Reference no: EM131283931
Marketers have already learned to reap big profits from the connection between soccer and the fashion world. Soccer stars achieve celebrity status, are household names in many parts of the world, and enjoy seemingly universal appeal. Fans don clothes featuring team names and colors. Little wonder, then, that a recent print advertising campaign for luxury goods marketer Louis Vuitton featured football legends Zinedine Zindane (France), Pelé (Brazil), and Diego Maradona (Argentina).
Despite the fact that the American team advanced to the semifinals in South Africa, the game is much more popular in other parts of the world. In the words of one commentator, America is "the last major outpost of soccer apathy." MLS Commissioner Don Garber believes that is is important to teach Americans a new way of following the sport.
"At their base level, sports are local and they are tribal," he says. In the United States, 2010 World Cup merchandise such as T-shirts, hoodies, and Official Match Balls was available at Walmart, Sports Authority, and sports.com. FIFA has chosen Total Apparel Goup (TAG) to boost soccer's visibility and popularity among Americans. As TAG CEO Janon Costly noted recently, the task is to establish soccer's place in mainstream U.S. culture. He said, "Now sport and fashion and entertainment are interchangeable, and you have to strategize with that in mind. Clothes put the sport squarely in front of people who might not see it any other way."
In fall 2010, the FIFA collection was launched in the United States and 11 other countries. The collection's five separate lines target both men and women: 1904, Editions, Code, Essentials, and Trophy. The theme of the 1904 line is FIFA's founding that year in Paris. Following trends set by Yves Saint Laurent and other designers, the Paris address, Rue St Honoré, is embossed on the shirts. The fall 2010 collection also included, limited edition, retro-styled "FIFA Heritage Tees"; with the shirts featuring original tournament logos and mascots. "Juanito," from the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, is one such design; it was chosen specifically to appeal to Mexican Americans.
Other sports organizations have attempted to launch branded clothing lines in the United States, with mixed success. Reebok tried, and failed, with its NFL Equipment line of performance-oriented gear. By contrast, Walmart succeeded with NBA-branded apparel that was aimed squarely at the mass market. A line of PGA Tour apparel generates about $50 million in annual wholesale turnover; however, it took nearly a decade to achieve that level.
As Leo McCullagh, who was responsible for PGA Tour marketing and licensing for many years, explains, "It's extraordinarily hard to turn a sports league or governing body into a brand that works elsewhere. You have to combine the right price points with the right retailers and get the governing body to think about what their brand is really worth. And that's never easy." FIFA is not the only global marketer seeking revenue growth by boosting soccer's popularity in America. For example, soccer superstar David Beckham was at the center of a splashy new promotional campaign for Adidas. Beckham has been a worldwide Adidas endorser for more than a decade.
Following Beckham's highly publicized 2007 move from Real Madrid to the Los Angeles Galaxy, he signed a 5-year, $250 million contract. Beckham has been featured prominently in a variety of media, including billboards and prime-time television ads. Adidas executives expect Beckham's endorsement to lead to increased sales of a variety of branded merchandise. As Stephen Pierpoint, vice president for brand marketing at Adidas, says, "The U.S. market has a real opportunity to grow. Football [soccer] has always been a core sport for Adidas. We hope David will be the catalyst for growth."
Discussion Questions
1. Is FIFA's "sartorial strategy" likely to influence Americans' perceptions of soccer?
2. Do you think soccer can be transformed into a mainstream sport in the United States?
3. With the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, FIFA faced a number of challenges pertaining to security, ticketing, and transportation. The 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil, where key infrastructure areas such as telecommunications and airports are underdeveloped. What must FIFA do to ensure the 2014 World Cup is successful?