FIFA will “use retro sponsors’ ads for the first time in a campaign to promote the 2014 World Cup,” according to Joseph & Bacon of MARKETING WEEK. FIFA will use “posters, logos and adverts from past World Cups to promote tickets and merchandise for the next World Cup in Brazil.” The governing body “could use past campaigns from sponsors such as Mastercard as well as previous World Cup mascots.” The move “aims to boost merchandise sales during what the organisation calls the ‘off-years’ between each tournament where there is less attention on the World Cup brand.” FIFA Head of Strategy & Brand Management Ralph Straus said that the initiative is “part of [a] wider strategy to make ‘storytelling’ a more prominent part of how it markets the World Cup.” Marketing “starts at the end of the year and [will] gradually ramp up over the next 12 months to next December when the draw for the tournament takes place.” Straus said, “We’re conscious not to go into the market and offer the marques to pretty much anybody and just make products with it and start selling. It needs to be part of an overall concept and it needs to be carefully tested” (MARKETINGWEEK.co.uk, 10/1).
