Soccer is by far the most popular sport on the planet. Last year, Africa hosted their first world cup and the final itself drew 700 million viewers. For some people , they are so devoted and passionate about the sport that they even view it as a religion. Consumer experience during the one month frame is crucial and certainly advertising is key. Popular ads we’ve seen on tv during the world cup were probably Coca cola with the roger miller celebration, and Nike with “ write the future “. Those ads definitely promoted sales for their company but for here i want to talk about something that added a more personal experience for the consumers. The whole story about the world cup is about walking with your team as it goes through elimination process. One would normally do that by watching every game, cheering with their nation’s jersey. Normally jerseys differ by simple things like colour , brand material and size. During this time period , they are always in great demand but last year credits go to the Dutch federation for their invention of the world cup t-shirt. This shirt is different from others as it enriches consumer experience by adding more creativity than a normal shirt would do. Who doesn’t want to look and be like their famous soccer player? If you go to Portugal right now and ask a five year old kid what he wants to be when he grows up you probably know the answer. Now imagine telling him and all all his friends that the world cup shirt can instantaneously transform them like Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres or whatever player they want to be. In class we saw the mass popularity of the Vancouver Olympics glove campaign. We can look at it the same way but with the world cup t-shirt but the campaign was even more popular as the tournament was viewed on a larger spectrum. To conclude the dutch federation was not only successful by being innovative but also targeted the right market at the right time frame. Can it get any better?
