Classic Football TV commercials

Have you ever seen one of those commercials that makes your neck hairs stand and gives you that excited jittery feeling down your spine, and all of a sudden you’re in the zone and ready to go play?  For me, at least, there have been several times that I have sat down at my computer and spent a few hours grazing over football commercial, its something I could watch all day.  This might be because I live in the U.S. so I rarely see soccer commercials on television (or even games, but that's another story).  One reason for that might be because few people in the U.S., besides myself and the few other die-hard fans, would be able to recognized even half the players in my two favorite spots that I am about to discuss.

Let’s start with Nike, my second favorite brand and commercial.  This campaign was call “Write the Future” and it was used for the 2010 World Cup. 

Even if I had only heard the slogan I would have gotten goosebumps.  It sticks out.  Your imagination immediate gets to work as you picture yourself being the hero, in control of your own destiny, becoming legendary.  Well, that is exactly what this extended tv spot depicts.  You’re Wayne Rooney and you either accept failure due to a misplaced pass, or you go all out to win it back and become the hero. 

This commercial is also great because it shows how the real world reacts to what “you” do on the pitch.  This spot emphasizes that legends are born in big moments.  Jut as Christiano Ronaldo steps up to take the free-kick near the end, it simulates that experience.  All of a sudden you cant hear the crowd, you start imaging the glory you’ll bring if you score, and then it happens, but all you see is the “write the future” slogan.  It ends on a cliffhanger, leaving you wanting more (a very common advertising principle), and that is something every brand dreams of for its advertisements.  I also love the you decide mentality that this commercial provokes and the subliminal Nike plug, rather than the in-your-face-buy-our-product advertisement.

Next up, adidas and their  “+10” / “Impossible is Nothing” campaigns for the 2006 World Cup. 

Again, the “+10” probably doesn’t mean much to a non-native football player, but even still, it is unclear until you actually watch the commercial.  Adidas sets the stage with the most common type of football game played, a pick-up/street-ball game, with one exception: this game involves the world’s greatest players.  But wait, another twist is thrown in when the boys calls out “Beckenbauer” and then “Platini” who are former German and French football legends who have long since retired from the game (they either used awesome special editing effects or extreme look-a-likes, but either way, its awesome). 

At the end of the commercial the “+10” resonates as you realize its referring to you + 10 other players.  Once again, there is a you’re in control feeling, because the boys are controlling the team and putting players in different positions than expected.

“Impossible is Nothing” to me means if these kids can play a pick-up game with the worlds greatest, the anything is possible.  However, I feel adidas was more focused on the fun of the game aspect. The World Cup is a time where the world comes together, emphasized by the different nationalities of the players depicted, which is more of the emotion that adidas was aiming for.  I believe it to be effective as well, because there is nothing that I enjoy more than a pick-up game with friends.  The subtle use of product placement, like the adidas sponsored uniforms or training gear for the players on a team that is sponsored by a different brand, and makes sure the viewer knows this is an adidas commercial. 

In summery, I would say that Nike’s “Write the Future” has a much more impactful slogan and powerful commercial than adidas’, but maybe because I know I will never get to play on such a stage, or because I am biased to adidas since they partially own and sponsor Bayern München, I will always keep this adidas commercial as my favorite.

Shirt Sponsors

Advertising with a sports team is one of the most popular ways to get your brand name out there.  If you have an on field ad you get at least 90 minutes of camera time.  But how do you keep your brand in front of potential consumers for longer?  The answer is in the title, shirt sponsorships!

Most teams adopted shirt sponsors at the boom of advertising, at the beginning of the 20^th century.  Although the U.K. was one of the last to accept this practice, it has become the must lucrative league for shirt sponsors due to it being the most popular with 7 of the top 10 shirt sponsorship deals.   However, Spanish side, Barcelona, currently make the most with a $38,337,500 per year deal with the Qatar Foundation, while the German giants, Bayern München, come in second with a $36,190,600 per year deal with Deutche Telekom.  From there on the only non-English teams are Real Madrid (7^th - Bwin) and AC Milan (9^th- Emirates). 

To an outsider of European football, this probably seems a little ridiculous, especially since you don’t see sponsor's logos on the shirts of American football, basketball, or baseball teams.  Shouldn’t you be concerned about decreasing the image of your club or spoiling the image of the uniform?  This is an honest concern, because if you look at some South American shirts you might confuse them with NASCAR outfits with sponsors in the middle, on the arms, and on the back. 

Or why pay a ton of money to only sponsor one sports team?  Well that answer is pretty obvious when you consider that the average season is from August to May, longer than any American sports season, meaning more time in front of viewers.  You also should consider that the majority of sporting focus is on football, so they get the majority of attention on the TV, in print ads, etc.  Of course, what I think is the biggest bonus, is the shirt sales!  For example, over the past 5 years Nikes top selling jersey, Manchester United, and Adidas’ Real Madrid, averaged 1.4 million shirts sold a season.  That means 1.4 million people own a shirt with your name smack-in-the-middle of it.  That also means you have 1.4 million mini billboards walking around. 

I feel that shirt sponsors are a great way to earn revenue for clubs, especially when you consider the ridiculous amount of money they spend buying players from clubs (millions of dollars per player) and their salaries (again, millions) and then operating costs and more.  I personally, don’t want my team looking like a tacky billboard, but one sponsor won’t sour the look of a uniform as long as it’s done tastefully.