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How did Nike and adidas use viral advertising and

sponsorship during the FIFA World Cup 2010 to create

flexible brand values?

James Perea

0703977

Advertising and Brand Communication (BA Hons)

University for the Creative Arts Farnham

January 2011

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Adriance Brooke, adidas Account Manager at the FIFA Alliance

Marketing Team, and Alexander Dotterweich, Manager of FIFA Affairs at adidas Global

Sports Marketing Football. Both were professional and efficient in their communications

and did the best they could to help me with a difficult enquiry.

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Title Page 1

Acknowledgements 2

Contents 3

Abstract 4

Introduction 5

Part 1. The Literature Review

Viral Advertising and the Perception of Brands 9

Football Sponsorship 19

Importance and Flexibility of Brand Values 27

Part 2. The Discussion

Fast Vs Fast & Write the Future: A Brief Summary 36

Creation of Flexible Brand Values 45

Measuring Success 47

Conclusion 53

Bibliography 58

Appendices 63

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Abstract

A consultant for Intangible Business (Intangible Business, 2011) expresses the ongoing

competition between adidas and Nikes FIFA World Cup marketing strategies in the

following extract:

The two sporting goods giants are battling for global supremacy in the soccer

category with two distinct and different brand marketing campaigns. Nike is

focusing on sponsoring great teams and players while Adidas does the same but

also focuses on larger stages within the sport to market itself to tournaments

and leagues. Adidas has been the undisputed leader in the soccer market for

many years but its market leadership is under attack by Nike with both sides

claiming superiority.

I found this quote to be an exciting prospect to base my dissertation around. Both brands

are established, however in terms of football market share, adidas are slightly ahead of

Nike. Focusing particularly on viral campaigns and sponsorship, could adidas maintain

football market leadership during the FIFA World Cup through building strong values? Or

could overall sports apparel and footwear market leader Nike use their marketing power

and viral innovation to overcome their closest adversary, creating brand values strong

enough to take top spot in the football market as well?

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Introduction

The FIFA 2010 World Cup provided powerful inspiration to create video campaigns for both

adidas and Nike. It provided the two with an opportunity to show the world how their brand

could contribute to such a momentous occasion and give people a reason to talk about

them in the context of the worlds biggest sporting competition. adidas* entitled their

campaign Fast Vs Fast whilst Nike opted for Write the Future. Drawing comparisons

between the two provides an interesting subject matter as they are both similar and

dissimilar on a variety of levels.

The focus of this dissertation is on the flexible brand values created through these virals, as

well as the effect of sponsorship adidas were official partners of the World Cup, but was

this an advantage over Nike virally?

Firstly, in Part 1: The Literature Review, I would like to set out the context of this discussion

outlining the three key areas involved, which are:

Viral Advertising and the Perception of Brands

Sponsorship

Importance and Flexibility of Brand Values

This gives us a background insight into the subject matter of Part 2: The Discussion, where I

will attempt to create an in depth analysis of these two viral videos discussing the theories

outlined in Part 1: The Literature Review. After introducing the two campaigns in Fast Vs

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Fast & Write the Future: A Brief Summary, I will discuss the Creation of Flexible Brand

Values, before debating the outcome of each campaign in Measuring Success.

Finally I will summarise my findings in The Conclusion. Here I will state my argument in

regards to the research question posed by the title of this dissertation, based on the primary

and secondary research carried out for this project.

In regards to research methodology, I decided to issue questionnaires to a focus group of

eleven males aged 18-24 who all play for the same football team. The reason behind this is

that the target audience for adidas and Nikes World Cup viral campaigns would be males of

this age group, particularly who play football and therefore have an interest in purchasing

products such as football boots. On reflection, this amount of people was not enough to

draw any solid quantitive data, although certain trends did start to show. I also managed to

get in contact with the adidas Account Manager at the FIFA Marketing Alliances

Department, Adriance Brookes, although she was unable to divulge any information worth

using in this study. Kindly, she put me in touch with one of her contact at adidas, the

Manager of FIFA Affairs at adidas Global Sports Marketing Football, Alexander Dotterweich.

Unfortunately he was also powerless to present me with the specific details in question,

although he did direct me to a website source with some further information. The e-mails

are recorded in the Appendix section of this paper.

I tried to find as many different secondary sources as possible to back the primary data at

hand. I have used books, websites, online journals, online newspaper articles, a TV extract, a

printed press release and even a film. Alternatively if I were to have more time, I would have

liked to have gathered more quantative data to strengthen my arguments for certain data

trends.

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Intriguingly, as the FIFA World Cup 2010 competition panned out, the resultant final game

was fought out between adidas sponsored Spain and Nike sponsored Holland. The coverage

provided for both brands was record breaking:

Though final figures aren't available, soccer's governing body FIFA estimates

around 700 million people watched the final live. If that is correct, the match

would beat out the estimated 600 million that caught the opening ceremony at

the 2008 Beijing Olympics and would be on par, or slightly above, the 700 million

that watched the World Cup final four years ago.

This shows the magnitude of people who can be reached by one 90 minute game of

football; the grand finale, not just for the competition but for adidas and Nikes World Cup

marketing campaigns. The match itself was neck and neck until the 84th minute, when

Andres Iniesta scored for adidas sponsored Spain, securing them the victory and the title of

World Cup champions.

Did adidas achieve this victory over Nike off the pitch as well? Or despite their team losing

on the day, did Nike beat adidas for viral statistics and market share?

As they say in sport, may the best team win!

*Please note that throughout this dissertation adidas is purposely spelt entirely in lower case, as this is how the adidas group officially spells the brand name being referred to.

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1. The Literature Review

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Viral Advertising and the Perception of Brands

Whats the most resilient parasite? A bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? ...An idea.

Resilient, highly contagious. Once an ideas taken hold in the brain its almost impossible to

eradicate. A person can cover it up, ignore it but it stays there. (Inception, 2010)

In this section I would like to discuss the concept of viral advertising and the effect that it

may (or may not) have on the consumers perception of a brand. This is a necessary subject

area to deconstruct, as the second part of this dissertation focuses on the analysis of adidas

and Nikes World Cup 2010 viral video campaigns. In this chapter, we will debate the power

of shared ideas as a marketing force, looking into how this method differs from non-viral

forms of communication. I will attempt to answer the fundamental question: Does a brand

create an idea and unleash it upon an unsuspecting audience or do the public choose to

spread the idea of their own accord?

Let us start by defining viral advertising. Adverts are traditionally categorised by the

variation of the media conduit used to execute the campaign (e.g. TV advertising, radio

advertising, online advertising, ambient advertising and so forth). What kind of medium,

then, does viral advertising employ?

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Essentially, viral advertising can be executed through any medium, providing that the idea

behind the advert has the capacity to be spread. In his book Unleashing the Ideavirus,

Godin (Godin, 2001: 19) discusses this concept:

How does an Ideavirus manifest itself? Where does it live? What does it look

like? it can be an image, a song, a cool product or a process the medium

doesnt matter. The message does.

As far as traditional media conduits are concerned, viral is unconventional. Rather than

using a man-made distribution channel, it uses man himself to spread the information like a

virus. Dr. Smith of the British Medical Association (Smith, 1990: 1055) notes that there is an

intricate method behind the circulation of any virus:

"Different viruses employ different strategies, some highly complex, to make

copies of themselves once they have invaded a host cell."

The host cell in marketing terms is the receiver; viral advertising indeed thrives on pre-

installed ideas for reproduction and dispersion, once their brands idea has been sufficiently

planted into this host cells head. In this process, ideas are passed on to a few early

adopters, who then spread these messages onto others, much like the passing of a common

cold. Rosen describes this adoption of terminology in his book The Anatomy of Buzz

(Rosen, 2000: 190):

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Because each customer who receives information from a friend on the net can

reproduce it instantly and spread it to dozens, hundreds or thousands of others,

this form of Internet marketing is called viral marketing. In the same way that

the common cold spreads through sneezes, coughs, and handshakes, your offer

now spreads through e-cards, electronic coupons, and invite-a-friend e-mails.

Each individual who receives the idea then passes it onto many others who, in turn (as

individuals), pass the idea onto many others perhaps because the content is funny, or

intriguing, or different; at any rate, the idea must give the receiver a reason to share it with

others. They may spread it on so that people perceive them as cool and innovative for

having known about it before their friends and colleagues, or maybe they decide pass it on

just to create conversation. Whatever the motive, the idea will only spread if it promises to

show the sharer in a good light. After all, nobody wants to look bad in front of their peers.

Viral expansion could be compared to cell reproduction each time a cell splits, each half

becomes a cell itself, before splitting again. This cycle of growth is charted in the

exponential graph shown below, taken from Godins book Unleashing the Ideavirus:

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Fig. 1 Ideal Ideavirus

Here, the x axis represents time, where the y axis represents the number of people that

the idea has reached. Thus, a good idea, like a strong virus, has an accelerated growth

pattern not dissimilar to that of a snowball rolling downhill; the longer it travels, the faster it

grows.

Viral advertising does not always focus on selling a particular product. Sometimes it sells an

idea. For example, viral may be used as a method for creating interest in a brand as a whole.

In this sense, the idea, being the brand and its values, is pre-product if the consumer ever

needs a product or service from this market in the future, their first thought will be of this

brand, because of this idea that is planted in their head. Godin (Godin, 2001: 18) argues how

influential an idea within a viral can be for a brand:

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We recognize that ideas are driving the economy, ideas are making people rich

and most important, ideas are changing the world if you can get people to

accept and embrace and adore and cherish your ideas, you win.

Ultimately, in viral adverts, these ideas are intended to create a positive brand perception in

order to generate larger profit margins for a company. What, therefore, are the most

effective ways for advertisers to spread these brand ideas?

Due to rapidly increasing developments in technology, the internet is the most commonly

used method of viral advertising today. Online viral, or the ideavirus as referred to by

Godin (Godin, 2001: 39), has soared in popularity:

Ideaviruses spread fast and they spread far. With word of mouse (word of

mouth augmented by the power of online communication), you can tell 100

friends, or a thousand friends.

The amount of people that can be reached and influenced through word of mouse is

phenomenal. Social networking websites, such as Facebook, are ideal conduits for spreading

an ideavirus. Take, for example, the recent cartoon character campaign by the National

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC). Facebook users were asked to

change their display picture to a cartoon character from their childhood, as well as to copy

and paste text, concerning the campaign against child abuse, into their status (a Facebook

blog used to describe the users thoughts and feelings, which then appears on their friends

homepages). This would be copied from another users status, which would have appeared

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on the homepage earlier through the same process. The Society later commented (NSPCC,

2010):

A Facebook campaign last weekend urged users to swap their profile picture for

a cartoon character in support of the fight against child abuse and has led to our

number of Facebook fans increasing from 65,000 on Friday to 110,000 today.

The goal was to replace all human display pictures on Facebook by the end of the campaign

(06.12.2010). The result was a remarkable feat. It can be debated whether the NSPCC

officially sanctioned this concept, but in terms of viral success, the idea spread like wildfire.

Here we can open the debate into who is in control of this process the brand or the

consumer? When a concept is created and unleashed, is it bound for success or do

consumers make a conscious decision, allowing and catalysing this idea to come to fruition?

It can be argued either way. One could propose that viral advertising works best when an

idea is mysteriously unveiled, immediately followed by the withdrawal of the brands

presence in order for the consumers to speculate and create their own hype. Godin (Godin,

2001: 15) argues that:

The future belongs to marketers who establish a foundation and process

where interested people can market to each other. Ignite consumer networks

and then get out of the way and let them talk.

This suggests that a brand must be confident enough in its campaign to step back and

assume that consumers will take to the idea. An advertisers confidence will, more often

than not, come from carefully developed market research, although no amount of planning

can ensure success. This still ultimately depends upon the consumers reactions. The key

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then is to create as much mystery or controversy as possible in order to give consumers

something to talk about. Viral campaigns by sports conglomerate Nike have demonstrated

precisely how to perfect this. Montague (Montague, 2010) duly notes that:

Viral video that blurs the boundaries between truth and fiction have had

viewers second guessing their veracity for years. Nike, in particular, has filmed

stunts ranging from basketball star Kobe Bryant jumping over a speeding Aston

Martin to A.C. Milan and Brazil striker Ronaldinho striking the crossbar from the

half way line over and over again. Yet it is exactly this uncertainty that has fuelled

the speculation, and the interest, in the films.

It would appear that creating a debate about truth and fiction is an effective way to get

people talking. Furthermore, note here the transition from selling a product to selling a

brand value. It is not Nike or its latest products that people will be talking about, but

whether it is possible that Christiano Ronaldo could outrun a Ferrari, or the likelihood of

Roger Federers serve being so accurate that he could knock a bottle from the top of

somebodys head. It appears almost incidental that these characters, along with their

amazing talents, are brand ambassadors for Nike, promoting Nike on almost every medium

imaginable, worldwide.

The continuing success of this strategy would suggest that both execution and placement

have a degree of effect on the outcome of a viral campaign. This puts some of the power

back into the advertisers hands. Nike are fully aware of the buzz surrounding their

superstars. Their pre-World Cup viral video campaign Write the Future even recognises

stars such as Ronaldhinos ability to spread the brand virally by including footage of

Facebook and Youtube hits rapidly increasing:

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Fig. 2 Nike - Write the Future, 2010

This viral within a viral, entitled Ronhaldinhos amazing tricks again, reaches a hit rate of

nearly thirty million, a substantial viewing figure for any video found on Youtube. As

Ronaldhino shows off his skills with a football, Nike show off their skills at viral marketing.

This is not arrogance for arrogance sakes. This is Nike being flamboyant, as we will discuss

later.

It was no coincidence either that the players in this viral were wearing brightly coloured

silver and orange boots, clearly visible from a distance:

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Fig. 3 Nike Write the Future, 2010

This set the scene for players to wear them at the World Cup, making Nike a visible force on

the pitch despite Adidas being the official sponsor. Bouldens argument (Boulden, 2010)

reinforces this point:

With the sheer number of Nike ticks seen on the clothes and the shoes of the

footballers, you could be forgiven for thinking the American sportswear giant is

an official corporate sponsor of this years World Cup in South Africa.

At the time of writing, this particular version of the viral video on Youtube (Fig. 2 Write the

Future, 2010 & Fig. 3 Write the Future, 2010) has amassed over 21.5 million views.

It takes both an engaging idea and the appropriate target audience to make a viral campaign

successful. They co-exist; it is almost as if one would be nothing without the other. Godin

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(Godin, 2001: 20) suggests that consumers are becoming immune to the persuasions of a

direct approach:

We live in a world where consumers actively resist marketing. So its imperative

to stop marketing at people. The idea is to create an environment where

consumers will market to each other.

However viral advertising gives the consumers an identity they can actively choose to

participate in, discuss with friends and take on as a part of themselves. In this context, they

need the brand as much as the brand needs them, to stay in touch with popular trends and

stay fashionable. Having sourced Unleashing the Ideavirus so frequently, it seems

appropriate to end this chapter with a quote from Godin (Godin, 2001: 43):

If something is new and different and exciting and getting buzzed about, we want to know

about it, be part of it. The fashion is now to be in fashion, and ideas are the way we keep

up.

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Football Sponsorship

This section will debate the logistics behind the relationship between brand sponsorship and

the game of football. Why do certain companies pay huge dividends to sponsor football

clubs, national teams and tournaments?

We shall start by defining the term sponsorship within the context of the globalisation of

football (football spreading worldwide through the development of new technologies and

media). Companies make payments, either individual or ongoing, which secure them the

right to be associated with an event, team or player. Amis & Cornwell (Amis & Cornwell,

2005: 2) describe global sport sponsorship as:

...an investment in an individual, event, team, or organisation with the

expectation of achieving certain corporate objectives in multiple countries...

These corporate objectives usually cover areas such as brand visibility, celebrity

endorsement and brand association (where brands share the same values, they tend to

have similar target demographics, so provided the brands are not in direct competition, it is

mutually beneficial to attract new customers through each other).

While non-sporting events may be sponsored, the primary player in sponsorship, by a

considerable margin, is sport. Billions are invested in sport annually and the amount

increases every year. According to Amis & Cornwell (Amis & Cornwell, 2005: 2):

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...companies spent approximately US$30 billion worldwide on sponsorship in

2003, with about 77% of that total being spent on sports.

Whilst the focus of sports sponsorship in the USA is on American football, basketball and

baseball, Europe and South America favour the beautiful game, as it has become known.

So why does the accumulative expenditure of global football sponsorship continue to grow

to such abundant amounts? We must look at three key areas of football sponsorship kit

manufacture and replication, media visibility (e.g. pitch side banners, equipment, etc.) and

player image rights. Perhaps media visibility is the overarching aim, however I deem it

necessary to investigate all three areas equally as each have their own lucrative merits.

Due to the continuing globalisation of football, it is no longer local companies who sponsor

top level football teams shirts. Multinational corporations such as United Arab Emirates and

AIG are willing to negotiate deals worth over 10million a year. In 2006, the BBC reported

on Manchester United Football Clubs sponsorship deal with AIG (BBC, 2006):

Manchester United have signed the UK's biggest shirt sponsorship deal. The

agreement with insurer American International Group (AIG) is worth 56.5m

over four years, the club said.

A football clubs directors are likely to accept the highest shirt sponsorship bid, as this

creates further revenue for the club, and as the potential return from the exposure a club

such as Manchester United can provide is uncapped, corporations are willing to pay out. The

amount of exposure given by replica shirts alone is extraordinary. Boyle & Haynes (Boyle &

Haynes, 2004: 73) detailed the sales figures for Real Madrid shirts at the beginning of the

millenium:

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In 2001, Real Madrid sold more replica shirts than any other club in Europe with

revenues from direct sales in excess of 27 million.

Although these figures are now a decade old, this sales revenue has only increased in the

last ten years due to the growing popularity of football, mainly down to globalisation. Not

only do the sales create direct revenue, but every time a shirt is worn, the consumer

displays the brands logo as a walking advert. It must be said that this kit sponsorship works

similarly for all sports, prime examples including rugby, basketball and baseball. However

our focus remains on football.

For the same reason that local company shirt sponsorships have been replaced by

multinational corporations, grass roots kit suppliers such as Umbro and Mitre have been

replaced or bought out by sportswear conglomerates such as Nike and adidas, whose

financial backing simply cannot be contested. They have a hegemonic strangle-hold over the

sports apparel and footwear market. Analogically, they are similar to Sky Sports in their

power over clubs. Sky Sports even have the power to reschedule games to suit their

programming schedules, turning football from sport into entertainment. Duke (Duke, 1994:

131) describes this transformation:

The elitist pretensions of the Premier League and its lucrative link with BSkyB

television herald the presentation of football as a part of the wider

entertainment industry.

Because the stakes are so high, football clubs cannot afford not to cooperate, and must

therefore bend to the will of Sky Sports. Returning to kit sponsorship, on the turn of the

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century, Harris (Harris, 2000) documented Manchester Uniteds kit supplier swap from

Umbro to Nike:

Manchester United enhanced their status as the world's biggest football club

last night by confirming the game's largest ever sponsorship package, a 13-year

deal with the sportswear manufacturer, Nike, worth 303m. The "strategic

alliance", which starts when United's current kit deal with Umbro expires in

August 2002, will make Nike the team's official sponsors and kit supplier and will

also give it the global rights to all United merchandise and retail operations.

Five years into this term, Nike proceeded to buy Umbro for 285 million (BBC, 2007). This

means that Nike paid more to sponsor Manchester United for a fixed 13 year period than

they did to own indefinitely the entire kit manufacturing company whom they replaced. This

puts into perspective the amount of money involved in football sponsorship and these

figures are constantly rising.

However, the expenditure of football sponsorship is far from limited to shirts. adidas, who

have been involved with top level football for over fifty years, have been an official partner

of footballs global governing body FIFA (Fdration Internationale de Football Association)

for over 30 years. At events organised by FIFA, including the World Cup, this gives adidas

premium coverage as they exclusively provide equipment and apparel to all FIFA

representatives. adidas (adidas GROUP, 2010) proudly state on their website:

adidas is Official Sponsor, Supplier and Licensee of the FIFA World Cup. adidas

thus provides the Official Match Ball and supplies the equipment for all officials,

referees, volunteers and ball kids.

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Supplying the official match ball itself provides a major talking point for fans as it is the

quintessential piece of equipment, without which the game would simply not exist. In the

words of FIFA President Joseph Blatter (Blatter, cited in FIFA, 2006):

"In my opinion, the ball is an even more important symbol than the FIFA World

Cup trophy simply because the whole essence of the game revolves around this

object."

It is not only replica shirts which create industrious revenue; fans trust that FIFA will use the

best ball available for the World Cup, and therefore replica adidas match balls are sold in

their millions. The distinctive gold and white design of the ball makes it easily recognizable

even from your TV screen (see Fig. 4 World Cup final game action), using a similar tactic to

Nikes silver and orange boots discussed in Viral Advertising and the Perception of Brands.

Fig. 4 World Cup final game action

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It is this exposure that brands associating themselves with major footballing events are

attempting to create. For a price, FIFA provides its official partners, such as adidas, with

exclusive avenues for brand visibility pertaining to the World Cup. FIFA (FIFA, 2010) declare

that:

The Official Partners could benefit from a standard marketing package that

included the exclusive rights to associate with the event, the use of the

trademarks, exposure in and around the stadium, in all Official FIFA publications

and on the Official Event Website www.FIFAworldcup.com.

In addition, they had the possibility to individualize their sponsorship according

to their marketing strategy and needs.

The elite benefits gained from sponsoring the event itself allow brands to communicate in

popular spaces without rivalry from competitors, giving them full attention from witnessing

consumers who fall into their target market. In the sportswear market, it would then appear

that adidas use sponsorship to provide themselves with an advantage over main

competitors Nike during major footballing events including the World Cup.

However, sponsorship can also be used as a leverage tool by Nike. Official FIFA events

themselves may be officially sponsored by adidas, but many of the players and teams

competing within these tournaments are sponsored by Nike. This brings us onto the

importance of image rights within the realm of football sponsorship. Due to the

globalisation of football, a players value is now not only measured by their footballing

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talent, but also their marketability. Boyle & Haynes (Boyle & Haynes, 2004: 73) use Nike

sponsored superstar Wayne Rooney as an example:

Image rights featured strongly in the reporting of Everton teenage striker

Wayne Rooney who in 2003 agreed his first professional contract after a month

long dispute over the value, not of his footballing ability but his potential to be

marketed as a brand.

As designer fashion brands seek attachment to celebrity models, musicians and movie stars,

sportswear brands focus on sports stars. Nike has both the financial backing and global

appeal to attract many of the worlds greatest and most famous football players to

represent their brand during major events. These brand ambassadors were fully utilized in

Nikes 2010 World Cup viral campaign Write the Future. Bandini (Bandini, 2010) recognises

this:

Assembling a small horde of the most recognisable players taking part in this

summer's tournament was always going to be the starting point for any such

advert for Nike and on that front they certainly do not disappoint. Didier Drogba,

Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Fabio Cannavaro and Franck Ribry all

appear...

These players affiliation with the brand, as well as sporting Nike gear on and off the pitch,

provides Nike with an alternative method of utilising sponsorship during the World Cup to

increase brand awareness and sales, staying in direct competition with sportswear rival, and

official partner to FIFA, adidas.

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Sponsorship within football is clearly a powerful marketing tool due to the sports popularity

and ubiquity. It is therefore not surprising that companies are willing to pay such excessive

amounts. The return, both in profit and contribution to brand objectives, makes the deal

worthwhile when looking at the bigger picture; this perception is often the benchmark of

successful marketing.

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Importance and Flexibility of Brand Values

In this section I would like to discuss the concept of brand values. To effectively analyse the

brand values created by adidas and Nikes World Cup virals, it is important to have a

developed knowledge of this subject area. By understanding the definition of a brand value,

in addition to its underlying purpose, we can begin to acknowledge the amount of impact

they can have on a consumers purchasing decision. What makes a set of brand values

strong and unique, giving a brand the edge over other brands? Can these values be flexible

in the context that they can be disposed of if and when necessary?

An apt starting point is defining the term brand value. In Viral Advertising and the

Perception of Brands I argue that a modern brand sells an idea before a product. A brand

value is a belief or characteristic which consolidates this idea, in order to relate to

consumers on a number of levels. Aakers research in his book, Building Strong Brands

(Knapp, cited in Aaker, 2002: 95), tells us that:

A brands value proposition is a statement of the functional, emotional, and

self-expressive benefits delivered by the brand that provide value to the

customer. An effective value proposition should lead to a brand-customer

relationship and drive purchase decisions.

A collection of brand values builds what might be termed the personality of a brand. Based

on market research, these values are intended to appeal to the target market into which the

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brand is entering. This process of personification through values relies on the

communication of a brand to its public, for example through advertising, publicity and word

of mouth. A brands mission statement may state their intended personality, but if this is

not communicated effectively, the brand will not be credited as having these values by

consumers. As with actual people, it can take years for a brand to build a certified

personality; in the world of business, talk is cheap, therefore a brand must earn its

reputation. In his book From Brand Vision to Brand Evaluation, De Chernatoney (De

Chernatoney, 2006: 115) uses the Body Shop as an example of a brand whose personality is

certified by their actions:

Three of the Body Shops values social responsibility, environmental

protection and animal protection provide a clear sense of direction for its

business activities. When sourcing products, it seeks to revitalize deprived areas

through its Community Trade Programme.

This commitment to proving personality traits earns a brand peoples trust over time. If a

consumer has affection for this personality then a connection is forged between customer

and brand, which may inform the individuals selection when they are next looking to buy a

product or service from this market. Consequently, a brand must strive to understand the

personality preferences of its target audience in order to create compatible brand values. As

De Chernatony (De Chernatony, 2006: 115) points out:

brand values offer an opportunity for brand differentiation and attract people

whose values match those being projected by their chosen brand.

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Where, for example, a number of people have similar tastes in music, fashion and lifestyle, a

brand must emulate the latest trends in order to become popular amongst this group.

Peoples choices of friends are often based on first perceptions; if you like what you see,

then you are more inclined to give them a chance. Similarly, people choose brands initially

because they feel they have something in common, or would like to feel they have

something in common, as De Chernatony (De Chernatony, 2006: 114) explains:

values relate to particular personality traits, and thus customers choose

brands with values that reflect the actual or desired personality of the user.

By buying into brand values, consumers can further strengthen inner and outer perceptions

of themselves, or what De Chernatony refers to as the actual and desired personalities.

Aaker (Aaker, 2002:11) highlights the difference between the two:

...a distinction is drawn between actual self-concept (how people actually

perceive themselves) and ideal self-concept (how people would like to be

perceived).

This, Aaker suggests, is the purpose of brand values. When a customer buys a product or

service because it makes them feel better about themselves, the brand has appealed to the

consumers actual self-concept. For example, buying trainers by Novacas, a vegan owned,

ethical European shoe company (Vegan shoe addict, 2009), may not aesthetically catch

peoples attention, but the user may feel happy that they are helping the environment.

Aaker (Aaker, 2002: 97) notes that:

When the purchase or use of a particular brand gives the customer a positive

feeling, that brand is providing an emotional benefit.

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In contrast, buying expensive cutting-edge trainers by Nike may even create a negative

feeling due to the relatively high cost. However, this is compensated for by a reinforced

ideal self-concept. The user buys the trainers in the hope that other people in their

community will judge them (by their trainers) as being fashionable and wealthy. Aaker

(Aaker, 2002: 99) comments that:

A brand can thus provide a self-expressive benefit by providing a way for a

person to communicate his or her self-image.

It is important to remember that a brands values must be applicable to the function of the

products or services provided. For example, Nike trainers original function is to increase

performance in sport. De Chernatony (De Chernatony, 2006: 115) lists Nikes brand values

as:

Authenticity being real in the eyes of athletes

Inspirational through emotion and passion for sports

Courage conviction to stand by beliefs

Innovation

Despite the fact that Nike trainers are often purchased for day wear fashion rather than for

actual use in sport, the underlying glamour of sports performance remains ever present

during advertising campaigns. Therefore, the functional benefit of Nike trainers, improved

sports performance, is reflected by Nikes brand values. Aaker (Aaker, 2002: 95) argues in

favour of this:

31

The most visible and common basis for a value proposition is a functional

benefit that is, a benefit based on a product attribute that provides functional

utility to the customer.

Own-label or budget brands tend to focus purely on the functional benefit rather than on

the emotional or self-expressive benefits. They tend to sell products before ideas, claiming

that the only difference between themselves and other brands is in price. This is an

interesting moral counter argument to the brand phenomenon, despite own-label brands

still being brands themselves, adeptly summed up by Jones & Morgan (Jones & Morgan,

1994: 3):

From the point of view of society it might be better to improve reality than to

sell dreams and fantasies.

Now that we have identified the definition and purpose of brand values, we can look into

what constitutes an effective strategy. Brands must carefully select appropriate yet original

values in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. De Chernatonys

argument (De Chernatony, 2006: 117) in support of this theory states that:

One of the issues when conceiving a brands values is to ensure they are unique

and are not the generic values of the category within which the brand

competes.

This is not always an easy task, particularly in saturated market segments. As in building a

house, building a brand relies on a solid foundation. The brands that manage to capitalize,

even in the most challenging of markets, are those with strong core values, which lie at the

32

heart of the brand and cannot be perturbed. De Chernatony (De Chernatony, 2006: 115)

observes that:

Identifying the core values for the brand enables an organization to be very

clear about why it is different. While there are many brands of trainers and

sportswear, Nike differentiates itself through its brand values... Having a clear set

of values provides guidelines about how to develop a brand for the benefit of its

consumers.

As mentioned by De Chernatony, Nikes selection of core values is so recognisable that you

could not mistake them for a competitor brand. These patent values are appropriate to the

sportswear market, in which Nike not only competes but consistently leads. According to

the National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations, more frequently

known as NASDAQ (NASDAQ, 2010):

Nike is the world's largest manufacturer of athletic footwear, apparel and

equipment by sales. The company reported revenues of nearly $18.5 billion in

calendar year 2009, far ahead of competitors like Adidas AG ( ADDYY ) and Puma

(ETR:PUM).

They are also original in that they take a different angle from their competitors, mainly

Adidas AG and Puma, who are also looking to tap into appropriate values in the same

market. This strong brand personality, built upon these core values, puts Nike ahead of the

competition. Wheeler (Wheeler, 2006: 34) recognises that:

Effective identity is valued because it builds awareness, increases recognition,

communicates uniqueness and quality, and expresses a competitive difference.

33

To this extent, core values cannot be flexible because they are the foundation of a brands

identity. A brand with flexible core values is unlikely to be successful, because it will lack

distinction and recognisability, and will therefore not stand out from the competition.

Consumers will have a confused idea of the brands personality, because they will have

nothing solid or ever-present to base their judgements on.

However, it can be argued that brands must adapt to suit the conditions of an ever changing

world, or be left behind. This is where additional flexible values come into play. Provided

that the core values of a brand are preserved, it is possible to supplement these by adding

temporary brand values. These are designed to meet the demands of a constantly evolving

market if the core values are not sufficient on their own. The difference between core

values and flexible values is that the latter are dispensable; like the colour of a chameleon, a

flexible value must be changed if it is no longer of any use in its surroundings. As De

Chernatony (De Chernatony, 2006:122) describes:

A brands core values are those values that the brand will always uphold,

regardless of environmental change, and which will always be a central

characteristic of the brand. By contrast, peripheral values are secondary values

that are less important to the brand and which can be deleted or augmented

according to environmental conditions.

These flexible values can be used to associate a brand with popular modern fads or

temporary environmental or cultural changes, but just as easily, and importantly, the brand

can dissociate from these values (if necessary) when the popularity of the craze diminishes.

34

For the purpose of this dissertation, the change of environmental condition will be the

coming and going of the FIFA World Cup of June 2010, focusing on the different viral

strategies used by Nike and adidas to create peripheral values.

35

Part 2. The Discussion

36

Fast Vs Fast & Write the Future: A Brief Summary

adidas Fast Vs Fast

Fast Vs Fast was a 90 second viral video created by 180 Amsterdam and Riot in

Amsterdam. It was produced by Knucklehead and released in May 2010, just prior to the

start of the FIFA World Cup in June. The release of this viral coincided with the release of

adidas latest football boot, the F50, described by adidas as being The Lightest, The Fastest.

The boot itself features strongly in this video; close-ups reveal its unmistakable design

incorporating adidas purple and yellow colour scheme:

Fig. 5 adidas F50 adizero: Fast Vs Fast, 2010

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These features seen close up, along with the famous three stripes, plant the boot in the

viewers mind - the next time they pass a shop displaying these boots they will recognise

them from this viral, triggering the feelings evoked from watching it and perhaps be

tempted to purchase.

Executions of the campaign vary slightly, for example one version focuses strictly on a game

between Argentina and Spain. Two adidas superstars, Lionel Messi and David Villa, score

breathtaking goals for their respective countries, which puts them and their teams in a

deadlock. During this action, former FIFA Player of the Year and adidas ambassador

Zinedine Zidane pushes a classic car to its limits as he accelerates through a tunnel and over

a bridge. The velocity of this scene is set as a voiceover booms: Speed meets speed, and

the Gods will decide. This thundery voice effect helps to create an atmosphere of

foreboding and anticipation; the magnitude of this clash is so immense that it requires

divine intervention.

Another version uses much of the same footage, but also depicts other adidas superstars,

from the 32 nations competing, putting their skills and speed on show. The video style is

always film noir; the colours are pale, there is a lot of shadow and the action moves quickly.

Marketing Director of adidas in the UK Nick Craggs described the reason behind this (Craggs

cited in Thomas, J. 2010):

We needed a special way to launch the lightest, most technologically advanced

boot ever made and the graphic novel with its world of superheroes really lets us

showcase the genre defining F50 adiZero.

38

This choice of style, described here by Craggs as a graphic novel, creates a dramatic and

serious mood. The players expressions, aided by lighting techniques, show their

determination:

Fig. 6 adidas F50 adizero: Fast Vs Fast, 2010

For them, failure is not an option and adidas has provided them with the equipment they

need to win; the kits, the boots and the ball are all clearly branded with either the classic

three stripes or the adidas logo, despite the films grave, shadowy style.

The entire video is lit artificially. As well as creating mood, this lighting helps to accentuate

special effects such as the smoke and sweat emitted from these lightning paced players. For

example, in the shot demonstrated by Fig. 6 adidas F50 adizero: Fast Vs Fast, the smoking

boot is synonymous with the smoking exhaust pipe of Zidanes sports car, emphasizing just

39

how fast the boot actually is. This effect would not be as powerful in daylight because it

would be very difficult to see. However in the dark, the smoke catches the articificial light

and becomes clearly visible:

Fig. 7 adidas F50 adizero: Fast Vs Fast, 2010

This lighting, aided by Mexican stand-off music and a voiceover, sets an epic film noir scene.

In addition, great cinematography and high resolution digital imagery showcase the latest

technology in film making which is symbolic of the latest technology in sports apparel and

footwear. These special effects, which create an atmosphere filled with pace and action, are

the backbone of adidas viral campaign.

40

In summary, Fast Vs Fast is a hard hitting, action packed, film noir style viral with plenty of

attitude and grit. The production is strong and the characters have credibility amongst a

target audience of young males.

Nike Write the Future

Write the Future shares several aspects with Fast Vs Fast. Firstly, Nikes viral was also

created in Amsterdam, although by Wiedon and Kennedy. The release dates coincide too

Write the Future also first aired in May 2010, just before the World Cups commence in

June.

Content wise, another similarity is the strong appearance of the brands latest football boot;

Nikes Elite football boot range is clearly visible due to its silver and orange colour coding

(discussed earlier in my chapter Viral Advertising and the Perception of Brands). Both

brands use striking colours to make their boots highly visible against the background pitch;

however the colours they use are opposite in order to differentiate from each other. Again,

the boots are highly visible in the viral, making them easily recognised at places of purchase,

particularly in Nikes own outlet Niketown which has a specific section for football boots

called the Boot Room:

41

Fig. 8 Niketown: Entrance

Fig. 9 Niketown: The Boot Room

42

Fig. 10 Niketown: Nike Elite on stand

The examples shown here are from Niketown London, however this is the same set-up as all

other Niketowns globally. Niketown allows customers to become physically involved in the

Nike brand, described by Nike (Nike, 2010) to be a retail-as-theatre experience. The Boot

Room is no exception, creating an experience of the Write the Future viral. You are

surrounded by multi-screen video clips of the boots in action, walls full of silver and orange

boots, and of course, a till to purchase your own pair.

The story behind Write the Future is familiar to all football fans; on the biggest platform in

world football, its make or break time for Nikes superstars, juxtaposing inflated success

43

stories against the elaborated consequences of failure. The viral exaggerates these

predictions for comedic effect - for example Wayne Rooneys alternative futures reward

victory by showing a ward full of babies all being named after him, but punish defeat by

showing him ending up as a bum in a trailer. However amusing and unbelievable these ideas

may seem, there is a truth behind the concept that players who make terrible mistakes

resulting in their teams exit from the World Cup are vilified, whilst those who bring glory are

looked upon as national heroes.

Adding to the sense of humour, Write the Future incorporates cameos from famous

characters outside the realms of football. Part of Wayne Rooneys success story shows him

effortlessly beating tennis ace Roger Federer at ping-pong, whilst Homer Simpson from the

acclaimed American cartoon answers the door, using an integration of his catchphrase, to

an animated version of another Nike superstar, Christiano Ronal-DOH! This shows

Ronaldos success story, as his elevated status grants him a guest appearance on the show

which is reserved only for celebrities and famous people. Surplus to comical effect, this

inclusion of non-football stars grants accessibility to non-football fans, allowing them to talk

about the Nike viral despite not being interested in football. Since we have established that

viral is created to spread an idea as far and wide as possible, this seems to be a strategically

smart move.

There were two production companies involved in the making of Write the Future:

Mokkumercials in Amsterdam and Independant Films in London. Interestingly, Nike

managed to secure the services of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, director of 21 Grams (2003)

and Babel (2006). The full version was nearly 3 minutes long, almost twice the length of Fast

Vs Fast.

44

Write the Future is an action packed showcase of football skill and pride, displaying a variety

of emotions ranging from disappointment and frustration to elation and ecstasy. It is

expertly produced to conjure up a range of feelings within the viewer, using a carefully

selected soundtrack to reflect each scenario. As the World Cup itself provides an array of

emotions, this is synonymous. The amusing exaggerative tone of voice brings a sense of

humour even to the bitter taste of defeat, and gives viewers plenty of visuals to discuss and

remember.

45

Flexible Brand Values

It is evident that both brands took a different approach to producing World Cup virals.

Although there were common themes, such as brand ambassadors displaying their

footballing ability in their brands latest gear, Nike focused on flamboyant skill and humour

whereas adidas preferred speed and solemnity.

This brings us to the creation of flexible brand values. Unmistakably both brands have used

the opportunity of World Cup viral to further strengthen their core values, but did either

brand attempt to create something new and dismissible?

In the case of Fast Vs Fast, it would seem that adidas barely reference the World Cup at all

in their video, despite being an official partner of organisers FIFA. The only indicators that

the viral is World Cup related are that the players are wearing their national teams football

kits and the ball they are using is the adidas official World Cup match ball, although at the

time of airing (prior to and during the World Cup), this would be more than enough to alert

viewers to the context of the videos setting. The key theme of the viral, as suggested by its

title and discussed in the previous section, is speed. adidas core values, as listed on their

website www.adidas-group.com, are innovative, passionate, committed, authentic, honest

and inspirational. It would appear that being fast is a new value, created and used here

specifically for the purposes of the World Cup, and is therefore flexible because if it vanishes

at some point after the World Cup, the brands original values remain strongly intact. It

could be argued that dynamism is already a value of both adidas and Nike, and aesthetically

46

this would be true. However this is not a core value of either adidas or Nike because it is

expected of all sports apparel and footwear brands to be dynamic; it is a given, and

therefore not strong enough a value to base a successful brand around. As an added focus

during a football competition evermore relying on speed, being fast is not a bad proposition.

The brand is not dependant on this value to sustain its overall reputation, as it is with its

core values, but adidas will sell more pairs of football boots, apparel and other footwear

during the World Cup if the brand is perceived as fast.

Write the Future is more obviously World Cup orientated, mainly due to a multitude of

establishing shots showing how different nations and cultures watch and react to games.

Crowds only gather around a TV screen wearing their national teams football shirt for big

footballing occasions, and at the time of airing (again just before and during the World Cup)

it would be obvious which event was in question. In my earlier chapter Importance and

Flexibility of Brand Values I quoted De Chernatony as describing Nikes core values as

authentic, inspirational, courageous and innovative. The World Cup being a joyous occasion,

Write the Future opted for a key theme of humour. This created a new brand value for Nike:

fun. Again, this is a flexible value which fits in perfectly with the World Cup but could easily

be dismissed after without damaging Nikes core values in any way. As with being fast, being

fun is not an entirely new concept to Nike, but again it is not the foundation of the brand,

and is therefore a flexible value used to reflect the enjoyment of the World Cup. Sharing this

value with consumers will help them to increase sales during this period. However Nike

could drop this value should the mood of environment change to something more serious,

without causing any damage to their brand.

47

Measuring Success

This section is an analysis of the various data I have collected during this project, both

primary and secondary, which gives us an insight into how the brands performed on a

number of different levels. To gain specific results into viral success, I issued questionnaires

to a football team of eleven males aged 18-24, who were the primary target market for both

of the viral campaigns being studied. Although this was a small amount of people, I created

quantitive data charts which show the emergence of certain trends in data, backed up

where possible using qualitative research to give a more in depth analysis. I also researched

secondary data from articles written at the time of the World Cup relating to these

campaigns, to see if my information correlates with that of other researchers.

After grouping and presenting my primary data, it occurs to me that Nike performed better

in terms of viral success. Looking at Chart 1, it seems that Nikes campaign was only slightly

better remembered than adidas. However, studying the responses, it is clear that

everybody who remembered Nikes advertising during the World Cup referred to one

particular viral, Write the Future, most respondents mentioning it by name. In contrast,

from those who remembered adidas advertising, only three remembered having seen Fast

Vs Fast, with not one respondent able to refer to the name of the viral. This can be a

problem when representing qualitative data quantitively, as the statistics should show Nike

in a stronger position than they do, however either way, it is evident that Nike had a more

memorable viral campaign than adidas.

48

Analysing Chart 2, there is no question of a doubt that Write the Future was more popular

than Fast Vs Fast, although this answer is bias as it does not take into account the fact that

more people in this group have seen the Nike advert than its adidas counterpart.

Qualititively, there was some good feedback, with one respondent answering:

Nike was the World Cup campaign which I preferred, not just because of the

players that were involved but the campaign also had a comical side to it, it gave

more of a creative edge in regards to others *adidas+ and was not as serious.

This comment certainly suggests that Nikes flexible value of being fun seems to have

creatively outmanoeuvred adidas temporary value of being fast. Whilst the focus group

were themselves football fans, it would have been interesting to see which was more

popular with non-football fans. One respondents answer suggests that Nike would triumph

in this market too:

Nike. I saw it more and it was cinematically very different to others. It also had a

range of celebrity and cameo sections that engaged all audiences. Not just the

football followers.

Of the two who did answer in favour of adidas, only one of these had seen the Nike viral. So

far, Nike would appear to have the upper hand.

Moving on to Chart 3, the statistics start to become more interesting. Drawing analysis, it

seems that Nike and adidas had an equal brand presence during the World Cup, according to

our focus group. With adidas being an official sponsorship partner of the competition, I had

expected their brand presence to top Nikes overall. However it seems that Nikes marketing

49

campaign spearheaded by their viral video Write the Future was successful enough to

counteract this proposed handicap.

Chart 4 shows that the majority of respondents believed that adidas being an official partner

of the FIFA World Cup gave them an advantage over Nike, however detailed analysis of the

answers shows a fairly mixed review. In agreement with sponsorship giving adidas an

advantage, one respondent reflected:

The World Cup is one of the most highly viewed televised events. Sponsoring an

event of this magnitude with the brand values it possesses will naturally reflect

well on your brand. I think Adidas knew this well. Just how fashion related

brands gain publicity during London Fashion week, Adidas was no exception

during the WC.

Although this answer appears to be in favour of adidas having an advantage, it duly

raises several very interesting questions. It is not just adidas but Nike too who were

clearly visible at this highly televised event, and despite not being a sponsor Nike still

affiliated itself with the World Cup and its values. Where, therefore, is the advantage?

I took this opportunity to delve into some secondary research. Interestingly, whilst

looking over a copy of an adidas AG press release (adidas AG, 2010) I noticed that the

main three advantages stated in the press release correlate with the key areas of my

earlier chapter Football Sponsorship:

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1. Kit manufacture and replication.

In the first quarter of 2010, sales of football products were already up 26%.

With more than 6.5 million replica jerseys sold, the number of jerseys has more

than doubled compared to 2006 (3 million).

2. Media visibility.

No matter how you look at it: In terms of sales, market share and visibility

adidas is and will remain the leading football brand.

3. Player image rights.

Additionally, stars such as Lionel Messi, Kak, David Beckham, Michael Ballack,

Lukas Podolski, Arjen Robben and David Villa represent their respective clubs

wearing state-of-the-art adidas football equipment.

As kit manufacture and replication and player image rights can both be used equally by adidas

and Nike, it appears that the main advantage of being FIFA World Cup partner is media

visibility, as their logo is ever present in all FIFA activity. As discussed in Football Sponsorship

media visibility is the overarching aim of sponsorship so for Nike to be considered to have

an equal brand presence means that their viral marketing campaign must have been far more

successful than adidas.

51

An analysis of Chart 4 would suggest that overall both brands created a positive feeling

towards themselves through associating with the World Cup. The two negative responses

received by adidas evidently suggest that this reponse is relative to Nikes success; they do

not feel adidas did enough to create a positive feeling to match that of Nikes, so the word

negative in this context is perhaps misleading these two answers would be better placed in

a third column suggesting indifference.

Where Chart 5 seems to be almost too good to be true for these brands, Chart 6 raises an

issue relative to Chart 5 which people seemed to have forgotten about what is the feeling

towards these brands when teams get knocked out? The combined figures of small negative

impact and strong negative impact equal just less than half of the group a huge increase

upon the last chart which seemed not to take this factor into account. One answer raises an

idea as to why the sudden divide in opinion:

This is quite interesting, England being a country that views soccer as a religion.

Seeing their team getting knocked out at such early stages might have curtailed

their exposure in the U.K market, as viewership naturally decreased

exponentially post - knockout. But, the WC is a global affair, so promotion and

exposure globally would have carried on till the end of the world cup.

This is an interesting concept, perhaps for another research paper What are the effects of

a country getting knocked out of the World Cup on associated brands in different cultures?

Sticking with this dissertation, I must now discover whether or not my results are coherent

with other researchers findings. My primary research suggests that Nikes viral campaign

52

Write the Future was more effective than its adidas equivalent Fast Vs Fast in creating and

distributing itself through the means of a temporary brand value, despite adidas holding the

position of official partner to FIFA and the World Cup. Analytical company TradeTheTrend

(TradeThe Trend, 2010) reported:

A recent Nielsen study of blogs, message boards and social networking sites has

found that Nike has been able to create a notably larger online buzz through

the ad, associating the company more closely to the World Cup than competing

brands.

Though the company is not an official World Cup sponsor, Nike had more than

twice as many references in relation to the World Cup than official sponsor

Adidas, the Guardian reports.

It would appear through comprehensive research that the Write the Future viral and its

surrounding marketing campaign really were more successful than Fast Vs Fast according to

statistics from acclaimed market research company Nielson. Executive vice president of

digital strategy at Nielson, Pete Balackshaw (Balanshaw cited in Sweney, 2010), summarizes

Nikes successful campaign:

This study shows that compelling, savvy marketing can establish this sort of

connection in the eyes of consumers without having to write that expensive

sponsorship check.

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Conclusion

Based on my own research, I strongly believe that adidas and Nike share more in common in

regards to core brand values than is suggested in my chapter Importance and Flexibility of

Brand Values, where I stated with evidence from other writers how Nike uses its core

values to differentiate from its top competitors, including adidas. Although both compete in

the sports apparel and footwear market, I had always supposed that the two brands stood

for completely different values within this market segment, and my initial research seemed

to support this. However, I never stopped to assess what the competitors (including adidas)

values actually were until further down the line. Nikes trademark swoosh and adidas

respective three stripes seemed to separate the brands, when actually they both primarily

stand for:

Innovation

Authenticity

Inspiration

Interestingly, where both brands are in direct competition, for example selling football

boots during the World Cup, it falls to flexible brand values to differentiate the two brands

and create unique selling points. In other words, if both pairs of boots represented only the

brands core values of innovation, authenticity and inspiration, they would not have an

advantage over each other apart from in design preference. To increase sales, temporary

54

brand values must therefore be attached to each brands pair of boots in order to create a

different angle to that of their competitors during this climate, i.e. the World Cup.

Studying the Write the Future and Fast Vs Fast virals from adidas and Nike (being the two

main competitors in global sports apparel and footwear where both videos were released at

the same time and based on the same event) I would conclude that this necessity for

flexible values certainly is the case. Both virals create additional values suited to the nature

of the World Cup, but to differentiate from each other they have chosen completely

opposing values. Where adidas uses a serious tone of voice to create a value of being fast,

Nike uses a flamboyant intonation to create a value of being fun. Both being fast and being

fun are associated values of the World Cup, which tie Nike and adidas into the event.

However they do not expose either brand to any risk of demise once the competition has

ended because these values are not at the heart of either brand and can therefore be

abandoned subsequently if necessary.

My research also suggests that although the overall official sponsorship campaign of adidas

during the World Cup had an effect on peoples memory of the brands presence, it seemed

to have almost no effect on the flexible brand values created through their viral campaign.

Strangely, the Fast Vs Fast viral does not even acknowledge at any point adidas being an

official partner of the FIFA World Cup, and as my research shows, fewer people remember

the adidas viral than the Nike viral despite Nike having no official affiliation with the World

Cup whatsoever, only sponsoring certain players and teams within the competition. Mark

Sweney from the Guardian (Sweney, 2010) described Nikes viral success over adidas during

the World Cup by stating:

55

A study by Nielsen found that Nike has created a significantly bigger "online

buzz", based on an analysis of blogs, message boards and social networking

websites, and association to the World Cup than any other brand.

Nike, which is not an official sponsor of the World Cup, had more than twice as

many references in relation to the World Cup than official sponsor Adidas.

It seems that as far as viral success is concerned, adidas being an official partner was either

not powerful enough or not made clear enough to give adidas an advantage over Nike, who

have become specialists in this area of marketing. Despite not being officially connected to

the World Cup, Nike does everything within their power to attach themselves, regardless.

Nike date this development in marketing strategy back to the success of their 2002 World

Cup campaign (Nike, 2010):

Secret Tournament incorporated advertising, the Internet, public relations,

retail and consumer events to create excitement for Nikes soccer products and

athletes in a way no single ad could ever achieve. This new integrated approach

has become the cornerstone for Nike marketing and communications.

Today, Nike continues to seek new and innovative ways to develop superior

athletic products, and creative methods to communicate directly with our

consumers.

Nike uses these different marketing approaches to further establish their flexible value of

being fun, alongside consolidating their existing core values. The strategy is highly effective,

as we have seen from my research into their success rate. The viral video Write the Future is

56

just one part of this; Nike are forward thinking in their experiential branding and furthered

this idea by creating an interactive webpage where users could upload their picture and

create their own Write the Future virals:

Fig. 11 Nike, 2010

In brief, this extension of the Write the Future viral gives users a chance to star in their own

viral versions of Write the Future, by uploading their picture onto a template. They can then

either imitate their favourite stars, or just show their friends for a laugh again this

coincides with Nikes strategic value of fun in their World Cup associated marketing.

adidas responded with a facebook campaign entitled 50 Days of Fast which featured

interviews with adidas stars into the evolution of speed within the game of football. The

campaign included quizzes and a competition (Thomas, 2010):

57

Facebook fans also have the chance to take part in a "fast" knowledge

competition to win a pair of new F50s exclusively signed by Messi.

Again this campaign sticks with the value of being fast, both mentally and physically,

supporting and furthering the Fast Vs Fast video and the brands new flexible value.

However research shows that this time around, Nikes Write the Future viral, which created

the value of fun rather than being fast, was more successful in terms of online buzz and

recollection.

Despite this result, the battle for supremacy will continue at the next major footballing

event, Euro 2012, as both brands will look to gain an upper hand through the use of these

(and probably new) viral techniques. It is already established that adidas will be an official

partner of Euro 2012, and that Nike will have no official affiliation. It will be intriguing to see

whether Nike maintains their viral leadership, or whether adidas will dominate next time

with a fresh and innovative idea. I would like to end with a quote I found to be very

interesting on the subject matter which has been discussed in this paper (Intangible

Business, 2010):

The Adidas brand and the Nike brand are strong brands that are recognized

around the world and the fight for world dominance will continue as Nike pulls

closer to Adidas in the soccer market and Adidas pulls closer to Nike overall. As

more technically advanced and innovative products are developed by each

company and efforts are made to gain a greater market share, the true winners

in this competition between the two mega-brands will be the consumer.

58

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Appendices

64

Adriance, Brooke (FIFA)

Adriance, Brooke (FIFA)

Brooke.Adriance@fifa.org

Send email

Find email

Add to contacts

To James Perea

From: Adriance, Brooke (FIFA) (Brooke.Adriance@fifa.org)

Sent: 21 January 2011 08:44:20

To: James Perea (jperea1@hotmail.com)

Hi James,

Thanks a lot for the below and apologies for the delay in my response, as I have been out of the office.

Regarding the rights that adidas have with FIFA: As a FIFA Partner, you are correct that they have rights to use the FIFA assets (logos, mascot, etc.) for promotion. Unfortunately, I cannot disclose the details of their contract as it is confidential. Your questions should be answered by someone at adidas rather than at FIFA. I have sent on your questions to my contacts and have asked them to get back to you. If you would like some additional information that you can use in your paper (regarding the marketing structure at FIFA, etc.), I would like to direct you to the marketing section on FIFA.com: http://www.fifa.com/aboutfifa/marketing/marketingconcept.html.

Kind regards,

Brooke

From: James Perea [mailto:jperea1@hotmail.com]

Sent: Donnerstag, 20. Januar 2011 12:52

To: Adriance, Brooke (FIFA) Subject: RE: sponsorship

65

Dear Brooke,

I understand that you are very busy, however I would just like to make you aware that my deadline

is 26th January. Any information you could provide me before then would be most welcome. As I mentioned before, even a few words from a person in your position would mean the world to me,

and would greatly improve my dissertation paper.

Please forgive me for bothering you, as I said I do realise how busy you must be and that this is not

a priority for you. However I was very excited by your response, and felt it my duty to follow up such a great opportunity.

Kind regards,

James Perea

jperea1@hotmail.com 07783433281

From: Brooke.Adriance@fifa.org

To: jperea1@hotmail.com Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2011 09:37:03 +0100

Subject: RE: sponsorship

Hi James,

Thanks for the below. I will be out of the office for a few days but will get back to you later next week. I will ask my contacts at adidas if you can contact them directly as well.

Best regards,

Brooke

From: James Perea [mailto:jperea1@hotmail.com]

Sent: Mittwoch, 5. Januar 2011 13:38 To: Adriance, Brooke (FIFA)

Subject: RE: sponsorship

Dear Brooke,

You are very kind for responding. Having correspondance with the adidas account manager will add

great depth to my dissertation, so for this I cannot express my grattitude enough. I understand that you must be very busy, and also that there may be certain information you do not feel at liberty to

disclose. To this end, I appreciate any feedback you are able to provide.

66

Firstly, it is my understanding that the position of adidas as an official partner of the World Cup gives them exclusive rights, such as logo use, supplying the official match ball and supplying the apparel for

FIFA officials, referees, ballboys and volounteers. Could you briefly outline any other advantages of being an official partner, particularly through your experience, that may not be as widely known?

My essay focuses on brand values created through association with the World Cup. Which key values do you believe adidas aim to project through being an official partner of FIFA and the World Cup?

Can these values be emulated as efficiently by brands who are not official partners?

Leading up to and during the World Cup, what is the process of communication between adidas and FIFA? How is the relationship between adidas and FIFA established and maintained?

Finally, would it be possible to get hold of any replica's of marketing strategies, mission statements or market research used to inform adidas' World Cup sponsorship campaigns?

Thank you again for your time,

Kind regards,

James Perea.

jperea1@hotmail.com 07783433281

> From: Brooke.Adriance@fifa.org

> To: jperea1@hotmail.com > Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 17:11:50 +0100

> Subject: FW: sponsorship

> > Dear James,

> > Thank you for the below. I work in the marketing alliances department at FIFA and am the adidas

account manager. Can you please send more details on the information you would like to have?

> > Best regards,

> Brooke >

> > Brooke Adriance

> Alliances Manager

> Marketing Division >

> Fdration Internationale de Football Association > FIFA-Strasse 20 P.O. Box 8044 Zurich Switzerland

> Tel.: +41-(0)43-222 7777 Tel. Direct: +41(0)43-222 7926

> Mobile: +41(0)79-276 2147 Fax: +41-(0)43-222 7878 > brooke.adriance@fifa.org www.fifa.com

> >

> -----Original Message----- > From: feedback@fifa.com; on behalf of Mr. James Enrique Perea [jperea1@hotmail.com];

[mailto:feedback@fifa.com]

> Sent: Samstag, 25. Dezember 2010 22:56 > To: Contact (FIFA)

> Subject: sponsorship

67

>

> Dear Sir/Madam, >

> I would very much like to ask some questions about the sponsorship between yourselves and official partner adidas conducted during the World Cup this past summer. This would greatly help