Ads that hit the back of the net

The FIFA 2018 World Cup™, is set to be one of the biggest sporting events of the year, with an estimated 3.2 billion viewers expected to tune in over the next month.

Brands look to capitalise on the mass attention by creating engaging content across all channels. To celebrate the start of the World Cup, we asked Loopers their most memorable ad campaigns to get you into the spirit. Here’s what they said .

Visa recently partnered with Zlatan Ibrahimović to produce a timely ad campaign used speculation around whether Zlatan was going to come out of retirement and compete at the World Cup to promote their ‘everywhere you want to be’ slogan.

Second on our list is Wieden + Kennedy’s epic campaign for Nike. The ‘Write the Future’ ad, first released in the run up to 2010 World Cup is a fast-paced, dynamic campaign encompassing all the emotion of a World Cup match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_i3Lcjli84

Another office favourite is R/GA’s, ‘The Game Before The Game’ due to its clever user of influencers in combination with an awesome soundtrack. Keep an eye out for stars including Nicki Minaj, Thierry Henry, Serena Williams, Luis Suárez and many more.

As R/GA point out in their case study, back in 2014 Beats wasn’t a sponsor and they weren’t even a sports brand. Plus they’d been banned by FIFA. So, this was all about cutting through the clutter – without actually mentioning the World Cup.

Ciaran McCarthy, Creative Director at R/GA spoke at our sports marketing event back in January about the campaign.

Twenty years after footballer John Barnes appeared in the official song for the 1990 World Cup, Mars recruited him to reprise his role. Check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YePFGhCC7ro

Agency Wieden + Kennedy created an ad to remember titled ‘Airport Football’ for Nike. This features the Brazilian national team seamlessly playing football through a busy airport, coupled with Tamba Trio’s ‘Mas Que Nada’ which is synonymous with Brazilian culture.

For more data and insights into how to reach a sporting audience, download our free sports marketing one-pager here.