Football Stars Capitalize on World Cup Victory with Major Brand Campaigns
Following Spain's triumph in the recent World Cup, several major brands have launched marketing campaigns featuring current and former football stars to leverage the tournament's momentum. Sportswear company Under Armour, which had minimal presence during the tournament with fewer than ten players wearing their shoes, highlighted Fran Torres, the scorer of the winning goal. Under Armour promoted a campaign featuring a Zoom image of Torres' shoes with the tagline "Champion's shoes don't come in pink," garnering 287,000 likes. They later introduced a new campaign called Rest Less, also starring Torres and teammate Fermín López. To celebrate the victory, Under Armour collaborated with luxury jewelry brand Hoorsenbuhs and fashion label 424 to create a custom 18-carat gold championship ring adorned with diamonds for Torres.
American delivery company DoorDash, parent of Israel's Wolt, initiated a campaign before the World Cup featuring Swedish football legend Zlatan Ibrahimović. Ibrahimović produced humorous short videos dedicated to teams eliminated from the tournament. After the World Cup ended, DoorDash continued with digital videos referencing customer bets on the winning team, featuring the acronym GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), a nickname Ibrahimović uses for himself.
The standout young star of Spain's team, 19-year-old Lamine Yamal, signed a five-year deal with American fashion brand American Eagle in January. The brand was surprised by the campaign's success, with Chief Marketing Officer Craig Brommers telling Retail Dive that the alignment of stars exceeded expectations and reflected modern marketing's flexibility to capitalize on exciting developments. American Eagle temporarily rebranded as "Lamine's Eagles," unveiled a new billboard in New York's Times Square, and renamed one of its best-selling jeans AE 19, after Yamal's jersey number. On August 26, they will launch a back-to-school campaign featuring Yamal and promoting a new capsule collection. These initiatives aim to challenge traditional advertising by building community around the brand.
