Advertising bonanza

THE SOCCER WORLD CUP has sparked an explosion of patriotic advertising that captures the sudden football-frenzied ebullience of the public, demonstrating yet again sport’s unique power to unite the nation. At least temporarily.

Even with no hope of Bafana Bafana ever getting near the winner’s podium, diski-dancing supporters are splurging on flags and vuvuzelas and dressing for a game on Football Fridays. It leaves the 1995 Rugby World Cup in the shade.

But sponsors – whose exclusivity is supposed to be protected from competitive advertising – are getting restless. All you have to do is show a vuvuzela-trumpeting sample of the rainbow nation dressed in yellow shirts and funny hats to make an immediate connection to the World Cup. The average fan probably couldn’t tell you whether MTN or Vodacom is a sponsor, but he’ll be equally aware of their marketing activity.

And none of them seem to have broken the Draconian rules laid down by Fifa to protect its sponsors from ambush marketing. MetropolitanRepublic founder Paul Warner castigates Fifa for not policing the rules adequately. “Some advertisers have come very close to breaking them,” he says. “And some of the rules don’t work well.”

An example is the way non-sponsoring banks attach their brands to Visa – a sponsor – and enjoy its reflected glory. Meanwhile, FNB – also a sponsor – has to fight off the brand confusion that results.

Official sponsor MTN’s big-budget Ayoba ad by MetropolitanRepublic and Jupiter Jhb is a joyous outpouring of enthusiasm and excitement. It’s the first of three big ads going live in the near future. But cellphone rival Vodacom – which sponsors Bafana Bafana – has enlisted rugby’s Player 23, supported by 1995 rugby heroes Kobus Wiese and Joel Stransky, to join the 2010 supporters’ club. “It’s the year 2010 and we’re gonna gooi like it’s 95 all over again,” says Jan.

One of five commercials making up draft Feb’s “Join the voice behind Bafana Bafana” campaign, it’s given Vodacom immense visibility.

Probably the biggest agency beneficiary of this bonanza is Soccer World Cup agency Ogilvy, which has done work for sponsors and non-sponsors, from SA Tourism and the Local Organising Committee to BP and Castrol. For Fifa it’s advised fans to “make sure you can say I was there”. For SuperSport the line is: “Once in a lifetime.”

Castle Lager revellers are shown holding sparklers spelling out “Welcome to our home, Bru.” An award-winning campaign for BP amusingly depicts diverse groups involved in soccer matches: café owners versus mamas, taxi drivers against divas.

Ogilvy Johannesburg MD Julian Ribeiro agrees there’s a proliferation of ads that achieve immediate association with the World Cup – without breaking the rules. “Their rules and regulations can only go so far,” he says.

But there’s a disappointing sameness to the advertising, which is frequently characterised by multiracial scenes of good ol’ boys in gyrating celebration. “We’ve tried to avoid that by steering clear of stereotypes,” says Ribeiro. “You won’t find crowds of celebrating fans in our ads. We’ve looked for fresh ways of making the point.”

For the lucky ones, the event has provided a windfall. “Every one of our clients has kept us busy during the build-up,” says Jupiter Johannesburg executive creative director Tom Cullinan. “Edgars and Jet are official merchandisers, and big campaigns have seen kit fly off the shelves. Sasol has used the agency to develop an internal morale-building programme for staff.”

Many ads are relatively simple, driven by emotion rather than creative cleverness. A commercial conceived by The Agency and produced by Frieze Films for Telkom features vignettes of supporters from participating nations settling down in front of their TV sets to witness the kickoff. Waiting in anticipation, a distracted waitress overfills a cup of coffee, a baker endlessly kneads her bread. Then joy erupts as the championship gets under way.

Fifa has been pretty heavy-handed in enforcing its rules but its restrictions seem to stimulate advertising creativity. Kulula.com – banned from calling itself the “Unofficial carrier of the you-know-what” – changed its headline to “Not next year, not last year, but somewhere in between.” Nando’s spoofed Visa’s slogan “We were there” with a witty “I ate there” campaign.

But Fifa stopped a Pretoria tavern from displaying World Cup terms and flags; Metcash was prevented from marketing “2010 Pops” (lollypops), coupled with images of the South African flag and footballs.

André van der Merwe, of the intellectual property law firm DM Kisch, says: “Any combination of the terms ‘South Africa’, ‘2010’ and ‘Soccer/World Cup’ can only be used by official sponsors. Fifa stipulates there should be no association between any business and Fifa trademarks, which include the official emblem, mascot, posters and the trophy.”

You could get away with “Football in South Africa” or “South African soccer,” says Van der Merwe. But in the current euphoric climate you don’t need to use the banned terms for the public to make the connection. Right now, everything is about soccer.