Though radio and television will receive their usual revenue boost during this summer’s FIFA World Cup, with 74.2% of WC viewers watching the games while on Twitter and Facebook, the real winner of World Cup advertising is social media. Since the WC began new promotional hashtags have been used on Twitter, advertised in stadiums, and appear television commercials. Here is the story behind some of the most popular ones.
#fryfutbol:
Seen since the opening game, this hashtag expands into new territory for Twitter. Along with Mc Donald’s, Twitter is attempting to trend their first globally promoted hashtag with #fryfutbol. This hashtag attracts viewers to download the app by McDonald’s for any smartphone. The app has several games WC viewers can play—one of which utilizes the boxes french fries come in when you by food at McD’s. Many Twitter users are raving about the trend and the mobile app. This collaborative work not only brings more Twitter traffic onto the website, but also makes WC fans buy McDonald’s food so they can play the games on the fun app—a great marketing tactic for both companies.
Want to see how the app works? Here’s the link to the video made by McDonald’s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttUb0bIecao
“hashflags”:
Twitter is bringing back “hashflags” for the duration of World Cup 2014. Everyone on Twitter loves the flags including celebrities like Shakira and Jimmy Fallon. Tweet “#USA” and in your post the USA flag will appear. For those with World Cup fever, fans are able to cheer on and support their favorite teams by tweeting the three letters representing their country and the corresponding flag will generate when you post the tweet. Along with supporting USA, I will be cheering for the motherland Mexico while my boss Lilly is tweeting for her beloved Iran.
#becausefútbol:
One of the more clever hashtags this summer, Hyundai the car company created this trend and also promotes it with a website. “becausefútbol” is meant to be tweeted as an answer to a hypothetical question of Why? Why all this madness? Why do we all go crazy cheering for our countries? Hyundai’s answer is #becausefútbol. Using “fútbol” is a great way to reach WC fans on a global scale, especially since its location is in South America where more than half the countries are Spanish speaking countries. Hyundai went the extra mile by creating a website http://becausefutbol.com/ to see how Hyundai’s “drive for passion” drives World Cup fans around the world. The website displays different photos and videos where the answer to everything is “because fútbol”. This funny video is our favorite—here’s the link to see it yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_GC37gwJtI
#allin (or nothing):
This hashtag sponsored by Adidas is the company’s biggest launch campaign ever spent on social media. The social media used for this campaign is Twitter where WC fans and Adidas users can choose to join Adidas and FIFA World Cup communications via Twitter and be connected with everything Adidas has to offer. They use a television ad on YouTube with soccer stars Messi (Argentina), Alves (Spain), Suárez (Uruguay), and Schweinsteiger (Germany). At the end of the video Adidas asks viewers to make a choice, all in or nothing? Clicking “all in” directly takes you to Adidas’ home page for the World Cup and asks if viewers would like to get connected with Adidas and FIFA via Twitter. Agreeing to join allows Twitter users to have access to everything World Cup related as well as receive exclusive tweets from Adidas. The same shows up at the end of another ad with David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane. With over 50% of WC viewers using Twitter to support brands they like and sharing ads, Adidas is sure to create a lot of buzz. Watch the videos below and make your choice, all in or nothing?
#powertoyourmouth:
Listerine pulled out all the stops for their first World Cup sponsorship. Using Facebook and Twitter mostly, the trend “power to your mouth” is meant to idolize the amount of social talk that occurs during the soccer matches. Listerine created their first global Twitter account for this endeavor. The Twitter page is filled with tweets and photos of fans screaming for their teams. Though some critics say the hashtag is the worst the World Cup has ever seen, I applaud them for using clever phrases. For the U.S. vs. Ghana game, Listerine came out with a post with the phrase “Ghana get even” (read ‘gonna get even’) and when Messi made a goal in the additional minute against Iran on Saturday, Listerine posted “Buenos Awesome!” (a take on the city Buenos Aires). Their television advertisement also gets the message across of the “power” of using Listerine. Only the duration of WC will tell if Listerine’s sponsorship will pay off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSLbg1Qk3CE http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/listerines-world-cup-newsroom-will-turn-social-posts-ads-158152
https://twitter.com/ListerineGlobal
Entering week three of the World Cup, it should be full of surprises and upsets surely to make for an opportunity to read some entertaining tweets. With big names like Spain, England, and Italy out of the picture and heavy favorites Germany and Brasil still showing promise to making it all the way—and best not forget the surprising performances by Chile and México stirring the pot—Twitter will be the social hub to receive live updates. Hashtag away!
Entering week three of the World Cup, it should be full of surprises and upsets surely to make for an opportunity to read some entertaining tweets. With big names like Spain, England, and Italy out of the picture and heavy favorites Germany and Brasil still showing promise to making it all the way—and best not forget the surprising performances by Chile and México stirring the pot—Twitter will be the social hub to receive live updates. Hashtag away!
-Alaciel Torres
Alaciel Torres is Lucky 13’s summer intern 2014. She is a rising Junior at the University of Notre Dame majoring in Marketing in the Mendoza College of Business. Other than enjoying watching the World Cup with her boss, she loves to play tennis, sing, and relax on the beach. Mexican food is her go-to favorite food. She is looking forward to working with Lucky 13 this summer to gain some marketing experience she can take back to Notre Dame when she returns in the fall.