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Monday 12 July 2010

Fashionable World Cup

Glamazone is checking the fashion business side of the World Cup

Who of you was sitting in front of the TV, watching the World Cup Finals Netherlands vs. Spain yesterday? (At this point, I'd like to extend my congratulations to Spain! Well played! Deserved win!)
Well then...and who of you saw the scene, when Fabio Cannavaro, Captain of the Italian team, who previously won the World Cup in 2006 brought the trophy onto the pitch together with model Deborah Mukaz? Quite all of you, right? So did you notice that the trophy was carried in a custom-made Louis Vuitton travel case? What I am trying to get at is: There is a lot more fashion and luxury involved in the world's biggest sports event than people realise at first glance. Apart from the fact that everybody knows the World Cup event is big business - and with that I am not even referring to the millions of dollars the players contesting are worth- let's take a look at the fashion business/sportswear aspect involved, shall we?!

Actually, the other major finale during the World Cup is USA vs. Germany. Or let me rephrase that - Nike vs. Adidas. Being the world's biggest sports event, the big brands' battle over consumers' favourableness is nearly as old as global television broadcast. Usually Nike and Adidas brace themselves for a fierce competition during the four weeks of the event in terms of brand awareness, replica jersey sales, the sponsorship of the soccer ball (which for the 11th year in a row has gone to Adidas, who came up with the controversial Adidas Jabulani ball) , the best/most popular soccer ad etc etc.
As a preposition, whereas Adidas is one of the official sponsors of the World Cup, Nike has to content itself with a position as a non-affiliated competitor. Nike equipped 9 out of 21 teams with their jerseys, whereas Adidas equipped 12 teams. Spain - equipped by Adidas won against the Netherlands wearing Nike jerseys - is that representative for the soccer battle between the two mega brands?
Besides a lead position in the share of World Cup Online Buzz, which according to Nielsen market research went clearly to Nike this year - its star-studded "Write The Future" ad campaign directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu was far more captivating than Adidas' also star-studded "Star Wars Cantina 2010". Let's take a look at the sales figures: As the global football market is estimated at $10.9 billion (with the UK spending the biggest share of over 7.8% ($1.4 billion)), Adidas's soccer sales in 2010 alone are anticipated to be near $2 billion, whereas Nike is anticipating $1.85 billion. For the latter, this will be an astonishing increase of 25% over the 2006 World Cup sales figures. Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer however does not appear to be intimidated by the strong competitor as he states that not only will his brand be over-achieving his sales forecast during the 2010 World Cup but is also extremely content with its brand visibility and market share. However, as previously stated - as Nike is a non-affiliated competitor, this also means that Nike does not have the presumptive mammoth investment to become the official FIFA sponsor like Adidas has. Consequently, one can only assume that Nike is making more profit out of the event.

The World Cup clearly is about the big bucks!

xoxo
Glamazone



Source: fastcompany.com, blog.nielsen.com, adidas.com, nike.com
Picture Source: © Antoine Jarrier / Louis Vuitton, adidas.com

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