Today, I turned on the TV and intentionally searched out the World Cup soccer game between Germany and Italy.
I was hoping I'd catch the game in the middle of some crucial shoot-out or something. Alas, it was a thrilling 0-0 tie. I'll probably check back in in a few hours to see if anyone has managed to score.
In the ten minutes or so that I watched the two teams battle it out, I couldn't help but notice all of the sideline ads along the edge of the field. I must have seen twenty different companies that shelled-out God knows how much for the rights to put their logo on the side of the field (because we all know how valuable it is to have the camera swing past your name for 1.3 seconds).
How about this for an idea: Don't sell 50 individual sideline signage deals with companies. Just do one huge, long sideline ad. Think about it...you'd have companies bidding to be the one that gets the rights. You wouldn't even have to sell anything...they'd be fighting and clawing at each other to beat each other with the highest bid. And, I think there would be some real value for the advertiser...being in the spotlight as an advertiser is always more valuable than sharing space with a bazillion other advertisers.
That's my World Cup marketing idea for the day.
Oh, one more thing, FIFA...you need to take a good, hard, long look at my idea I sent you last month about giving soccer players clubs to swing at each other while playing. That would really spice things up and boost your U.S. soccer ratings.
I am one of the 5 or 6% of Americans who actually has watched and followed the World Cup. I was actually looking forward to it for a few months prior to it starting.
I've watched at least 10 matches and not been aware of the advertising until you mentioned it here. Now that you mention it, I realize it is there but have no idea who the advertisers are or what messages they are attempting to get across to me. Dumb advertising if you ask me.
As far as branding goes, Nike and Adidas are the only two doing anything in my mind. They are linking the playing with the stars of the game... a well established strategy in other sports. It's also interesting that Nike has crossed Kobe Bryant over to a soccer ad.
As for soccer becoming a big sport in the U.S., it won't happen within our culture. We are a culture of final outcomes and scoring, scoring, scoring to get to the final outcome. Americans play sports to score, just ask my youth football and basketball teams, and the win comes from scoring. The maturity level of youth when playing "American" sports is much the same as the maturity level of our culture when watching soccer.
Soccer is a game of process and a journey throughout 90+ minutes of play. To enjoy it, you have to enjoy the journey and the anticipation of the outcome. It builds throughout the match. An effective offense builds up to an eventual shot. The scoring is only a climax to the journey. That is why you see an erruption of emotion when a goal is scored.
Americans don't "get" the journey. Probably the same way I don't "get" advertising on the sidelines.
Posted by: Sean Woodruff | July 5, 2006 8:58 AM | Permalink to Comment