MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Battle of the brands grips World Cup

Before a ball has been kicked in Germany, the World Cup is gripped by a fierce contest between teams of global heavyweights and their smaller rivals.

But this has nothing to do with the favourites Brazil, the hosts Germany or the 30 other countries dreaming of winning the biggest prize in world soccer.

A "battle of the brands" is being waged between some of the world's biggest companies and an army of competitors bent on ambushing their expensive marketing campaigns.

"Everybody wants to be involved," said Nigel Currie, chairman of the European Sponsorship Association, a trade body. "Wherever there is media interest or hype, sponsors want to associate themselves with it."

Advertisers and sponsors will spend at least US$1 billion during the four-week celebration of the so-called beautiful game, according to The Chartered Institute of Marketing, a London-based industry body.

The fight pitches official sponsors ? who each paid tens of millions of dollars to the organizers ? against firms who hope to "piggyback" the event without spending anything.

Ambush marketing, as the practice is known, is nothing new.

Logos beamed on to buildings, teams of fans wearing branded T-shirts and companies setting up temporary branded villages near stadiums ? new ideas are tried at each event.

Nike scored a famous victory over its "official" rival Adidas at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics when it plastered the city with advertisements and handed out free banners. This year, Nike has launched a soccer Web site (www.joga.com) linked to its sponsorship of the Brazil team, while Adidas is the official FIFA sponsor.

In London last year, one company tried to promote a new deodorant by giving branded water bottles to fans at the Wimbledon tennis tournament. Officials confiscated them.

"The emotion and the passion of football compared to a lot of other sports is so huge that these brands can ride on the back of it," said Philip Ley, managing director of London marketing firm Branded.

A "battle of the brands" is being waged between some of the world's biggest companies and an army of competitors bent on ambushing their expensive marketing campaigns. "It is a great opportunity for dull brands to give themselves some glamour."

In Germany, an unofficial marketing frenzy has seen shops packed with everything from soccer-themed sausages to sex toys and voodoo dolls. Companies around the world hope to cash in too.

The Ivory Coast, competing in the tournament for the first time, has hired Chelsea striker Didier Drogba to appear in TV commercials to promote its cocoa industry.

German airline Deutsche Lufthansa has painted soccer balls on the nose cones of some of its passenger jets, even though Dubai's Emirates is an official FIFA sponsor.

In Britain, shoppers can even buy limited edition tins of Spam, the chopped meat product lampooned by Monty Python, emblazoned with soccer balls and flags, bearing the slogan "a great taste round the world".

But soccer's governing body FIFA is fighting back.

Its lawyers will ensure only its 15 sponsors use the words "FIFA World Cup", the trophy logo, official mascot and emblem.

FIFA will enforce "controlled areas" around the stadiums where unofficial marketing operations will be banned to protect its sponsors, including Coca-Cola, Gillette and McDonald's.

The rules stop firms from giving away samples or leaflets.

In February, FIFA's lawyers in Israel blocked a Burger King promotion which gave away tickets and used its World Cup logo. FIFA has pursued well over 1,200 cases in scores of countries.

Intellectual property lawyer Nikki Ferguson, an associate at UK law firm Eversheds, said FIFA was "flexing its muscles" ahead of the start of the tournament tomorrow. "People aren't going to continue to pay the same amount of money if there's a load of ambush marketing going on," she said. Despite the crackdown, companies have found ways of using soccer to market their goods. Many will use generic soccer images or sponsor individual players or teams.

David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and the rest of the England team will top the list of big earners with about US$90 million in sponsorship, the Chartered Institute of Marketing estimated. Italy is second with US$50 million.

"What a lot of companies are going to do is use the theme of football and you can't really stop that," said Simon Rines, publisher of the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship, a quarterly analysis of the sector.

Even if FIFA manages to protect its sponsors, industry observers are divided over whether the exposure works. Some surveys suggest people confuse the names of official and unofficial sponsors at big events.

Tim Wilson, a director in consulting at Deloitte & Touche, said that, as well as paying FIFA an estimated 25 million pounds, official sponsors have to spend the same again to make the most of their rights. "Emotions can sometimes sway cold logic and you end up spending a fortune," he said. "You get loads of visibility, but you think was it really worth it?'"

Most of the official sponsors are household names who don't need to raise brand awareness, instead they want their products to benefit from the feel-good factor around the event, observers say. But they face a tough job making their voice heard.

"It is very difficult to make your message stand out," said Drew Barrand, features editor of Marketing magazine in London. "It just becomes a wall of noise." (Agencies)