International Marketing

Study case: Soccer and the Fashion World

Discussion Questions:

4.13. Is FIFA “sartorial Strategy” likely to influence Americans’ perceptions of

soccer?

4.14. Discuss your thoughts on whether soccer can be transformed into a

mainstream sport in the United States.

4.15. 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?

Solutions:

4.13.

The Fédération International de Football Association (FIFA) is soccer’s governing

body. The organization’s mission goes far beyond the World Cup. FIFA seeks to
“broaden the appeal of football [soccer] across all walks of life”. Among other things
FIFA oversees the licensing of logos and team mascots to companies such as Adidas
and Electronic Arts.
The problem is that after the championship, match sales _ and FIFA’s revenues _
start to dwindle. To counteract this trend, FIFA is launching a new global fashion
brand. The goal is to build and maintain awareness and interest in soccer in the years
between World Cup matches.

The US is a key market for FIFA; the US Soccer Federation governs professional
organizations, including Major League Soccer (MLS), as well as youth and school
competitions.

Marketers have already learned that there are big profits to be reaped from the
connection between soccer and the fashion world.

MLS Commissioner Don Garber believes that it is important to teach Americans a

new way of following the sport. “At their base level, sports are local and they are
tribal”.

14.4.

In the US, 2010 World Cup merchandise such as T-shirts, hoodies, and Official Match
Balls was available at Walmart, Sports Authority, and sports.com. FIFA chose Total
Apparel Group (TAG) to boost soccer’s visibility and popularity among Americans. As
TAG CEO Janon Costly noted, the talk is to establish soccer’s place in mainstream US
culture. He said that sport and fashion and entertainment are interchangeable, and
that they 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 US and 11 other countries. The
collection’s five separate lines target both men and women: 1904, Editions, Code,
Essentials, and Trophy.
14.5.

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 night 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 promotional campaign for Adidas. Beckham has now been a
worldwide Adidas endorser for more than a decade.

Beckham has been featured prominently in 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 Stephan Pierpoint, vice
president for brand marketing at Adidas, says, “The US market has a real opportunity
to grow. Football [soccer] has always been a core sport for Adidas. We hope David
will be catalyst for growth”.

Thank you.

Joy El Khoueiry.