The best sports marketing campaigns of 2022 and paying tribute to Pelé
The passing of football's first truly global superstar is a sad note to end the year on, but his legacy is unsurpassed.
It has been a momentous year in sport.
Some of my highlights from 2022:
The Lionesses brought football home for England at last, Lionel Messi had his crowning moment after a truly epic World Cup final and Morocco made history by becoming the first African team to reach a World Cup semi-final.
An aggressive and exciting England team blasted their way to the summit of white ball cricket as they became the first men's team to hold both limited-overs World Cups (T20 and ODI) simultaneously.
Genuine all-time greats such as Roger Federer, Serena Williams, Cristiano Ronaldo and Tom Brady either bowed out completely or faced the notion of calling it a day for the first time in their glittering careers.
A civil war erupted in golf, with the Saudi-backed LIV venture plucking several top names from the PGA Tour, while F1 continued to offer drama and controversy on and off the track, as Max Verstappen won a second world title.
And as the final days of 2022 draw closer, we bid farewell to Pelé - a footballer who put the beautiful into the beautiful game, claiming three World Cups along the way and a cultural icon whose impact on the 20th century might have only been matched by Muhammad Ali.
More on Pele’s legacy to come.
After two years of lockdowns, cancellations and spectator-less events, sport came back with a bang in 2022, ensuring that it would be a significant year for marketing in the sector.
We saw genuinely innovative campaigns, bold disruptive ideas, and a decent dose of nostalgia to soothe us, in an increasingly volatile world.
Here’s my completely subjective selection of marketing campaigns from the last twelve months that will live long in the memory, plus a few honourable mentions…
Guaraná Antarctica - Stuck In The 80's
I’m cheating slightly here because this campaign kicked off in 2021, but I love it so much, I had to include it.
The best ideas are often based around a simple notion: In this case, Guaraná Antarctica, highlighted the gender pay gap in football by claiming that the women’s game is ‘Stuck in the 80s’. Why? Because the investment made today in women’s football is the same that men received in the 1980s.
Using this simple, powerful stat as a springboard this led to retro-ads, a relaunched classic bottle, Brazilian footballers using 1980s tech such as a Walkman to capture attention and, most importantly, Brazil’s Congress passing a bill to ensure equal prize money for men and women in sports.
Award-winning work with a tangible impact, helping to drive real societal change.
Nike - Dot Swoosh
It has been a year of good, bad and ugly NFT work in sport.
The ongoing Crypto Winter has dampened enthusiasm across the sports sector amid plummeting values, meaning those who truly understand and appreciate the game-changing potential of the blockchain are standing out, as the cowboys look elsewhere.
For an organisation that benefits from a highly-engaged and passionate community fuelled by vociferous brand love and an enviable position in the nexus between sport and fashion, Nike were always going to do something bold in this space.
The collectibility of sports wear - particularly sneakers - is at the centre of Dot Swoosh, a Nike-controlled marketplace where users can buy virtual products and thus unlock real world benefits such as exclusive drops and events.
Naturally, the socially-conscious brand chose the eco-friendly Polygon blockchain, for the launch while Nike will also tap into the creator economy by allowing people to implement design changes, sell co-created products, and earn royalty on sales.
It’s an exciting platform for Nike as we approach 2023 with a community-shaped debut collection, competitions and a meaningful step into the Metaverse all on the horizon.
Michelob Ultra - McEnroe vs McEnroe
How do you celebrate a true icon of tennis, combining both elements of nostalgia and probably the most sophisticated tech ever used in a sports marketing campaign?
The answer was Michelob Ultra’s bold ‘McEnroe vs McEnroe’ campaign which saw the hot-headed New Yorker take on his digital avatars from the past in the first ever physical vs virtual tennis match.
Michelob Ultra - a product which appeals to health conscious drinkers - is unique in beer marketing as it targets participants as opposed to sports fans.
The message behind this campaign is “Don’t forget to enjoy the journey,” and McEnroe reflecting on his own personal career path before he faces different versions of himself strikes a nice, emotive tone.
It’s oddly compelling, a bit dystopian but fascinating too.
Louis Vuitton: Chess Match
I have written about this one before, so I won’t delve too deep again, but this was the ultimate social ‘bomb’ dropped on the eve of the World Cup.
A moment in time and image that will live on forever, encapsulating one of the greatest football rivalries we have ever seen.
Despite Lionel Messi’s carousel of images after winning the World Cup becoming the most liked Instagram post ever, this remains the most-liked image, thanks to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Louis Vuitton and legendary photographer Annie Liebovitz all posting it separately.
Check mate!
Sidemen FC vs YouTube All-Stars Charity Match
YouTubers have been disrupting sport for a while now, but this event in September felt like a watershed moment.
Accumulating more than 2.6m live concurrent viewers, 28m views on YouTube (and counting), delivering huge media value for partners such as JD Sports and Specsavers, plus more than a £1m raised for charity, the numbers speak for themselves.
It seems everyone in sports marketing wants to know what makes GenZ tick.
Understanding this world and the enduring appeal of these creators is a good place to start.
Uruguay: 2022 Fifa World Cup squad announcement
I love a good squad announcement as it is one of the most anticipated moments on the calendar for fans, so gives national associations a chance to lean into themes and messaging that resonate with the fanbase.
England had a great one this year, featuring great animation work from graphic designer Mason London and plenty of cool little easter eggs.
However, my favourite was the Uruguay squad announcement, which was so emotive and cinematic, it received widespread acclaim on social media from fans of other nations.
The Uruguayan Football Association worked around having no access to the players themselves to bring in the geographical spread of the squad and connect with fans all over the country.
Also, we were treated to some lovely acting and purposeful pointing on a map from coach Diego Alonso.
Enjoy!
EA Sports: Madden NFL - Thanks, Coach
One of the most successful and enduring video game franchises of all time, Madden NFL, goes all the way back to 1988 when a, then, little known company called Electronic Arts released John Madden Football.
When Madden passed away in December 2021, EA Sports created this moving tribute to the visionary coach-turned-announcer, featuring his former players and modern day stars such as Patrick Mahomes paying tribute and bringing home the impact he had on the game.
EA Sports capped off this emotional touchdown by restoring the legendary coach to the cover Madden 23 - a call back to the cover of the original game.
Nicely done.
That’s my selection from 2022 - and I could easily have included another five or six campaigns. Who did I miss? Share your favourite sports marketing campaigns below.
How Pelé changed sports marketing forever
Much will be written and said over the next few days on the various ways Pelé helped make football the global force it is today.
One of my favourite moments, came at the 1970 FIFA World Cup, when Puma paid Pele $120,000 to tie the laces of his boots at the start of Brazil’s quarter-final against Peru.
As TV cameras trained their lenses on football’s biggest star, a worldwide audience, got a look at Pelé s Puma boots emblazoned with the brand’s famous logo.
The moment signalled the end of ‘The Pelé Pact’ an informal agreement between adidas and Puma struck in the 1960s that neither company (run by feuding brothers) would sign a deal with the Brazilian maestro who was comfortably the game’s biggest star at the time.
The 1970 World Cup was the first to be broadcast live in colour to a worldwide audience and the move earned Puma millions of views.
More significantly it paved the way for the lucrative athlete-footwear deals that would power sports marketing for decades to come.
Sporto Magazine - On Fan Speed Marketing
It’s a pleasure to feature in the latest edition of SPORTO magazine.
You can download a free copy of the magazine here.
I’ll also be speaking about sports marketing trends, and how to start with the fan when developing successful campaigns, at the SPORTO Winter conference in Planica, Slovenia in February. I look forward to seeing some of you there!
The Sports Marketeer - top 3 columns in 2022
Here are the top three most read newsletters I published in 2022.
3. Jose Mourinho & Stormzy: Memes Made Me Do It
2. Pepsi Challenge: Can World Cup sponsors avoid a nutmeg?
1. Brewdog's 'anti World Cup sponsorship' & purpose in the post-truth era
And finally…
Thank you so much for reading, liking, commenting, sharing and engaging in 2022.
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