Football or soccer is the world’s most popular sport and the market segment of football enthusiasts is one of the world’s most lucrative segment. Therefore it is not surprising that this particular segment is fiercely fought for by large corporations. The four contenders that will be mentioned in this blog include: Coca Cola Vs. Pepsi, and Nike Vs. Adidas.
Coca Cola and Pepsi have been fighting for the loyalty of football enthusiasts for over a decade. Pepsi seems to have the advantage by creating their own hypothetical football team, known as Team Pepsi. This team comprised of the world’s most talented footballers: Beckham, Ronaldinho and Messi. They have won their place in the heart of football enthusiasts with fun TV commercials like these:
Coca Cola has a slightly different approach which in my opinion is not as effective. They do not associate themselves with super star players like Pepsi but they are the official sponsor of the FIFA World Cup which take place every four years. Therefore they will have a massive vibe for Coca Cola every four years but not so much in between.
Nike and Adidas battle is a much fiercer one than that of Coca Cola and Pepsi because their main product is sports apparel. Growing up, I witnessed how football jerseys of clubs and countries slowly changing into either Nike or Adidas – it is quite amazing that in the last FIFA World Cup most of the teams are sponsored by one of the two. These two firms are going head to head in their marketing tactics. Messi is the face of Adidas, Ronaldo is the face of Nike. Adidas is the sponsor of Chelsea, Nike is the sponsor of Manchester United. When Adidas introduced new football boots, Nike introduced new football boots. These are examples of TV commercials from both companies:
