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Coke Targets Mainstream Consumers With World Cup Sponsorship

Coca-Cola intends to use the World Cup to target mainstream American consumers, who are taking a more active interest in soccer, Reinaldo Padua, the brand's assistant vp of Hispanic marketing for North America, tells Elaine Wong. Its efforts in the past, he says, focused more on the core Hispanic market. Its theme for the tournament is "Open Happiness."

"With the growth in the practice and popularity of this sport, we are at that tipping point where, during the weekends and in the summer, you see soccer moms taking kids to practices and games," he says. In fact, Padua maintains that soccer is the most-practiced sport among kids 8 - 12.

The sponsorship will spread across several brands -- Powerade, Coke Zero and Fanta. Coke will also sponsor the Trophy Tour, which will take the solid gold trophy across 86 countries in 225 days. The global impact of the event far outweighs any other sporting events. The last World Cup had a total of 26 billion non-unique visitors, Padua points out. "You are talking about 250 Super Bowls -- one right after the other -- during one month," he says.

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