Ambush marketing in the World Cup: the unofficial guide

		About us \| Contact \| Bookmark
	NOW\|

Ambush marketing in the World Cup: the unofficial guide

An elite group of 20 companies have paid for the marketing privileges that come with official World Cup 2010™ association, but that's not stopping every marketing expert on the planet developing really inventive promotional activities focused on the beautiful game this month. So what's allowed and what's likely to get you the red card this summer? As South Africa 2010™ gets going, we look at the latest FIFA™ branding advice.

Now| Home

More articles

back | forward

How to get one past the goalie:

FIFA's branding rules are built to protect what FIFA™ calls its official "partners", "sponsors" and "national supporters. Forking out a combined £3.1 billion, the twenty companies that hold this lofty status include, adidas, Hyundai, Sony and Coca-Cola (partners), McDonald’s, MasterCard and Budweiser (sponsors), plus lesser known "national supporters" like South Africa's First National Bank (FNB) and Telekom, Africa's biggest communications operator.

For the sponsorship police at FIFA™, the World Cup is really an ongoing quest to tackle any ambush marketing activity that might cause any of these official partners some discomfort: On the global marketing landscape, South Africa is the world's ambush marketing capital and, since 2006, tough new laws have been introduced by the SA government in an attempt to keep FIFA™ sweet.

But if all of this policing is geared to stop non-official "support" from companies that don't pay to play, it's not working. Nike's "Write the future" and Nandos' "Take your tops off… for our visitors" ads are just two examples of excellent goal poaching. Both campaigns are dramatically outpacing those of official sponsors adidas and McDonalds in terms of buzz and youtube hits.

Like most marketers in the B2B space, you've probably spotted something of a gap by now (some call this an opportunity): FIFA's priority, quite rightly, is to protect the investment of its sponsors, but this does not mean it can, or event wants to, kick all informal football focused marketing off the pitch. Far from it. Well conceived, good natured World Cup promotions are actively encouraged by FIFA™. It's just that the rules of the game look a little fudged here and there for B2B marketers playing in the middle leagues.

During its preparation for 2010™, FIFA™, for the first time, decided to include a set of do's and don'ts in its branding guidelines: It's an official 30 page rule book that unofficial World Cup marketers have been devouring as they work up a game plan to get one past the FIFA™ goalie.

hover over image to enlarge

Any seasoned ambush marketer should be able to skip the first few pages of this FIFA marketing code: We all know the official logo is off limits and the mascot, Zakumi, is one South African leopard we shouldn't get to close too. The really interesting stuff starts from section three: "Examples of use (Do's and don'ts)". Here we learn that FIFA™ will turn a blind eye to campaigns that use phrasing like "World Cup" or "South Africa Soccer" but is likely to call foul if we opt for "South Africa Football™". Even "South Africa 2010™" is deemed an "unauthorised association" of trademarked words; which arguably puts a bit of pressure on the long established "South Africa 2010 Hotel Guide", "Time Out South Africa 2010" and other, usually non-football related products.

To summarise FIFA's 30 pages of branding advice then:

All official logos and trademarked South Africa 2010™ wording is off limits to all, even well intentioned charity focused promotions (although FIFA does have a history of leniency when charities are involved).

A vast array of words and phrases trademarked for the event mean that almost any combination of copy runs a fair risk of inadvertently breaking the guidelines. Used together everyday words like "South Africa", "football", "World Cup" and "2010" or symbols like a football (not necessarily the official adidas World Cup ball but any football), the South African flag, The World Cup trophy or images of Word Cup venues could fall foul of the FIFA ref.

The closer you are the harder it gets. If, for instance, a hotel chain thinks that a printed fixture list (with the hotel's logo) might be a handy giveaway over the duration of the World Cup, then distributing this within 10km of any World Cup venue may aggravate FIFA. A similar fixture list downloadable online runs less risk (although it still breaks the guidelines).

Above all it's about scale and social awareness. With a close eye on every move made by big unofficial players like Nike or American Express, FIFA looks unlikely to come down hard on the smaller promotions conceived in the B2B space, especially if these are geared to deliver social benefits or raise charitable donations.

Play safe and enjoy the tournament!

More:

Brandchannel has put together a The World Cup ambush marketing score card

Comment on this article