With 16 host cities across three countries, it\u2019s safe to say there\u2019s no one-size-fits-all marketing plan for this summer\u2019s FIFA Men\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n
Given the scope of the tournament, the leagues, host committees, media rights partners, and sponsors seeking to contribute to the growth of soccer fandom in the US while also hitting their own marketing goals have approached the tournament differently than they might with smaller-scale sponsorships. That hasn\u2019t always been easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took a while for those brands to wrap their heads around, \u2018How are we going to do this in this many markets, how do we prioritize what we want to do, and how do we think through this market versus that market?\u2019\u201d Kim Scates, VP of commercial partnerships for the Houston 2026 host committee, told Marketing Brew. \u201cThe planning process has been a bit of a beast.\u201d<\/p>\n
After months\u2014or, in some cases, years\u2014of prep, marketers have landed on a range of different approaches to tailor activations down to the local level, such as homing in on specific host cities, changing their creative based on markets, and partnering with local organizations to make their mark in communities.<\/p>\n
Lock in<\/h2>\n
Standing up a marketing campaign across multiple countries can be a tall task, but it has to start somewhere. The \u201cwhere\u201d differs based on the company.<\/p>\n
For Telemundo, which holds the exclusive Spanish-language broadcasting rights for the World Cup in the US, targeting \u201ckey Hispanic markets\u201d where the network and its parent company, NBCUniversal, have a presence was a natural jumping-off point, said Christina Kolbjornsen, Telemundo\u2019s SVP of corporate and external affairs. Telemundo kicked off one of its initiatives, \u201cTu Momento. Tu Jugada,\u201d in the Bay Area because it\u2019s a World Cup host city with \u201ca very strong viewership base\u201d for the network, as well as a \u201cvery strong Latino community\u201d overall, she said.<\/p>\n
Visa, an official FIFA sponsor, started its efforts on the opposite coast. As part of a collaboration with more than 20 artists from six continents to showcase physical and digital art tied to the World Cup, the brand put together a showcase event in Miami called \u201cThe Art of the Draw,\u201d which was hosted by artist and designer KidSuper and where the first five pieces of the collection were unveiled. Miami stood out because of its diversity and strong ties to soccer, Andrea Fairchild, Visa\u2019s SVP of global sponsorship strategy, told us.<\/p>\n
\u201cMiami gave us the perfect backdrop for the culture of football,\u201d she said, later adding that her team\u2019s approach to the project was \u201cabout identifying these cultural epicenters and where these creators are living and thriving in their communities, and\u2026giving them a platform on the world stage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Switch the field<\/h2>\n
Once marketers decided on the regions they wanted to focus on, some set about adjusting their creative based on those locations.<\/p>\n
Lay\u2019s, another official World Cup sponsor, has several campaigns tied to the competition, including \u201cNo Lay\u2019s, No Game,\u201d which targets fans around the world with different versions of the same creative idea, according to Jane Wakely, chief consumer and marketing officer and chief growth officer of international foods, at Lay\u2019s parent company PepsiCo. In the UK, for instance, the campaign is called \u201cNo Walkers, No Game,\u201d since Walkers is the UK equivalent of Lays.<\/p>\n
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The campaign \u201cis built to flex, allowing us to reach global scale while delivering personalization that feels authentic to each market,\u201d Wakely said in an email. \u201cEvery region activates the platform through the lens of its own football culture, rituals, and viewing habits.\u201d<\/p>\n