Coca-Cola, the longest-running sponsor of the World Cup, is "accelerating sponsorship in non-football playing countries such as India," according to Ratna Bhushan of the ECONOMIC TIMES. Coca-Cola Global VP for Sports Partnerships Ricardo Fort said, "There is a direct benefit. It is getting increasingly important to be at events such as FIFA; this is when people will pay attention to what you say." Coca-Cola is one of the six global sponsors of the football tournament. Others include Budweiser, McDonald's and Vivo. Fort: "For us it's important that every country gets involved closely with the FIFA World Cup. The Indian economy is huge but there is no Indian sponsor in the FIFA World Cup." With drinking habits of consumers "changing swiftly away from sugary drinks across markets to healthier options such as water and juice," Coca-Cola is "placing bets on mega tournaments" like the World Cup to reach consumers as it "broadbases its portfolio to hedge risks." It has been "accelerating launches in the no-sugar and functional beverages space," including juices and juice drinks, tea and water to bring back consumers across world markets. Fort said, "Events like FIFA and Olympics do several things for us. They allow us to talk about diversity in different ways -- such as diversity in portfolio where we can talk about Coke, juice, water and tea. Or diversity in terms of countries -- to reinforce our global presence." Coke has been "drumming up" associations with non-playing countries by sponsoring events such as the FIFA U17 World Cup and the trophy tour. Fort added, "In Asia, there are countries like China, India and Australia, which consume the sport in a large way. In India, importance of football in cities like Kolkata and Goa is huge. We can build relationships to sell more, can market our products accordingly, at grassroots, nationally, with individual stars" (ECONOMIC TIMES, 6/21).
FREE FOOTBALLS: MARKETING WEEK's Erin Lyons reported Indians who work together as a team "will be rewarded with free footballs" from adidas. Using "World Cup Fever," adidas' latest interactive campaign includes a billboard (featuring the word "Goal") in Delhi which "has a rope dangling from it." The rope is "too heavy for one person to tug but once it is pulled by a number of people it releases a football which the brand hopes will inspire locals to start an impromptu game." While cricket is India's national sport, the country's "love of football is growing" and adidas India Senior Marketing Dir Sean Van Wyk said, "The idea of this innovative billboard was to celebrate and reward the spirit of coming together as a team" (MARKETING WEEK, 6/21).
