' capacity to offer fans the best content anytime, anyplace.

Here, Brief digs into Globo's marketing strategy for the World Cup.

Brazilian network Globo went with a comedic campaign that delivers some Russian culture to viewers, and uses music as a hook.

"At Globo, we are in constant motion, following what happens in Brazil and around the world, and always maintaining a very close relationship with our audience. We focused on emphasizing the joy and excitement of covering the World Cup by connecting Brazil and Russia through a light-hearted and entertaining campaign that uses music-a universal cultural expression-to mix the two cultures," says Leandro Castilho, creative director at Globo.

Globo produced special programming to bring a bit of Russia's spirit into Brazil. An example is As Matrioshkas (The Matrioshkas), a program hosted by journalist Glenda Kozlowski, who traveled to Russia along with the mothers of Brazilian players , Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho. Globo's studios also have a LED-based stage, which turns guests and members of the audience into figures of a tactical table.

The network also worked with traditional Russian musicians and instruments, such as the balalaika and the accordion, to create a new version of the song Coração Verde e Amarelo (Green and Yellow Heart) composed by Tavito and Aldir Blanc. The new version was used as the signature song of the channel's national team matches.

"[The song] is Globo's identifying stamp for the Cup matches; Brazilians relate to it and it helps us highlight the joy and excitement of being a national team fan," says Castilho.

The first piece was launched in March 2017, when the Brazilian team qualified for the Cup. To get warmed up, Russian subtitles of Coração Verde e Amarelo were incorporated, so that Brazilians could see the lyrics in the host country's official language.

In the campaign's second phase, the same band starred in spots announcing the one year and 100-day countdowns to the World Cup.

In the third phase, other Russian musicians honored the players in the national team. In the promo, the band sings the names of the individual players, which appear in Russian in the subtitles.

The fourth and final phase celebrated the countdown to the competition as Brazilian musicians and instruments played alongside the Russian band. It culminates with the band singing the same song in Portuguese during the World Cup.

Globo's tagline for sports broadcasts, "Aqui é Emoção" (Here's Emotion), remained the same throughout the campaign. "We know that what fanatics love and what attracts them, and what makes moments in sports eternal, is actually emotion," says Castilho. Globo broadcasts all the World Cup matches, with 56 screened live while the remaining eight, which take place at the same time, will air live on Globoplay.

The landmark programming schedule marks the first fully integrated World Cup coverage, between Globo, SporTV and globoesporte.com, dedicating around 600 hours to the event, with a total of 400 professionals and 23 teams spread across the venues.

Version español: Globo acerca la cultura rusa a Brasil para su cobertura de la Copa Mundial de Fútbol