FIFA’s First 11 for the World Cup 2014

As the World Cup kicks off in Brazil, Unmetric takes a look at the Social Media activities of FIFA’s largest global sponsors…

1) Adidas – Adidas launched its #allin or nothing campaign for the World Cup 2014, promoting it across most major social media platforms. Six out of 10 of the most engaging posts on the brand’s global Facebook page contain the #allin hashtag. A video uploaded by Adidas titled “The Dream: all in or nothing” has received 32 million views so far. The official football for the World Cup, produced by adidas, has been named Brazuca and has been given a voice on Twitter and is followed by close to 800,000 users.

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

— brazuca (@brazuca) December 3, 2013

2) Coca-Cola – Like Adidas and its Brazuca ball, Coca-Cola has also created a separate Facebook page and Twitter handle in support of their Trophy Tour execution. The Facebook page has close to 3.3 million fans, while the Twitter handle has approximately 15,000 followers. The pages followed the trophy as it toured around the world and after the tour finishes, the page will update fans and followers with exclusive game updates.

We are very proud that over 1,000,000 people came to see the trophy! pic.twitter.com/L9s97oc7fC

— Trophy Tour (@TrophyTour) June 9, 2014

3) Hyundai/Kia Motors – Hyundai launched the “Pin my Fan Park” campaign across all major social platforms. A microsite was launched for the campaign as well and included various interactive games. The most popular hashtag on Twitter for this campaign is #becausefutbol (which plays on the popular new preposition that is sweeping the Internet and pop culture) and has been used close to 500 times by followers.

Kia – Ran a #TakeMe2Brazil contest that garnered more than 3,000 entries on Facebook and Twitter. Kia also uploaded a video to their YouTube channel entitled “2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil” – originally a television commercial – and has received close to 7.5 million views so far.

4) Emirates – Though a significant global sponsor of sporting events and teams, Emirates doesn’t always create focused campaigns to support them. A well-produced Cristiano Ronaldo and Pele TV advert features a #alltimegreats tag at the end, and they have used #Peléane in support of a custom-painted plane to highlight their involvement with the tournament.

5) Sony – Sony has created a microsite for the FIFA World Cup with info on its campaigns, fan challenges and contests. The brand has made use of its dedicated Football X Facebook page and Twitter handle, which has 5.3 million fans and 124,000 followers respectively, for its World Cup related promotions and campaigns. On YouTube, the Sony X Football channel has 30 videos on the 2014 FIFA World Cup, which have garnered 500 subscribers so far

6) Visa – This year’s campaign from Visa is “Flow with Visa”. They haven’t promoted this campaign too much across Facebook and Twitter, but have uploaded videos across multiple YouTube channels, including one that features Jamaican Olympic hero, Usain Bolt.

7) Budweiser – Budweiser’s campaign for the World Cup is #RiseAsOne. The campaign has been extended to the three main social platforms and Instagram as well. However, YouTube is where the most action is, with their channel has receiving more than 4.7 million views on the 21 videos have been uploaded in the last 2 months.

8 ) Castrol – While it seems that Castrol hasn’t launched a specific campaign on Facebook, they are making updates about the World Cup on their page and the same applies to their Twitter account as well. On their global YouTube account, Castrol is running a campaign called “Footkhana” featuring Neymar and rally driver Ken Block where the main 4:30 minute long video has received over 15m views. So far, they have uploaded close to 10 videos revolving around the campaign.

9) Continental – On Facebook Continental has made a few updates on the World Cup, but hasn’t launched any particular campaign. Continental Uk’s Twitter page is running a contest using the hashtag #ContiPredicts where contestants stand a chance to win a trip to the FIFA World Cup Final.

10) Johnson & Johnson – The company is the first healthcare sponsor for the World Cup which might explain the muted activity on social media where even their brands like Listerine are not talking about the World Cup too much on their social media profiles. Their campaign for the world cup is #inspirecare has been used close 700 times by users. As a part of the campaign a microsite was set up and the campaign has received close to 20 million likes and shares.

11) McDonalds– McDonalds’ global Facebook page had a few updates revolving around the World Cup, but it’s the regional pages that are doing all the heavy lifting. McDonald’s has launched a campaign called “Fry Futbal”. This campaign has been extended to Twitter as well. Videos which are a part of the Fry Futbal campaign have been uploaded on to their YouTube Channel and have helped increase the subscriber growth rate by 10%, which is 3 times the sector average. A microsite was also set up as a part of the campaign with various interactive games.

These campaigns from FIFA’s First 11 are just the tip of the iceberg, there are dozens of examples of brands looking to capitalize on the World Cup buzz without mentioning the World Cup. What are some of your favorite examples of guerrilla marketing from brands for this tournament? (And saying Nike doesn’t count!).

Methodology

All campaigns were tracked and sourced from the Unmetric platform. Click here to get a free six day trial.