Depending on where you live, you are either talking about
Football or
Soccer, but you are talking about it. The
FIFA Women's World Cup or
FIFA WWC is getting the biggest
buzz that it ever has, and it's all because of marketing.
For weeks, maybe even months before the
big tournament started we knew the when, where and what of this year's world cup.
Read on as media update's Alrika Möller breaks down the highlights of the marketing for the FIFA WWC.
Empowering gender equality
Over the last few years, there has been a great
debate regarding gender and gender equality surrounding FIFA. With football being one of the
most popular and
most celebrated sports in the world, the Men's World Cup always garners a lot of interest and views. Why can't the
WCC do the same?
This year not only FIFA but the
brands sponsoring the event and the sport channels broadcasting the matches asked the same questions. Marketing campaigns on TV highlighted the
skill and
power of the women playing and some even directly compared the female players to the men.
The French telecommunications company
Orange created an ad that showed viewers the skills of the female players and how you wouldn't know they aren't male players based on how they play.
The ad went viral.
What can marketers learn from this?
When it comes to football, people often talk about
the love of the game, which is why this marketing approach hit the goal. Viewers realised that watching the WCC can be just as
exciting and
impressive as watching the MWC.
They were not afraid to tackle the
conversations and
controversy that was surrounding the event. They shared their point of view within an
existing global conversation through marketing and opened up the viewers to a new perspective as well as using the fact that this is top of mind to be seen by more people.
Connecting with fans and viewers
We live in 2023, so the concept of
social media is not exactly new
to anyone. We all get it and understand it, but it takes great skill and insight to use it on a
global scale.
Both teams and sponsors — as well as FIFA itself— used
social media posts about specific teams and players to give a behind-the-curtain — or should I say
off the field look at the players and the game.
People loved this approach as '
#WomenInFootball' started trending before the world cup even started, and it is still going strong. FIFA themselves have been posting about
specific players from teams as the games go on to let the public feel like they know the players and root for them.
What can marketers learn from this? This more
personal approach allows viewers to
engage with the posts and stories, causing them to get
emotionally involved. It makes them root for players, rather than teams and makes them watch the games in order to support those players.
Connecting with people through social media is also starting conversations as people are reposting or commenting on the posts. When the public feels like a
part of the excitement they will lean into it and be more open to the messaging and marketing.
Having fun
While a world cup often has the undertone of
war with teams pinned against each other to
battle it out for the final victory, the WWC and brands associated with it took a completely different approach. They decided to
have fun and
celebrate the sport.
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is most definitely the biggest one yet and
many many people see it as a
win for female sports. That is why most ad campaigns and marketing for this major sporting event have been
fun,
funny and mostly
celebratory.
Adidas launched its ad featuring
major celebrities such as Lionel Messi, Jenna Ortega and even David Beckham starring alongside some of the female athletes participating in the 2023 world cup. The ad is filled with
funny moments and an altogether fun vibe that made the ad get a great number of views.
Every team and brand associated with this world cup is enhancing the fun celebratory vibe through their marketing.
What can marketers learn from this? Sometimes the
overall vibe of marketing can affect the message to great lengths. The WWC is being perceived as a fun and exciting event that people all over the world
want to be part of whether their team is playing or not.
When marketers enhance the excitement through their campaign the public will
take the ball and run with it.
How an ad makes you
feel can sometimes be more important than what it says.
Did any of the FIFA Women's World Cup ads jump out at you? Let us know in the comments section below.
If you are looking for more marketing news from major pop culture moments, you should check out why The Barbie movie’s marketing is everything!
*Image courtesy of Unsplash