4 - FIFA/CIES International University Network

promoting the Budweiser brand but there are
certain markets around the world where we
wanted to activate on other AB InBev brands.
These included Brahma in Brazil (the brand
already sponsors the Brazilian national teams),
Jupiler in Holland and Harbin in China.
“We are not like Coca-Cola which has one brand
across all territories. The creation of AB InBev
opened the floodgates to a number of brands and
this became the cornerstone of our strategy. To
make the sponsorship worthwhile we simply had
to involve multiple brands and, naturally, FIFA was
initially very protective because it was concerned
about the possibility of clutter around the beer
category,” Van der Noll said.
With the agreement of FIFA in place, AB InBev
developed a two-phase approach. In-country
activations for key individual brands made full
use of the World Cup assets while Budweiser,
which was promoted across some 80 territories
worldwide, was supported by a global digital
overlay built around the concept of Budweiser
United, a social network-based programme
drawing the world together around its love of
football, reality shows and, of course, beer.
Here was an example of how partnerships
between brands and sports properties have
delivered over the years and how the apparently
limitless potential of the digital universe is
encouraging creativity.
The Bud House was an online reality show
Eelco van der Noll
Global Director, Sports &
Entertainment, AB InBev
A marketing graduate from Rotterdam’s
Institute for Business Administration &
Economics, van der Noll joined Japanese
multinational Canon in 1990 where he
developed several integrated marketing
programmes for the company.
He joined global payments solutions
company MasterCard in 1995, where
as Vice-President he negotiated and
contributed to multi-million dollar
partnership agreements with sports bodies
including FIFA, UEFA, Jordan F1 and
Manchester United. He also developed
programmes to promote the FIFA World
Cup and Pelé-themed payment cards.
FIFA soon came calling, and van der Noll
assumed the position of Head of Marketing,
overseeing the development and the
commercialisation of football worldwide.
In his four years with FIFA he generated
incremental revenue of $80 million through
the sale of sponsorship packages.
After a brief spell at Momentum
Worldwide, van der Noll joined Anheuser
Busch InNev in June 2009.
along the lines of Big Brother, but with a
difference. The inhabitants of the house, in Cape
Town, represented the 32 nations which qualified
for the World Cup finals. As the teams were
eliminated, so was their Bud House counterpart.
Available on and linked to the leading social
media platforms, it quickly created a global
community united by its engagement in and
willingness to talk about the project.
This online offering was complemented by a
global Man of the Match vote, while the Bud Cup
was organised to bring teams of consumers to
South Africa for their own knockout competition.
“This was a truly global programme based
around a beer to unify soccer fans, and the huge
digital platform we created was certainly one of
the highlights,” says Van der Noll.
The programme delivered results on a range
of measures, including ensuring that Budweiser
was the top-selling drink - soft drinks and bottled
water included - at World Cup stadiums.
In addition, Budweiser’s Facebook fanbase
added one million ‘likes’ during the five weeks
of the tournament, while over 2.7 million fans
showed their colours using the brand’s ‘Paint Your
Face’ application on Facebook.
Bud House attracted more than seven million
views on syndicated channels while more than 1.5
million fans voted for their Bud Man of the Match
after each of the 64 games.
In a press release issued along with the
SportBusiness International • No.160 • 09.10 31