FIFA World Cup 2022: The Best Ads So Far
Did you wake up with football in your mind? We get it, the football fever has got you. The FIFA World Cup 2022 is here at last!
With global sports events like the FIFA World Cup, it’s not just the sport and the sports brand that gain all the attention. These events are a massive opportunity for marketers, for brands. As fans are gearing up to witness their favorite teams compete brands are busy prepping up to make an impression on the enthusiastic crowd. So, what does the marketing scenario look like with the FIFA World Cup 2022 being the talk of the town? Let’s find out.
Did you know that over 40% of the world’s population shows interest in football? Naturally, FIFA World Cup is one of the most anticipated sports events around the world.
Sporting events like these bring people together. And that’s a good time for marketers to make their mark. That’s why big brands plan to go bigger with their campaigns and small brands try to expand their reach during global sports events like the FIFA Worldcup. You can too! Looking for ideas to connect with your customers or campaign ideas that you can use in the coming years? Then the best source of inspiration will be the ads that are already out. So, shall we discuss some of the FIFA ads released this year?
A few quick facts about the FIFA World Cup 2022 advertising scenario for brands
Before we talk about the ads and the impact they made on the audience, let’s quickly go over some basic details. A few quick numbers to give you an overview of what advertising during such massive events usually looks like.
About 5 billion people are expected to watch the FIFA World Cup 2022. The fact that FIFA viewership has been steadily on the rise these past few years comes as good news for brands.
What’s even better is that fans now watch on more screens than ever before. Besides live TV fans also watch on the go on their smartphones and tablets. So, even those who were earlier not able to cheer for their teams and take part in the excitement due to their work timings are now able to keep up. This has opened up more advertising channels for brands.
Grabbing the attention of football fans is such a big deal because when you connect with customers as they are watching their favorite team on the field, you are making a strong emotional connection with them. According to Nielson, 59% of football fans prefer sponsor brands over competitors. So, if you have been struggling to gain attention or outshine your competition now would be a good time. Let’s look at some of the ads that have caused ripples since the football season began this year.
FIFA World Cup 2022 – the best ads and campaigns so far
1. Coca-Cola: Believing is Magic
The holiday season and Coca-Cola go hand-in-hand. So much so that Santa Claus has become an indirect influencer of the brand. But this year since the holiday season and the FIFA World Cup 2022 are overlapping Coca-Cola, evidently began working its magic a little sooner than usual.
Coca-Cola’s FIFA ad campaign is titled Believing is Magic.
The main video ad features an avid fan dreaming of witnessing a live game and being part of all the thrill and excitement that prevails. The video walks you through the scene and makes you virtually experience the feeling yourself.
As a part of this campaign, the brand has also been actively sharing content on social media, asking fans to share what they promise to do if their favorite team wins.
The brand plans to use user-generated content from this campaign in its packaging design, outdoor ads, and digital content too. That’s not all. The brand also announced that it would organize a digital hub for fans to share their predictions about games, digital and physical stickers for fans to exchange, and so on.
Kimp Tip:
FIFA campaigns do not end with just an ad being aired during halftime. The key to leveraging such opportunities is to truly engage excited fans. And Coca-Cola shows how this can be done through multi-channel campaigns. But yes, to make them a success, you need a defined color scheme, visual style, and some catchy slogans, hashtags, and other signature elements to bind them all.
2. Roblox FIFA partnership
The Roblox FIFA partnership for the FIFA World Cup 2022 is proof that the best time to think of the metaverse was yesterday. The online gaming platform has created FIFA World where fans of football not only get access to live updates about the real-world FIFA World Cup but also can take part in virtual gaming. We know you have heard this often these days but let’s remind you again, experiential marketing is the way forward. These campaigns keep proving it.
The partnership here is a win-win for the involved brands. Because Roblox can tap into the massive following of FIFA while FIFA can benefit from expanding its options for connecting with football fans. With virtual experiences like these FIFA can keep audiences engaged in new ways and tackle geographical barriers.
Here is a quick video giving a snapshot of what to expect from FIFA World and the many possibilities with it.
Kimp Tip:
When you introduce new ideas to your customers, be sure to focus on the value it creates for them. Use videos, images, and other visual aids to help them understand what it means to them. Roblox uses videos and video demos of the interface to quickly give the users a hang of what to expect.
Want to create quick UI animations or demo videos to explain your products or services to your customers in the simplest possible way? The Kimp team can help.
3. Puma: Fearless
With a strong message of being “fearless” and a subtle promotion of the new sneaker range – this video has everything it takes to make customers stop and listen. It captures the many faces, the many lives that football players, enthusiasts, and fans live.
The ad covers all things football. It shows how ardent fans eat and breathe football during the World Cup season. While doing all that it also shares interesting football references from games and players kindling nostalgia in fans. On the whole, this ad is the perfect example of how you can use emotional stimulation to engage your audience in the most meaningful way.
Moreover, the brand also capitalizes on the football season to increase its sales by introducing a new product as a part of this campaign. The idea works because football fans, especially those that witness the game from the venues love shopping on the sidelines. 77% of these shoppers show interest in purchasing fashion products and 64% are interested in beauty products. Nuances like these, sudden spikes in shopping trends should not be ignored.
Kimp Tip:
Emotional marketing is a trend that never goes out of style. Inspirational campaigns that have a positive note, like the Fearless campaign from Puma, strike all the right chords. Videos are the most effective when it comes to emotional marketing. But yes you can also use visually powerful images to get the message across.
4. Frito-Lay: Soccer or Football
Humor is a theme you will find in many FIFA World Cup ads. And for the FIFA World Cup 2022, Frito-Lay chose the universal language of humor for its campaign. It takes a dig at the never-ending dispute of calling the sport “soccer” or “football”.
This is one of the video ads from the campaign. The ad starts as a casual banter between Peyton Manning and David Beckham. You will see the casual feature of the many products from Frito-Lay from around the world – like Doritos, Tostitos, and Lays. that’s a brilliant way to feature the diversity in the demographics of football (-er) soccer fans. And while doing that it also subtly captures the diversity of products from the brand. The ad closes off with the message “don’t forget the chips”. Makes you visualize watching the game with your friends or family with a bowl of crisps (or chips, as you want to call them).
Kimp Tip:
Product associations created by positioning your product in a lifestyle scenario are useful marketing techniques. Have you seen how beverage companies don’t just focus on the drink but show it as an escape from the heat on a sunny day? And snack food brands don’t just show the snack – they consistently establish a connection between parties and the snack. So the next time you plan a party you are instantly motivated to buy that snack that was promoted. Use this idea for your promotions. Instead of placing all the focus on the product alone, try to create associations that make your branding more memorable.
5. Google: The Beautiful Game Belongs to All of Us
If you have been following FIFA World Cup 2022 or even if you have not been following it, you are sure to have heard about the widespread controversy of Qatar hosting the game. From human rights violations to the treatment of migrant workers, a lot has been spoken about. And Google’s Pixel 7 ad elusively covers this concept.
Throughout the ad, the brand cleverly showcases the hyped-about features of the Google Pixel 7 along with easy-to-understand demonstrations of where to use the features and how. In fact, the brand has released a set of ads for this model with each video focusing on one feature and highlighting its merits. Extending that idea to the FIFA World Cup 2022 theme keeps the campaign on brand while also maintaining relevance with global trends.
Kimp Tip:
There might be global topics or industry-specific topics that prove to be wonderful conversation starters for your campaigns. If you are finding it tough to keep up with every new trend, lay down strong social listening strategies for your brand. Observe relevant hashtags, topics, and mentions of your brand to always be up-to-date and to always be recognized as a conversation starter. Platforms like Twitter often come in handy to engage in conversations through simple text-based content. Or you can use ephemeral content spaces like Story in order to get into an interactive mode without affecting the structure and theme of your social media page.
6. Budweiser exploring the world of NFTs during the World Cup season
NFTs have been quite the buzz in the world of marketing. Brands are finding new ways to use NFTs to enhance engagement, build loyalty and reward their customers. Budweiser’s FIFA World Cup 2022 campaign shows how you can make heads turn with a unique idea during such busy times. The brand’s Budverse NFT collection is a treat for football fans and NFT collectors too.
The live scoreboard NFT in this collection lets fans keep track of the scores in real-time. To make the process more interactive, the brand also brings in mini-games in the football theme. And people with the scoreboard NFTs also get access to football merchandise and a chance to win a grand prize. While letting eager football fans explore the world of NFTs the brand also gives them new ways to feel like they are part of the big event.
While staying on the theme the brand here ventures into the less-traveled path in marketing, NFTs. For fans that have seen it all, and been exposed to the same-old ad styles for a long time, such campaigns come as a welcome change.
Kimp Tip:
Brands are actively using NFTs to stay ahead in the rat race called “marketing”. You can use images, GIFs, videos, and a host of other digital collectibles as NFTs. Since the world of NFTs is still in the early stages, now is a good time for your brand to try it out. For your NFT designs, you can always blend themes like your brand mascot and a seasonal campaign or your brand colors and a global event like the World Cup, in this case.
Creating NFTs daunting you? The Kimp team can help you create your branded NFTs to elevate your marketing strategies in no time.
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We hope that all these FIFA World Cup 2022 campaigns let your creativity flow. All of these brands have shown what it takes to impress football fans and others. And the past success stories of brands and ads that have been remembered for their FIFA ads give you another reason to take advertising during these times seriously.
We get it, the football season is already underway but you can always come up with a quick social media campaign to engage your audience. A simple post that connects with your audience is all it takes to start a conversation. If you think finding a designer and then working with unreliable turnaround times will weigh you down, sign up for a Kimp subscription today and enjoy super-fast turnaround times. Moreover, as you see from most campaigns from big brands, there is a mix of digital and print ads as well as image and video ads being used most of the time. That’s where the perks of unlimited designs show up. Want to give it a shot? Register for a free trial by clicking here.