Why Aren’t Corporate Sponsors Optimizing Search Terms?
Posted: 5/21/2010 10:14:42 AM by
Lesa Ukman | with 0 comments
Official corporate sponsors of the 2008 and 2010 Olympics failed to optimize social media opportunities by ignoring search engine optimization. Now the official corporate sponsors of the 2010 FIFA World Cup—including Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates and Hyundai/Kia—are missing the boat.
All are failing to link their activation to online search terms such as “soccer world cup” and “world cup 2010.” There is a huge volume of traffic surrounding these terms and sponsors have the rights to use them. So why aren’t they optimizing? Why isn’t FIFA advising them to do so?
FIFA certainly does a good job protecting these terms. Consider this ad from South African discount airline Kulula.
Although Kulula avoided using any World Cup marks or other intellectual property, FIFA lawyers complained and the airline dropped the ad. But, not before tweeting:
“Oh dear, letter from FIFA’s lawyers says we broke their trademark of the use of ‘South Africa’ and think our non-WC ad was about soccer…Even the use of our national flag was an issue. It’s absolutely outrageous. We’ve signed over our country, its symbols and our economy to one [FIFA President] Sepp Blatter. Nasty.”
In our increasingly open-source world—where earned media is more valuable than paid media—FIFA lawyers were able to stop Kulula’s campaign, but they can’t stop people from sharing, blogging and tweeting about it.
To enlist the public in its campaign against ambush marketers and counterfeit merchandise, FIFA produced a brochure explaining its Rights Protection Programme. Check it out here.
Heading into the tournament, FIFA’s lawyers have filed more than 3,000 complaints. Only corporate sponsors and licensees are allowed to use any of the following in ads and promotions: 2010 or Twenty Ten with the words soccer, football, South Africa, RSA, SA, World Cup or with soccer or FIFA World Cup imagery. In addition, World Cup cannot be used with the words soccer, football, South Africa, RSA, SA or soccer imagery.
However, brands always find ways to work around the rules. For example, the IOC had protected all iterations of 2008 in connection with the Beijing Summer Olympics, but Nike managed to break through by incorporating the number 8 on footwear and clothing. In China, eight is a symbol of luck and fortune and the Games opening ceremonies were on 8/8/08, as you’ll remember.
Similarly, while Coca-Cola is a worldwide FIFA Partner and its official non-alcoholic beverage sponsor, Pepsi Max has the first 2010 World Cup-themed ad to make the Viral Video Chart. Pepsi’s three-pronged offensive—including support of African culture, African nonprofits and player endorsements—effectively blocks the ambush argument. Although not a corporate sponsor of FIFA, Pepsi is supporting South Africa and football.
The 2.5-minute “Oh Africa” video is posted on YouTube’s PepsiFootball channel. It features FIFA World Player of the Year Lionel Messi and top players Didier Drogba (pictured below from the campaign), Thierry Henry, Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres, and has gotten more than three million views. See the video here.
Pepsi Max also released the music track of the video featuring the Soweto Choir, Akon—the Senegalese-American R&B singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, businessman and philanthropist—and Keri Hilson. Proceeds from sales of the track will benefit African nonprofits and Akon's Konfidence Foundation. The music video has been seen by more than 5.7 million.
In addition, Pepsi Max has released a “making of” video, garnering another two million-plus views.
Leading up to the tournament, Pepsi has created lots of other football touch points, including Football Hero, which allows users to play five interactive digital games.
Pepsi also has rolled out digital activity featuring content from eight football stars—the five already mentioned plus David Beckham, Cesc Fabregas and Ronaldinho—promoted with burgeoning social networking site Youniverse.com.
The program includes The Football Widget, aka Desktop Takeover, which required filming the players juggling a ball and maneuvering imaginary obstacles. That footage is superimposed onto a beach, outer space, a jungle and an urban streetscape in Asia. Once downloaded, the app connects to a soccer-related RSS feed and alert the user at customizable intervals.
Another interactive aspect of the program is “Kick It.” Fans upload a video of them being passed a ball, juggle it and then pass it out of frame, giving viewers an infinitely shared soccer ball as more and more users upload their versions. The superstar players would set the stage for what to do in this sequence. The concept of sharing the ball ties back to the Oh Africa video.
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Filed under: ambush marketing, beverage, cause marketing, digital media, endorsements, international, music, olympics, social media, soft drink, sports, activation