World Cup: Nike vs. Adidas Heats Up

Posted by Shirley Brady on June 24, 2010 02:15 PM

Nike is leveraging the success of its 2010 World Cup Write the Future ambush marketing effort with a campaign extension that promotes HIV/AIDS awareness in partnership with (RED), above. The pro-social message, which stars soccer icon Didier Drogba, is particularly apt in Africa as "ground zero" for the global AIDS crisis.

It's also letting fans "Write Your Headline, Write the Future" in an interactive extension of its World Cup campaign. Johannesburg's 30-story Life Center is serving as a digital billboard (check it out after the jump) that projects a mix of soccer stars with social networkers' personal messages sent via #NikeFuture on Twitter, Facebook, QQ in China and Mxit in South Africa.

Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer isn't too worried; he expects the brand's official World Cup sponsorship to blow past projections, having already garnered almost $2 billion in sales.

In other World Cup news, before yesterday's Web-straining win over Algeria, Americans were more interested in hearing about BP than the World Cup. McDonald's and Budweiser helped U.S. fans show their colors online in time for the historic face-off. YouTube added a vuvuzela button to videos. And have brands failed to exploit World Cup marketing to full advantage? Post your thoughts below.

More about: World Cup, Ambush Marketing, Outdoor Advertising, Social Media, Philanthropy, Adidas, BP, Budweiser, Facebook, McDonald's, Mxit, Nike, QQ, (RED), YouTube

Josip Petrusa says:

As an avid watcher of the World Cup, unless the brand is specifically displayed on the digital boarders around the soccer field or mentioned to be "official sponsors" you would never realize who isn't an office sponsor. Many people I speak with don't even know Adidas is a sponsor and Nike is not. Is this wrong and marketing in bad faith? Of course not. Nike has just planned and devised a way better marketing campaign and you can't blame them for that.

June 25, 2010 05:20 PM #

Ulaysha Sukhu says:

As a South African, living the World Cup in South Africa, I have been impressed by some and bored by others. For me, the star performer has been Coca-Cola. The reason, I believe, is that many of the partners were looking for what exposure they can get out of the sponsorship as opposed to what they could give to the fans. Therefore, many campaigns are backed by pure muscle (read: money). They are loud, aggressive and in your face. Coca-Cola took the approach of giving something back - generous with what they distributed to the publci in SA, inspirational in their advertising and spirited in their support for football-mad fans everywhere. Their acquisition of the Wave Your Flag song was magical in generating goodwill for the brand and in entrenching their already dominant position in Africa with the clever use of an African artist and the iconic South African vuvuzela. When children start spontaneoulsy singing a theme song from a commissioned advert - you know you've hit your target.

On the Adidas campaign, it is my view that Adidas continues to suffer from the same marketing issues from which it has always suffered, i.e. mundanity. The brand is averse to passion - so how can it inspire 32 football mad countries - even if 43 million South Africans are wearing Adidas shirts on the offical Bafana Bafana (national team) shirts - they still have not captured imaginations and certainly, not hearts.

June 27, 2010 04:35 PM #