Overall Analysis - FIFA.com

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Overall Analysis
Marketing and Partners
Guido Tognoni, Presidential Adviser
for Marketing Matters
As the biggest and most popular worldwide
sporting event, the FIFA World Cup also represents
a unique global marketing opportunity
for FIFA’s commercial partners. The unique
nature of this event can be explained by two
distinct factors – the worldwide popularity of
football transcends all geographical, cultural
and social barriers, and the extraordinary passion
so evident at the tournament is an ideal
opportunity for the advertising strategies of
FIFA’s partners.
The first FIFA World Cup of the new
millennium also saw fans find a new way to
display their passion for the game, with millions
following the action on giant television
screens. In Korea, countless people swarmed
onto the streets and squares to watch the
Korean national team’s matches together
and to celebrate in exuberant and colourful
street parties. In Tokyo, 45,000 people filled
the Olympic Stadium while the Japanese team
played in Osaka and Miyagi.
More than 7 million people in Korea
are estimated to have watched the public
broadcasts of their team’s semi-final showdown
with Germany, with 2.5 million people
in Seoul alone passionately following their
idols’ fortunes on the big screens. They simply
preferred to celebrate in high spirits in a huge
street party.
This potential to bring people together
was also witnessed in countless other countries,
albeit to a lesser extent than in Korea.
Consequently, the FIFA World Cup continues
to attract more and more interest outside of
its more traditional fan base. Evaluations of
the television data, for example, showed that
more and more women tuned into match coverage.
The worldwide TV ratings also showed
that the popularity of football not only remains
as great as ever, but has also enjoyed a dramatic
increase in countries that were once
classed as “fringe areas” for the game. This
is especially true for the whole of Asia, and
Japan, Korea and China in particular.
In terms of marketing, the increase in the
number of football fans around the world has
led to a rejection of traditional forms of communication.
Sponsors now demand outlets
via which they can reach their various target
groups in a more direct manner. The marketing
concept for the 2002 FIFA World Cup
therefore encompassed individual and innovative
ways for companies with interests and
requirements beyond football to make their
mark. A prime example of this trend was the
event logo, which was variable and allowed
companies to use it in a number of different
ways.
FIFA’s partners took advantage of the
opportunity to introduce individual marketing
activities. Some sponsors even increased
their effective budget for special promotions
by 300% in comparison to France ’98.
The innovative commercial programme for
Korea/Japan 2002 was on the whole a great
success. Despite the turbulent developments
in the area of marketing, the programme still
provided for traditional marketing activities
by sponsors, such as in the technical study
group (TSG) of FIFA experts, for example. Such
partnerships included the selection of the
MasterCard Allstar Team and the nomination
of 10 candidates for the adidas Golden Ball,
the award presented to the best player of the
tournament. For the first time ever, the TSG
also bestowed the title of “Budweiser Man of
the Match” on the most outstanding player in
each game.
Premier événement sportif international par
sa taille et sa popularité, la Coupe du Monde
de la FIFA offre une plate-forme de marketing
globale unique en son genre aux partenaires
commerciaux de la FIFA. La singularité
de cette manifestation tient principalement
à deux facteurs: d’une part, l’engouement