Well it's all done and dusted now. But wasn’t it nice to have some positivity around the place?! England’s performances captured the attention in a way not seen for 20 years. It's no surprise then, that brands wanted to associate themselves with this positive sentiment to engage with audiences. There were lots of clever tactical executions. From M&S jumping on Gareth’s waistcoat, the Iceland vans, to Coca Cola’s Piccadilly Circus takeover. But against the changing digital / tv mix (the England vs Colombia match was watched by 3.3 million viewers on ITV Hub) which campaigns stood out?
KFC
Neymar might be one of the best players on the planet, but his overly dramatic dives were what really captured the attention at the tournament. This spot from KFC taps into that sentiment perfectly. The genius here was that it was produced in anticipation of what might happen. Cue Neymar’s ridiculous flop against Serbia and this spot turned to gold.
Visa
As an official sponsor, Visa created an enormous amount of content around the tournament. While it was a little hit and miss, this particular spot featuring Zlatan Ibrahimović was definitely the former. Tapping into Zlatan’s unique personality, it has the voice and understanding of real football fans.
Paddy Power
Paddy Power took on one of the newest innovations at the 2018 World Cup – VAR – and won. It was inevitable that VAR would guarantee intense talking points (the final being a great example) and Paddy Power simply added its own mischievous personality to the mix.
Lidl
Who could have predicted just how much this tournament would see the England team reconnect with its fans? I have my doubts whether Lidl actually did when they developed these spots featuring England players training with school children, but they certainly tapped into the renewed connection very effectively.
Mastercard
And the turkey? For all the great examples of creative work, there will always be a few shockers, and the one that really stood out for us was Mastercard. Their Children’s Meal campaign didn’t work on so many levels and the backlash received is hardly surprising. When a brand tries to paint itself as a “saviour” things rarely end well.
Goals that changes lives: for each goal scored by Messi or Neymar Jr. Mastercard will donate the equivalent of 10,000 meals to @WFP to fight childhood hunger and malnutrition in Latin America and the Caribbean #TogetherWeAre10 #StartSomethingPriceless https://t.co/URfIp77ElN pic.twitter.com/Ckq61oJgld
— Noticias Mastercard (@MastercardLAC) 31 May 2018
