When the final whistle is blown on 11 July 2010, will the president of the world’s largest sports brand, Joseph Blatter, be able to reiterate his summary of the 2006 Fifa World Cup, when he said, “This was the best World Cup of all time. Never before has an event been presented in such an emotional and global manner.”?
Brand Germany was so successful that the latest Nation Brand Index (Anholt-GMI Q2/2008) lists Germany as the most admired country brand. More than that, unemployment dropped by 29% year-on-year, tourism bookings increased by nearly one third, consumer confidence surged to a 27-year high, exports went up 14% … and Time magazine titled their 6 August 2007 edition “Germany revs up”.
So how did Germany achieve such a dramatic turnaround in its branding fortunes? And how can South Africa apply the lessons learned in the 2006 World Cup to maximise the nation branding mileage that is in store for a successful host?
When the 2010 World Cup emblem was unveiled to the international media in Berlin, then-President Thabo Mbeki made this promise for 2010: “We said we will host the most successful Fifa World Cup ever and we will keep that promise ... Africa is ready, Africa’s time has come, Africa is calling!”
Hosting the most successful World Cup ever obliges South Africa to raise the bar on what were proven to be the seven key pillars of Germany’s rebranding success:
1. Delivering the brand promise: South Africa’s brand promise for 2010, announced at the preliminary draw on 25 November 2007, is “Ke nako (it is time) – celebrate Africa’s humanity”. For 2010 to be the best World Cup ever, this brand promise needs to be defined and translated into specific touch-points for every single South African.
2. A winning team: Before their first game in 2006, only 8% of Germans believed their team had what it took to go all the way and look what happened. To better the 2006 World Cup, Bafana Bafana, currently ranked 74th on the Fifa world rankings, will have to advance to the final – to truly deliver South Africa’s brand promise.
3. Maximising brand yield: It is estimated that for each visitor to the World Cup, another 150 will be indirectly influenced in their perceptions about the host country ie the 2-million visitors, potentially yielded a brand audience of 300-million – to be exact, we need to beat the benchmark set by Germany to convert more than 88% of visitors into brand advocates. This is the one figure that will determine the strength of brand South Africa.
4. Visitor safety: Before the tournament, German papers were filled with angst about the possibility of neo-Nazi demonstrations and xenophobia. Instead, the entire four weeks of the World Cup were almost totally free of any crime and violence. To host the most successful World Cup ever, South Africa has to deliver a crime-free tournament.
5. Partyotism: They key to extending the World Cup experience from the spectators in the stadia to the millions of fans assembled outside was the new concept of hosting fan festivals. At one point, the Berlin fan festival was counting nearly a million fans from all over the world, following the game on gigantic screens. Fans hung out on ‘beach areas” where sand and potted palms were trucked in, waded in artificial pools – and drank huge amounts of beer. So to host the best World Cup ever calls for reinventing the entertainment aspects of the Fifa World Cup and coming up with a truly African experience.
6. Client-centricity: As with any business, the success of the product “Fifa World Cup” will be determined by how well the client will be served, not the supplier. This is why the German Football Association went out of their way to make the clients of the World Cup the winners – the spectators and the people who delivered the World Cup beyond the stadia, the media, without whom the World Cup would be a non-event.
7. Gender equality: For the first time in the history of World Cup football, the fairer sex embraced this previously male-dominated event wholeheartedly. More than 40% of visitors at the fan festivals were female. To fulfil Mbeki’s promise, South Africa will have to dramatically increase the number of female soccer fans – current estimates put the male:female spectator ratio for domestic games at 80:20.
This is an abridged version of Winning the World Cup of Branding article written by Dr Nikolaus Eberl and the full original version can be read at www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com
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