Warning to free-riding brands at the FIFA World Cup

As the Marketing Magazine reports, FIFA has issues a warning to brands looking to boost sales through World Cup-related marketing, stating that non-sponsors should “refrain from attempts to free-ride” on interest in the tournament. See the original article here.

The warning follows the launch of a digital campaign by Peugeot called #KickItToBrazil, which will see the carmaker transport a football from Paris to Brazil via 30 countries, arriving at its destination on the eve of the start of the World Cup. Consumers will be able to track the progress of the football through dedicated Facebook and Instagram pages using the hashtag #KickItToBrazil, as well as via a microsite. Peugeot already denied any ambush plans and said it is looking to create a “strong link” between the brand and “multiple generations worldwide”, in particular outside Europe where the company said it is experiencing “strong growth”.

The company also hopes to raise awareness of its Forestry Carbon Sink sustainability project in Brazil, through which it has already planted two million trees representing 50 different species.

FIFA declined to condemn the campaign specifically. However, the organisation has warned that only sponsors may seek to capitalise on interest surrounding the tournament, which kicks off on 12 June. A FIFA spokesperson told Marketing: “We ask companies to respect the exclusivity to brand association with the FIFA World Cup that FIFA has granted to its commercial affiliates, by avoiding activities that might create a commercial association.” “The contribution of FIFA’s commercial affiliates is vital to the success of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and we therefore ask companies to refrain from attempts to free-ride on the huge public interest generated by the event.”

The practice of “ambush marketing” hit the headlines in during the last World Cup in South Africa in 2010, when FIFA initiated legal action against brewer Bavaria, after it employed 36 women to attend a match between the Netherlands and Denmark, in orange clothing. FIFA subsequently dropped the case after the two parties agreed an out-of-court settlement.

Official sponsors of the World Cup in Brazil include Budweiser, McDonald’s, Johnson & Johnson and Castrol. More about FIFA, its corporate sponsors and the marketing rights soon!

The Olympic fire has many different flames – Flame No. 3

Flame No. 3: Marketing

Huge events such as the Olympics are always a great opportunity for companies and corporations to advertise themselves. Since advertising at mega-events is a game of money and profit, there are really strict rules about it. There is even official page about the marketing rules: http://www.londonolympicsmarketing.com/.

Official sponsors of the London Olympics are broken down into 4 categories (see the full list here):

-Official Worldwide Partners       (Coca Cola, Acer, Mc’Donalds, Visa, Samsung…)             -Official Partners           (BMW, BP, Adidas, British Airways…)                                              -Official Supporters          (Adecco, Cisco, Deloitte…)                                                            -Official Suppliers and Providers   (Airwave, Eurostar, Holiday Inn, Mondo…)

These companies are the only ones allowed to associate themselves with the London Olympics Brand. There is the London Olympics Brand Protection Document (find it here), saying that the Olympics brand is the most valuable asset of LOCOG (The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games), since it brings in a huge part of financial means (to be an official sponsor, a company needs to pay £1 billion). LOCOG has raised hundreds of millions of pounds to organise and host the Games from the private sector – by selling sponsorship, official merchandise and tickets.

Because (private) companies invest so much into the Games, LOCOG grants them the exclusive association with London 2012. This includes also prevention from other businesses exploiting London 2012 without authorisation. Namely, companies and people who are not official sponsors seek opportunities to advertise themselves since the Olympics attract global attention. LOCOG is therefore highly concerned about the ambush marketing (marketing by non-sponsors, who try to earn and market themselves on the account of the Olympics or some other events, without putting anything in themselves). Its goal is ‘to prevent people from creating an unauthorised association between their goods and services and the Games and to stop the sale of counterfeit and unofficial goods, and to prevent other activities that undermine their ability to generate revenue for the Games.’  This year’s anti-ambush rules, that were passed even by the Parliament, are the most restrictive ever according to the marketing experts, .Words such as the Olympics or the picture of five rings are strongly prohibited on unauthorised products. After all, the Olympics brand is the second most valuable brand on the world, after Apple.

Numerous attempts of ambush marketing are expected and that’s why also prevention is needed, not only charging globes (maximum penalties can reach also 20.000 pounds). The Olympic and Paralympic authorities have already employed the services of 270 trained trading standards officers to police this area of the regulations during the Games. Children on the parade through the Olympic Park are already being advised to wear comfortable, unbranded or Adidas shoes. Trading standards officers have already seized thousands of unauthorised Olympic branded products, such as T-shirts and mugs.

I think the funniest ad was by Durex, who is not the official sponsor, but is providing 150.000 free condoms to more than 10.000 athletes in the Olympic Village in London. (I hope they will focus more on sports activities than on having sex, though :D).

Advertising Standards Authority has banned Nike’s Twitter football advertising campaign, since Nike is not the official sponsor. Tweets were posted by Rooney and Wilshere, who have approximately 4,6 million and 1,3 million followers – though Wilshere’s account has been deleted because of personal abuse. It’s the first time that they acted against the Twitter campaign – however, rules about marketing on Twitter, Facebook and other social media are quite unclear now and I think there will be even more examples of ambush marketing.

Ambush marketing certainly offers non-sponsors not only free ways to advertise themselves, but also to use imagination and be creative. Good marketers will always find a way to exploit the mega-events. According to a survey by The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 35 % of British marketers said they would try to do some branding during the Olympics despite the strict regulations. They might be punished, but the irony is that the more fuzz one makes, the more coverage it gets. As the old saying goes – there is no such thing as bad publicity, right? 🙂