Nike VS Adidas
With soccer’s grandest stage only days away, Nike and Adidas are putting the finishing touches on campaigns that have been months, if not years, in the making.
At the World Cup, everything is a marketing opportunity.
From the players, to the game balls, to the uniforms.
It’s all fair game.
The companies are now roughly even and, together, about 95 percent of the global market for soccer.
There are four ways to get people to notice your sports brand at a soccer match. You can get on a player's feet, you can get on his chest, you can get on the marquee of the event or you can run ads.
A huge amount of their advertising spending is flowing into Internet campaigns with viral videos.
#AllIn vs. #RiskEverything
The companies, however, are not willing to reveal the true costs of their marketing, sponsorship and advertising activities.
"Anyone who observes how the two competitors developed their social media activities ahead of the start of the World Cup can imagine what lies ahead of us in the next four weeks in terms of the companies' Internet campaigns," says marketing expert Voeth.
About Nike: The Oregon-based sportswear giant sponsors 10 of the tournament’s 32 teams, more than any other gear maker. One way to ensure visibility is to have your logo on the largest possible number of jerseys.
About Adidas : They’re an official tournament sponsor, which gives them access to in-stadium signage and anything else formally related to FIFA and the tournament. The German sporting goods titan manufactures the Brazuca soccer ball used in all tournament games, sponsors nine participating teams and outfits Argentine superstar Lionel Messi in custom-designed shoes.
How to use the sporting event to draw worldwide attention.
Nike and Adidas go head-to-head in the World Cup semi-finals
Nike has been eating at Adidas's once overwhelming lead in soccer for 20 years.
Also this year.
Adidas got the final with two teams: Argentina and Germany.
