Advertising Marketing In-Depth

Campaign India Team

Jul 11, 2014

FIFA World Cup 2014: Winner revealed

Here's how the stars of Nike and Adidas mega ad campaigns fared in this World Cup.

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Adidas took the official route as sponsor of the tournament, but its campaign was perceived to be second best. Did the players in its ad change the game? Or did the bunch that played the ‘risk everything’ game deliver?

Adidas

Lionel Messi - Argentina

Four goals. One unforgettable assist for Angel Di Maria (also an Adidas-backed player) against Switzerland. If Argentina do go on to win the World Cup, he'll be a contender for the Golden Ball.

Dani Alves - Brazil

Had a decent World Cup, starting in each of Brazil's games until the quarter final, which meant he saved himself some embarassement and wasn't part of the 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semi-final.

Luis Suarez - Uruguay

Probably the most talked about player this World Cup. Other than the ‘bitegate’, he single-handedly eliminated England with his double against them in the group stage. Will Adidas follow 888Poker and drop him as a brand ambassador? We don’t know, yet.

Bastian Schweinsteiger - Germany

Didn't start the first two games, but when the going got tough for the Germans, he's been influential in the midfield. Germany (in Adidas) have performed well too.

Jordi Alba - Spain

Was tormented by Arjen Robben and Netherlands in Spain's first game. Recovered against Chile, but unfortunately his team (also in Adidas) didn't. Took the early flight out to Spain.

Xavi - Spain

Probably the most disappointing performance from a player in the Adidas World Cup commercial. Was dropped after the loss to Netherlands, his only game of the tournament.

Robin van Persie - Netherlands

Brilliant. Got Netherlands off to a flying start with two goals against Spain and one against Australia. Captain of the Dutch team.

David Villa - Spain

Started Spain's last game of the World Cup and scored with a neat finish. We wonder what would have happened had he started in the first two games for Spain.

Verdict

Suarez (for non-footballing reasons) and Xavi proved to be villains for team Adidas that's otherwise done pretty well.

Honourable mentions for Adidas:

James Rodriguez, Arjen Robben and Thomas Muller. The trio didn't make it to the Adidas World Cup ad, but have held their own in the tournament. All three have a good chance of finishing with the Golden Boot and perhaps the Golden Ball.

Nike

Neymar Jr - Brazil

Scored four goals in five games before his tournament was abruptly ended by a tackle from Juan Zuniga (a player backed by Adidas incidentally). One of the better performers under the Nike brand. Brazil surely missed him in the semi-final.

Franck Ribery - France

Major disappointment for France and Nike as a back injury ruled out the attacking midfielder out of the World Cup a few days prior to the event.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal

Probably the biggest under performer at the tournament. Managed a goal against Ghana, but could have had a hat trick. He and his team (also backed by Nike) were extremely lacklustre in the games against Germany and USA and were eliminated in the group stages.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic - Sweden

Didn't make it to the tournament as Sweden didn't qualify for the tournament.

David Luiz - Brazil

Nike's stand out performer. His only poor performance came at the worst possible time for him and his country (in the semi-final against Germany). His goal against Colombia in the quarter finals is a contender for the goal of the tournament.

Wayne Rooney - England

England and Rooney could have had an extremely different World Cup had he taken his goal-scoring chance against Italy in the first group stage game. Rooney eventually scored a goal against Uruguay, but was a shadow of the player who turns up for Manchester United. England (also backed by Nike) were eliminated without a single win in the group stages.

Tim Howard - USA

Made a few top-draw saves against Belgium, but was unable to prevent his team crashing out in the round of 16 stages. Howard and his team (USA backed by Nike) did well to get out of a tough group though.

Andres Iniesta - Spain

Along with Cristiano Ronaldo he could arguably be labelled as the biggest disappointment of the World Cup 2014.

Verdict: Luis Ronaldo could have inspired them better or the clones could have been a better option.

Honourable mention for Nike: Xherdan Shaqiri (from Switzerland) scored the only hat trick of the tournament (so far). Alexis Sanchez did extremely well to lead Chile to the round of 16 and almost caused an upset against Brazil.

'All-in or nothing?'

We're nearing the end of the tournament, with the finals to be played on Sunday. The Adidas stars seem to have outplayed Nike's. And in the finale, both teams will be wearing Adidas. We have the winner.

Source:

Campaign India