32 countries. 24 matches. 6 weeks. 3.2 + Billion sets of eyes.
No brand wants to miss out on a massive opportunity to raise their profile or engage billions of people. However, when it comes to the FIFA World Cup, the competition for attention is high.
Many companies plan months (and even years) ahead to ensure that they are putting their best strategies and content forward during the FIFA World Cup. In 2014, Adidas generated 1.59 million conversations across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and various blogs with their “all in or nothing” campaign. On Twitter, the hashtag #AllIn received over 917,000 mentions. The attention-grabbing visuals, photography, and creative videos made them the “most talked about brand related to the 2014 FIFA World Cup.”
2018 was no different.
Check out these five examples of how brands across the globe effectively leverages the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
1. Geico — The Longest Goal Slide Ever
You’ve all seen this one. Geico is no stranger to having some of the best ads and engagement during the world’s largest sporting events. This particular spot plays on a popular soccer celebration and brings it back to their customer. Because you too can celebrate with a slide when counting on the company to help save you money.
2. IKEA UK
IKEA UK were the role models of damage control when a group of excited England fans trashed the London IKEA store after their quarterfinal win against Sweden. Although they were probably frustrated with the mess the fans created, IKEA UK took the opportunity to congratulate England on the win, while also promoting a food special and a hat and coat stand. They even poked fun at the fact that they are a Swedish company.
3. 23andMe in partnership with FOX Sports
Americans were disappointed when the US team did not make it to the World Cup. However, 23andMe along with Fox Sports saw this as a great engagement opportunity and a way to promote their ancestry-testing kits by giving sadden fans a cool way to find a new team to support for the World Cup. Their engagement included TV personalities from FOX Sports taking the ancestry DNA Kits, a YouTube video and media outreach that encouraged people to share their results.
4. Wish Shopping App
Wish Shopping is considered a small brand, but their engagement during this World Cup was notable. With their #TimeOnYourHands campaign, they teamed up with star players to show their fans what they do when they aren’t playing on the field. Real Madrid and Wales star Gareth Bale’s ad featured him buying a pair of clippers he brought on the e-commerce app and learning how to cut hair. This reached his 17 million followers and has at least 7 million views on YouTube.
5. McDonald’s Hong Kong
McDonald’s Hong Kong partnered with Google to use their real-time triggers technology to create “hungry moments.” Combining the triggers with a data management platform (DMP), McDonald’s was able to anticipate the exact time that fans would become hungry while watching a match. Results from the World Cup showed that fans wanted food at the beginning, half-time, and end of a game or if a goal was scored. The technology would then post promotional messages accompanied with real-time scores and the data management platform would personalize the post by mentioning a fan’s favorite food items. This campaign highlighted the ability to link digital efforts with the real world.
6. Wells Fargo featuring Landon Donovan
Wells Fargo refused to accept “engagement defeat” this world cup. In their recent marketing campaign you can find former United States forward Landon Donovan showing his support for Mexico and encouraging U.S. fans to cheer on the “other team.” The campaign definitely started a conversation touching on the political climate in America. However, the stunt backfired on Donovan. He took to Twitter explaining how he wished he would have expressed his personal story of growing up around Mexican people and culture.
7. Aeromexico’s Hilarious Korean Flight Deals
To commemorate South Korea wiping out Germany from the tournament, allowing Mexico to advance to the second round, Aeromexico announced a 20% discount customers flying out of Mexico City. The company went on Twitter and used the hashtag #graciascorea to express their gratitude. The discount applied to flights that were traveling from Mexico City to Seoul and were valid from June 25 to July 1. What makes that ad comedic gold is the change of the name on the airplane to “AeroCorea.”
