The 2010 FIFA World Cup is so close you can almost feel the excitement, passion, and drama that will come when the best in the world showcase football, or soccer for the sake of this post, at its finest! If you’re like me you’ve been living, eating, breathing, tweeting and posting anything World Cup related. For brands the mix of the world’s largest sporting event, the global connectivity of soccer fans and the explosion of social media makes for a perfect storm. This has not been lost on some of the biggest brands that are working hard to harness the powerful mix of soccer fans and social media. Let’s take a look at some.
Nike Shows Fans the Future
Unless you’ve been underground for the past week or so you’ve seen Nike’s Write the Future video on YouTube. The video has racked up over 11.5 million views, showcasing how content that’s relevant and creative can spread globally, even with some prominent branding from a major company. The star quotient of players like Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho only adds to its appeal. To its further credit Nike’s YouTube Channel’s unique design nicely incorporates Facebook and Twitter access, while capitalizing on Facebook’s Open Graph by housing an exclusive ten minutes of behind-the-scenes video on its page, which can be viewed if you “like” it.
ESPN and Fox Take the World Cup Mobile
For those times when you need your soccer fix on the run Fox and ESPN have got you covered. Fox and Audi have created a free app called Ticket to South Africa, to get you front and center for all the action. ESPN continues its positioning as the brand delivering all things sports related, this time with a microsite covering all things World Cup related in addition to their own app. Whatever soccer fans are looking for from, scores to venue info, they should be able to find it. Wikitude is diving into mobile augmented reality with their launch of the Wikitude World Cup contest that enables folks to create their own “Worlds” tied to the World Cup.
Budweiser Goes Big Brother
For those of you still looking for more examples take a look at the Bud House—you’re sure to get your fill of drama and tension reality television style as Budweiser takes a page from the show Big Brother. Put 32 contestants in a house in Cape Town for the length of the World Cup and let the games begin. Bud has really focused foremost on entertainment and lifestyle and done a good job integrating their social media strategy into their larger communications platform.
As I write there’s only 8 days, 1 hour, and 3 minutes till the games begin. Get ready for the ride!
