FIFA Stops World Cup Marketing Edge Ball

At the June 11th World Cup in South Africa, FIFA was trying to curb the marketing edge of companies that did not spend money on official sponsors. It opened up a new "isolation zone" to restrict these companies from advertising near the stadium, and hired agencies to help enforce the law in these areas.

But advertisers such as Nike, Nike, Puma and PumaAG are trying to circumvent these quarantine areas.

In the central business district of Johannesburg, the landmark "LifeCenter" building has been linked with the image of Nike sponsors, with Nike's icon on top of the building.

On the Internet, the Nike advertisement with soccer as its theme has been browsed about 14000000 times by fans all over the world.

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Nike is the vice president of global brand and category management, Edwards.

The company helped a soccer school in suvito.

Puma, PepsiCo and beer producer SABMiller's advertisements are flying everywhere in Johannesburg, including billboards, elaborate television advertisements and webpage advertisements. They also pay no attention to the world cup marketing activities that FIFA itself supports.

SABMiller has published a web guide on savito and launched a special canned drink that can be changed into a drinking cup.

During the 2006 World Cup, Nike also had a similar fight with Adidas (AdidasAG).

During this world cup, few companies could catch up with Nike when it said that their icons and brands were clearly presented to savito's fans.

Servitto's residents are mainly black people, but there is also a rising middle class.

Last week, a luxury football training school sponsored by Nike opened near the two World Cup Stadium.

Edwards, vice president of global brand and category management at Nike, said: "we absolutely do not want to be seen as the sponsor of the world cup. We do not need to be such a sponsor; we focus on players and teams, and how to make TrevorEdwards a trial arena for our products.

The corporate sponsors formally recognized in the world cup have invested a lot in order to display their names and icons prominently at the stadium and approved game equipment.

But Nike and other companies also show their brands to their fans in their own way through strong marketing.

Adidas said it will be the most visible brand in the world cup.

In addition to advertising, Adidas also provided the official tournament ball for the world cup and sponsored 12 national teams, including Argentina, France, Germany and host South Africa.

FIFA and Adidas declined to disclose the cost of obtaining the official sponsorship of the world cup.

But according to GrahamStanleyAdvertising, an advertising agency in New York, the cost of a one-year agreement may be between $20 million and $35 million.

The company has participated in marketing campaigns similar to major events.

Insiders say that the cost of a eight year contract can be between $250 million and $300 million.

AntonioZea, Adidas's chief soccer officer in the US, said that we expect sales of US $1 billion 800 million this year to set a record, which is actually driven by the world cup. We sell the official licensed products of the world cup and no other brand can do so; I would rather let the marketing activities of the company be linked to the world cup itself.

But experts say smart companies can still find ways to get themselves into the audience's perspective.

Woodard, President of GrahamStanleyAdvertising, said that FIFA tried its best to provide practical protection for sponsors, but the fact is that companies like Nike and American Express (AmericanExpress) do not want to be sponsors because they have been very good at marketing ambushing (LarryD.Woodard).

FIFA officials escorted a large number of women wearing orange mini skirts to leave the stadium while Holland and Denmark played in June 14th.

In June 16th, two Holland women were arrested for alleged violations of trademark and safety regulations.

FIFA said the two women took part in a large-scale ambush marketing campaign by BavariaNV, a brewery maker in Holland.

Bavaria denied the accusation that their costumes were the color of the team uniform of Holland on that day.

Nielsen Co (NielsenCo.) has conducted an investigation of English information related to the world cup on blogs and other websites, and found that the frequency of Nike's comparison with the world cup is two times that of Adidas, the official sponsor of the world cup.

Retail group Pino spring PPRSA and Puma from Germany are also selling the edge ball through the world cup, hoping to suppress the sales of the old enemy Adidas.

Puma has released a series of advertisements, all of which are the same theme: "LoveEqualsFootball" (love is equal to football).

FIFA marketing director Weir (ThierryWeil) said there were more than 2000 complaints about improper use of the world cup brand, but he did not know if any complaints were involved in Nike or Puma.

Puma is the sponsor of the seven teams in the world cup, including four African teams.

It says it is wise to sponsor individual teams and players, not the whole event.

Cai Ci, chief executive of Puma, said in an interview at a promotional event in Paris last month that players and teams are more persuasive in their competition, and the focus of attention is what happens on the pitch.