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Compression Sportswear Brand Skins Is FIFA's Official 'Non-Sponsor'

There is a lot of anger and unhappiness about FIFA, the governing body of association football, best known in the U.S., certainly, as the organization behind the World Cup.

Elsewhere, FIFA has another, less flattering reputation around bribery, coercion, cronyism, and vote-rigging around the election of President Sepp Blatter. Blatter, president for the past 17 years, had said he would stand down after his fourth term, but has decided to try for a fifth. This sits well with few, including the four new contenders, among them Jordan's Prince Ali. 

And at least one brand. Following a summit on Jan. 21 in Brussels, Skins Compression Sportswear, a U.K.-based performance-apparel brand, decided to force the conversation with a mildly tongue-in-cheek campaign (with serious intent) in which it appoints itself the first-ever “official non-sponsor” of the global football governing body, highlighting its “unshared brand values.” 

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Skins is using the campaign to build support of an agreement drafted at the summit, wherein the forthcoming FIFA presidential election would include creation of a FIFA Reform Commission to be overseen by an independent international authority. Skins says it wants to get support for institutional change within FIFA partly by directing fans to a new site NewFIFANow.org. 

The organization behind the site, headed by Conservative MP Damian Collins, plans to meet with FIFA sponsors, broadcasters, and international agencies and governments to move forward the creation of a reform commission. 

Skins’ promotional effort kicked off with an online video at OfficialNonSponsor.com, that starts with the familiar motif of children from around the world playing soccer, with supers that say things like “Our Beautiful Game,” “Uniting Nations,” and “Inspiring Generations,” set to upbeat world music. Toward the end, though, one of the kids accidentally kicks a ball over a wall. A man approaches in polished shoes and a business suit, picks up the ball and carries it into a stark building with a huge “FIFA” sign emblazoned on the side. One brave boy jumps the wall, walks up to the building’s glass door, and knocks. The door creaks ominously as the man opens it. “Can we have football back, please,” says the boy. 

Jaimie Fuller, CEO of the company, says the effort is by Skins' AOR, a new London-based firm called Perfect Storm. "We were their first account, and have been working with them for almost two years. They love guys like us who come along with no sacred cows. We realize we're a challenger brand, so we're not scared to stand up and shout," he says. "Our mantra when it comes to marketing is 'ambivalence is the enemy.' Even if we piss people off sometimes, a I'd rather do that."

A social media component around “demanding football back” lets fans from around the world lodge their own FIFA protest by logging on to the Official Non-Sponsor site where they are offered a series of non-sponsor opportunities including the chance to NOT win tickets to the next World Cup.

Skins is also running non-sponsor style-guide for other brands to adopt as well as an eBay listing which “Invites bids for FIFA silence.” The guide? It offers “A full selection of limited edition, (non-available) transparent Skins products.”

The company has also posted a full-page ad in Blatter’s local Swiss newspaper to confirm its non-sponsor status and announce “the company’s delight at this exciting global anti-association of FIFA.”

"From our perspective it's showing leadership in the category, and convincing sponsors that they have the responsibility to ask difficult questions," says Fuller. He tells Marketing Daily that the effort is focused on Europe, though the brand's biggest global markets are Australia, Japan and the U.K. Awareness in the U.S. of FIFA shenanigans "is nothing like it is in Europe and the U.K. Football is getting bigger in the U.S., but because it's new there, the knowledge of the history of the legacy and administrative issues [around FIFA] isn't there."

Skins is aiming to build sales in the U.S.,per Fuller, who points out that the company does have an office in Southern California. And, he says, he would like to see more awareness of the issue on this side of the pond. "It would be great to engage with U.S. influencers and brands who can see what's going on and take an ethical stance."

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