Branded videos related to the FIFA World Cup "reached a staggering 671.6 million views, exceeding that of this year's Super Bowl spots by 30%," according to a Visible Measures study cited by Grace Chung of AD AGE. That is "partly to be expected, considering the World Cup's month of play and global fascination," but there is "still a considerable run-up to the Super Bowl, when marketers release web videos ahead of time seeking views." The World Cup video campaigns "outperformed a variety of prior campaigns on many fronts." World Cup sponsor adidas "unquestionably beat non-sponsor Nike for TV time and exposure, but Nike reigned as the most-viewed brand of the tournament in terms of online video, with eight campaigns garnering a total 240.6 million views." The length of the top 10 "most-viewed videos averaged 3:15, a minute and a half longer than the top Super Bowl campaigns this year." Nike's "The Last Game," for example, was five and a half minutes long. Argentina F Lionel Messi, who "starred in 11 campaigns, was the most frequent endorser" (
ADAGE.com, 7/14). In N.Y., Stuart Elliott writes the World Cup "has finally become a 'big event'” for U.S. consumers and a "premier ad platform like the Olympics or, yes, the Super Bowl." Visa Senior VP/Global Sponsorship Marketing Ricardo Fort said although the brand has "been involved with
soccer in the United States for a long time, we were not expecting to have the interest, engagement, in the United States that we did." He said it was "unbelievable," and as a result Visa "changed the plan and invested more in the U.S., gave more content to the U.S." Meanwhile, social video technology company Unruly Media reported that a "video from Activia yogurt featuring Shakira was the most shared of the World Cup, at 4.7 million, followed by Nike, 2.6 million, and Samsung, 1.3 million" (
N.Y. TIMES, 7/15).
TIM'S TIME: ADWEEK's David Gianatasio in a cover story writes U.S. G Tim Howard following his World Cup performance is "preparing for a big score," and is "looking to cash in on his newfound celebrity and break into the elite endorsement leagues." Howard "currently has six-figure deals with Nike and McDonald’s, making him a small fry in the rarified world of big-time sponsorships." Howard said, “People’s perception of me may have changed in the past two weeks, but I haven’t changed a bit." He added that he is "seeking the same kinds of deals as always." He said those include “blue-chip opportunities (with) really good companies with good reputations.” Howard's agent, Dan Segal of WMG, said that his client has "received dozens of offers in the past two weeks, and that he’s close -- perhaps just days away -- from inking deals with at least three national advertisers." Segal: "We don’t feel in any way, shape or form a desperation to try and grab everything that comes along.” CAA Sports Head of Global Sales Paul Danforth said Howard should "make deals as soon as possible" (ADWEEK, 7/14 issue).
CONFIDENCE IS KEY: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Harriet Torry noted Germany was "so confident it would win the World Cup that it pre-printed a run of five million stamps commemorating its soccer victory" before Sunday's final against Argentina took place. The German Finance Ministry "declined to comment on the cost of the print run," but said that "no public money was spent on the ceremonial stamps" (WSJ.com, 7/14).
