I'm not sure if you have it, but I do. I watch the FIFA World Cup as soon as I get up in the AM. I have to admit I haven't really followed the sport until now, and I'm not sure why, it's electric! One more thing, sorry if you're trying to get me around 9am, the matches usually get me in around 9:15.
Anyhow, I've been not only feverishly watching the matches but the commercials as well. As advertising professionals, we all appreciate good/bad advertisements right? So what are your favorites?
Here are my favorites for the World Cup and why.
Adidas - José +10
Bravo to Adidas for coming up with an amazing commercial. Two kids in Spain who are seemingly bored on a sunny hot afternoon. They decide to play soccer and they pick teams of these uber professional players like Beckham. Not only do these kids play in the match with these soccer stars but act as coaches as well!
Why I liked it:
- Great music!
- They filmed the commercial so that you can see it in smaller subsets that are strung together throughout the match OR as one commercial. Clever.
- No English is spoken, yet you understand everything that's going on!
Make the Ball Happy!
Leave it to Nike, the JogaTV ads rocked the road to the Cup. So where did the whole Joga TV concept come from? Nike and Google created Joga.com as a social networking site dedicated to keeping the game beautiful. So they create this community, then have a TV station called Joga TV where they steal other station's feeds. French born footballer from the 90's Eric Cantona is the "serious" spokesman in the commercials hyping the beauty of the game with such stars like Ronaldinho at his best now and when he was just a kid. Play with your feet, not your fists seems like what they try to convey. (Funny, didn't Cantona attack a fan back in 1995 and do community service? Superb irony.)
Why this campaign was cool:
- There was a web presence created to gain momentum with a community-based viral marketing campaign.
- The entire campaign of ads highlighting different players told the same story and reinforced the web presence.
- At the end of each commercial they have 4 different-language URLS to send people to.
- Interestingly enough, www.nikefootball.com redirects to a page featuring JogaTV.
Fantastic multi-channel marketing.
Catch the Bud Wave
Even though Bud got a bad rap for buying a $40 million sponsorship to have most of the taps at the World Cup serve their beer in Germany (Bit was understandably upset) this one was just plain cool. It was way better than the one they showed with US Football players. Um, Bud, it's the "other" futbol. It is fascinating to "think" that Bud could get an entire stadium behind this concept: visually pour beer around half of the stadium into a glass using colored cards that are "waved" by the fans, then have those fans wave the beer right out of the glass. BRILLIANT! As those crazy Guinness guys would say.
Speaking of Guinness
Love, love, love these two 2-D animated blokes. These guys are so funny that people are buying t-shirts with them on it! In my opinion, one of the funniest spots has the "inventor" gent telling his colleague that he's just invented a little black book to keep women's addresses....little black book? Brilliant!
Why I like it?
- It's funny and catchy, appealing to both male and female audiences where typically Guinness skews men.
- It's viral. People are wearing t-shirts with the brand on it. There's just no better way to get customers than from your current customers.
- There is an entire campaign devoted to the concept with many different ads.
All in all, I wish they showed more of a variety of commercials during the cup, seemed like AIG, Vonage, and Adidas owned it. Anyone else hearing the Vonage "wooohooo wooohooohoo" in their sleep?
Love to hear your thoughts about what you liked and didn't. Chime in!
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