A Communications Game Plan for World Cup

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be an event of firsts: the first time the tournament has been hosted by an African nation; the first time social media is the medium of preference for fans to connect around this global event; perhaps the first time your brand is aligned with the sport. For one of the world's premiere events, marketing communication strategy has never been more important. Below are a few points to help marketers formulate a winning game plan around World Cup.

PR Activation: Mandatory, Not Optional. Sports sponsorship is no longer about hosting top clients and media contacts at hospitality tents. If your brand does not create an integrated communications strategy and PR campaign to support its sponsorship, you've lost an opportunity to motivate consumers, evolve brand perception and most importantly, the opportunity to maximize your investment.

Social Media: The Ultimate Game Changer. It's hard to believe that at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Facebook was dominated by students, Twitter and online videos were still in their infancy. In 2010, World Cup is expected to shatter records as the most-viewed and discussed event ever via social media platforms. Successful marketers will leverage their sponsorship assets to help World Cup fans connect with their teams, with each other and ultimately, with sponsoring brands.

Go Global & Emphasize The United States. World Cup is a truly global event; more than 26 billion people watched the 2006 tournament according to FIFA. Passion and interest for the sport never goes dark. World Cup is best leveraged by brands willing to make the commitment-to communicate on a global scale, on an ongoing basis. Equally as important, the United States should not be ignored. 2006 domestic viewership jumped 38.9% from 2002 according to Sponsorship Intelligence, fueled extensively by the Latino market. Marketers can still leverage fan passion and achieve quality consumer engagement in the States, often with less competitive clutter.

World Cup 2010 is on its way to making history. Whether you're an official sponsor or even indirectly involved in the sport, World Cup presents unique opportunities to connect with a very large and passionate audience. If you're on the field, ask yourself: Do I have a fully integrated communications strategy and long-term game plan needed to score?

Bret Werner is Managing Partner of Catalyst Public Relations, which PRWeek named 2010 Boutique Agency of the Year. The agency focuses solely on consumer-facing integrated marketing communications campaigns, applying its approach to leverage sports, entertainment and active lifestyle platforms for clients.

Technology, social media and the World Cup

With the World Cup upon us, we're seeing some seriously cool ways the world is participating through new technology and social media. For example, ESPN (Catalyst client) offers all 64 matches which will be aired live and in high definition on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, with extensive coverage also available on ESPN3.com and ESPN Mobile TV. To top this off, they're attempting to measure media usage and advertiser effects across all media platforms - TV, Internet, mobile and print, through their research initiative, ESPN XP. We agree with our client partner that this is a breakthrough endeavor; check out Bret Werner's article in PR Week on this very subject.

In social media, we're watching the world participate in a global conversation. For example, fans are using Twitter's hashtag #WorldCup, and we're seeing practically every game hit Twitter's trending topics list. Facebook is offering The Facebook Guide to the World Cup, which explains worldwide live streaming partnerships (including one in the U.S. for ESPN), as well as Facebook's Support Your Team Leaderboard which tracks elements like fan "intensity." In the mobile location world, Foursquare parntered with CNN to offer specific badges for users that check-in to over 100 viewing venues in 32 countries around the world. Similarly, Gowalla partnered with Major League Soccer to create trips in local areas that highlight soccer.

Internet Week Strikes New York City

Last week was Internet Week in New York City, where the top technologists in the country came together to discuss the latest trends and future technology predictions across various industries. Some gatherings actually filter into this week as well, such as the Sports 2.0 VIP Summit (where Catalyst clients Timex and ESPN will be speaking). Some of our favorite events from last week are available via streaming video if you'd like to check them out. Specifically, one really interesting conversation shows how Pepsi is leveraging UPC codes by calling them "universal purpose codes" and partnering with Sticky Bits to deliver cause marketing information directly to consumers.

iPhone 4 offers FaceTalk

On June 15th, Apple will bring yet another change to the world: the iPhone 4. Of the five key new features of this product, most notable is something called FaceTalk, or, put more simply, adding live video to standard mobile phone conversations. Anyone who has had a chat via their computer's webcam knows what this is about (for a visual presentation, watch the iPhone 4 promotional video). It's important to note, however, that the iPhone 4 is not perfect, so before you make a personal decision to switch your provider or upgrade your phone, do some research (we recommend this article).

Apple is actually not the first to introduce live video conversations. Mobile applications (i.e., Skype) have been offering these for months now across various providers. The significance of new iPhone 4 is the massive network of brand ambassadors behind it; Apple has sold over 50 million units since 2007, and owns about 28 percent of the market share. The overarching trend of video conversations can be leveraged to benefit brands. For example, video calls (which can be recorded) create a more intimate and authentic conversation, one that could seriously enhance a relationship between a brand and a consumer. If you're interested in learning more about how you can leverage such opportunities, ask a Catalyst account lead.