With its highly-popular “Write the Future” ad campaign, Nike is said to be gaining greater awareness around the World Cup than the event's official sponsor, Adidas. Two separate surveys show Nike is emerging as the most recognized company of the World Cup.
According to a Nielsen Co. study that tracked online buzz for the month prior to the World Cup, Nike had a 30.2% share versus only 14.4% for adidas. A study by the media-buying agency MEC a month before that found 17% of people canvassed recalled Nike as a sponsor, compared with 15% for adidas.
Meanwhile, once the World Cup was underway, Google searches in the U.S. that involved Nike and World Cup together nearly doubled adidas on June 12 and has maintained a steady lead since, according to USA Today.
Adidas reportedly paid $351 million for the rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup tournaments.
Nike is said to be conducting an “ambush marketing” effort. Ambush marketing is when a company not sponsoring an event like the World Cup or the Olympics runs a campaign that links the advertiser to that event in the consumer's mind. But Nike appears to be within its rights given that the brand is not attempting to pass itself off as a sponsor or use the FIFA or World Cup branding.
Most of the buzz originated from a viral Nike ad going into the tournament. Directed by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (of Babel and 21 Grams fame), the three-minute video shows vignettes of soccer superstars Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo and others controlling their fate with their play on the pitch. It also featured cameos from Kobe Bryant and Roger Federer as well as Homer Simpson. The video broke the record for most views in a debut week for a viral ad with 7.8 million, according to measurement firm Visible Measures. Since its May 17 debut, the video has amassed 16.2 million views on YouTube.
Adidas introduced a Star Wars-themed ad featuring David Beckham, Daft Punk and Snoop Dogg. It has garnered only 3.5 million views on YouTube since debuting on June 4.
Nike has also set up an LED screen 30 stories high on South Africa's Life Center that encourages more interaction with fans. Titled “Write the Headline,” the screen will display messages that are 57-characters or less sent in from fans via Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites.
Nine of the 32 World Cup teams, including Australia, are wearing Nike kit – just three less than those used by adidas.
