2010 FIFA World Cup and the SA industry
2010 Marketing do’s … and don’t’s
There are three tiers of sponsorship to the world cup: six FIFA partners, six FIFA World Cup sponsors and six national supporters.
Being a FIFA partner means having the highest level of affiliation to the soccer body. The 2010 FIFA partners are adidas (all uniforms worn by staff and umpires, as well as the offcial ball), Hyundai, Sony, Coca-Cola, Visa and Emirates Airline. The six positions were already filled in 2005 — the first time it had been done four years prior to the event.
The corporations are signed for a minimum of eight years and have global rights to all FIFA’s events as well as to the brand itself. This means they have the opportunity to be tied in with 2010, 2014 or both.
The second tier includes companies such as McDonald’s and MasterCard. McDonald’s recently extended its FIFA world cup sponsorship from 2007 to 2014, a period covering the next two world cups.
The last tier in the World Cup sponsorship ranks is to be a World Cup national supporter. This group will consist of six SA companies.
So far, First National Bank (FNB) and MTN have signed.FNBs $30-m (close to R216-m) sponsorship will enable them to provide full service banking, commercial, corporate transactional banking, foreign exchange transactions and on and off-site automatic teller machines at various locations for both the 2010 World Cup, and the Confederations Cup in 2009.
Local World Cup organising committee chief Danny Jordaan said the national sponsors would come from different areas of business. He would not say which other areas would have exclusive sponsors.
Jordaan says that for the period between 2007 and 2010, FIFA has already secured $3,1-bn, the largest amount in the football authority’s history — between 2003 and 2007, including the Germany World Cup, FIFA managed to secure $1.8-bn. The money comes mainly from corporate sponsors and broadcast rights, but Jordan said that broadcasting rights in Asia, Africa and South America for the 2010 tournament were still outstanding.
The $3,1-bn figure could increase, with more sponsors likely to come on board.
FIFA lists four main benefits to being linked to its major tournaments;
The can’t’s of world cup advertising
SA is a world leader on ambush marketing law – so do not even think of attempting to try and circumvent it.
SA’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Mandisi Mpahlwa, announced in May that the 2010 FIFA World Cup event is protected by ambush marketing laws — making them valid from May 2006 until December 2010 (six months after the close of the world cup). This is to protect FIFA’s global rights to the event, as well as the sponsors’ rights.
Basically, if you are not a FIFA World Cup 2010 official sponsor, or have not had your carefully thought-out campaign or product to capitalise on the hype of 2010 approved by FIFA, you will not be allowed to sell, display, advertise, allude to, or distribute any material, service or product for gain which is associated with the World Cup.
What is ambush marketing?
Ambush marketing takes place when a trader seeks to utilise the publicity value of an event, for instance a major sports tournament or concert, to gain a benefit from it, despite not having an interest or connection with that event, and more particularly, not having made a financial contribution towards that event.
The rationale for protection is that major events require sponsorship to make them viable, and that investors require a return on investment from the event. If they don’t, they are less likely to sponsor events in the future. Without sponsors there are no events. Also there is the problem of ethics — taking advantage and benefiting without investment.
"Ambush marketing, such as airships that just happen to be flying over a stadium on the day of a Soccer World Cup tournament, free buses (heavily branded, of course) provided to gullible municipalities for their fans, streakers with brand logos painted on their bodies, fake demonstrations with branded posters … you name it, it’s been tried … and it’s all illegal in the 10km FIFA zone around each of the official world cup venues", writes Louise Marsland for BizCommunity.com (Tata my World Cup... tata the Scorpions. 15 August 2006. www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/11/11255.html).
An Absa billboard used as an example of the "grey area" of the law was deemed to "probably not" be in transgression. It depicts a group of kids in soccer uniforms with a half constructed stadium in the background and the words: Now come and play here, a less direct allusion to the 2010 world cup. But this is just an example why copyright lawyers will have a field day in the run up to the World Cup.
The consequences of flouting the law are grave. Ambush marketing is deemed to be a criminal offence and could lead to fines and/or imprisonment imposed on a company and/or director of R5 000 or three years imprisonment per infringing item.
First offenders probably won’t go to jail, but fines will apply, according to Spoor & Fisher, SAs FIFA attorneys. If you inadvertently transgress the law in this regard, you will probably first get a warning letter to order you to stop.
What about current sponsors?
Recently ABSA asked to be compensated for the money it will lose due to FNB being FIFA’s official banking partner.
ABSA stands to lose its naming rights if the stadiums they sponsor are used in the World Cup, as well as access to hospitality privileges, for examples suites.
ABSA claims the loss could infringe the constitutional protection of property rights.
All existing advertising and names will have to be cleared off venues for World Cup matches, and the venues will only be allowed to carry advertising from FIFA and its partners.
Other companies, such as Vodacom and Securicor, will suffer similar fates at the venues that they presently sponsor.
Trade and Industry department head of commercial law and policy, Macdonald Netshitenzhe, agreed that there were constitutional implications for these companies in the loss of rights, and suggested that it should negotiate a solution. He said he did not think the issue of compensation should be addressed in the law.
Different ambush marketing techniques
Ambush marketing can be classified in two groups — association and intrusion.
Association means the ambush marketer misleads the public into thinking that he is an authorised sponsor or contributor associated with the event, by using FIFA trademarks. Examples of words trademarked by FIFA are: FIFA World Cup; South Africa 2010; 2010 (with soccer balls in place of the noughts); Soccer World Cup; World Cup 2010; South Africa 2010; etcetera.
There are numerous websites and adverts in contravention of the law already, and since FIFA has trade marked its rights in most countries around the globe, it doesn’t even matter if you register your world cup website, in say, Bulgaria – Danny Jordaan and FIFA’s lawyers will find you.
With intrusion, the ambush marketer seeks not to suggest a connection with the event, but rather to give his own name, trade mark or other insignia exposure through the medium of the publicity attracted by the event. This is done without any authorisation of the event organiser.
Sec 15A of the Merchandise Marks Act protects the event against intrusion — based on the abuse of Trade Mark Act. Elements of intrusion include the use of a trademark — even one’s own registered trademark; the manner of use of that trademark to achieve publicity for it; the use of a trademark to allude to an event to derive special promotional benefit from alluding to the event. In order to be found guilty, the user must intend the above.
How SA soccer will be impacted
We will all win in Africa, with Africa, Pres. Thabo Mbeki said at the FIFA 2010 Kick-off workshop at the end of last year. This was also the name of the initiative launched by FIFA pres. Joseph Blatter and pres. Mbeki at the Munich FIFA Congress in June 2006.
FIFA’s development budget of $640-m ensures that 70% of their turnover flows directly back into football. Although they support many projects worldwide, Africa will be a main beneficiary over the next three years.
FIFA has already made $70-m available for this Win in Africa campaign. Part of this initiative is the advancement of the standard of soccer on the continent through providing, among others, artificial turf pitches in several African countries. Twenty-one contracts have already been signed and it is hoped that most of the pitches will be ready for qualifying matches before 2010.
FIFA has also vowed to support African federations with development programmes that could help them keep their top players at home, instead of losing them to top European clubs.
The Financial Assistance Programme (FAP) promotes the technical training and education of young players, bringing them to a more professional level. Between 1999 and 2005, FAP aid amounted to more than €400-m, of which the lion’s share went to smaller associations. Each national association is paid an annual $250 000, each confederation receives $2,5-m.
Through the infrastructure development programme GOAL, FIFA helps to improve football infrastructure and facilities around the world. Between 1999 and 2005, for instance, $20-m a year have been invested in GOAL projects.
With base training camps established in neighbouring countries, these countries will receive top class facilities that their soccer associations will be able to use for future matches. Neighbouring countries earmarked for possible team base camps are Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Swaziland.
FIFA was also instrumental in the establishment of sports management courses, starting in 2007/8 at UNISA and the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth. These will be similar to the sports management course established through a partnership between the International Center for Sports Studies (CIES) and the Chaikh Anta Dip university in Dakar, Senegal.
FIFA has also pledged help with the training of doctors to specialize in sports medicine.
Because the world’s top teams will want to familiarize themselves with SA playing conditions as the time for the Confederations Cup (in 2009) and World Cup (2010) draws near, Bafana Bafana will get plenty of playing practice against some of the world’s best, which can only help to improve the local game. SA soccer fans will also be treated to more international soccer than ever before. The Confederation Cup in 2009, in which the winners of each of FIFA’s Confederation play-offs, plus the last World Cup winners, Italy, and host, SA, compete could even provide more spectacular soccer than the actual World Cup the following year.
With the focus firmly on African soccer, the game on the continent will further be highlighted by a book on football in Africa to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Filmmaker Anant Singh is also making a film about football played on Robben Island, More than just a game, which FIFA will help distribute.
With all this support and attention, Africa is bound to win.
Fanparks to be main activity areas
Although the Fanparks have not yet been finalised, the prelimanary planning is for the host cities to make space available where the sponsors and their partners can sell goods — e.g. adidas will have a retail presence, Budweisser beer and McDonald’s fast food will be sold, etc. — around areas where big screens will be erected.
"In reality there will be only 3-m tickets available for Wold Cup matches and there will be a high demand for room at the Fanparks," says Makgabo.
"There will therefore be opportunities for smaller, informal fanparks to develop... whether supported by host cities or not, where there would be the need for an alternative space outside the city."
The problem is that if these alternative fanparks are supported by the host city, there will be all kinds of cost ramifications for the city, for example, security arrangements and transport logistics will have to be organised.
"But the alternative venues will be nice as a platform for non-sponsors. And there is nothing stopping people from arranging their own informal fan events — by erecting a large screen, supplying ablution blocks and offering opportunities for non-sponsors to sell their goods, including food and beverages. This will benefit other municipalities."
All emblems and logos associated with the FIFA World Cup’s are protected, but applications can be made to become a licensee or for permission to use the emblems or logos — without that, goods can be confiscated and companies persecuted.
"Last year we confiscated consignments of caps and sunglasses that showed the emblem without authorisation. We have to look after the interests of our sponsors who legitimately bought the rights to use the logos," says Makgabo. A first time offender will be warned, but if they continue with the infringement, "we will take legal action."
While there are already official badges, pens and caps available with the 2010 logo, a mascot must still be decided on and merchandising will, no doubt, hot up as the event approaches.
According to Makgabo the LOC is encouraging the host cities to construct multi-purpose stadiums where football, rugby, track and field events can be held, with adjacent squash courts, skateboard parks, etc. so that they will be used by the communities.
"Some stadiums will have removeable seats that will bring the seating capacity down, so that the precinct infrastructure can be used —but it will be up to the city how it will be utilised," she says.
By June 2009 the 18 teams participating in the Confederations Cup will test the readiness of 5 World Cup stadiums — at this stage it will probably be the four existing stadiums plus the Nelson Mandela stadium in Port Elizabeth.
The technical committee will want to ensure that the matches are as accessible to as many people as possible — the cost of tickets will therefore be very important."There is always the problem of people getting greedy and buying lost of tickets to sell on at an inflated price on the black market," says Makgabo "In Germany people buying tickets had to supply a name and ID to ensure that they were not buying in bulk, but we have been told that it will create too many logistical problems in SA to do the same."
A sub-committee is currently investigating ways of overcoming the black market problem.
FIFA would require 55 000 rooms alone for players, team officials, FIFA officials, staff, sponsors etc.
"We are encouraging other visitors to make use of B&B;’s and guesthouse because we do not want to see huge hotel structures built that can not be filled come 2011/2012," she says. "But, even before we won the 2010 bid, several new hotels had been planned, many of these will be ready for use during 2010."
SA Tourism is expecting around 450 000 visitors around that time, while the estimate from the LOC is about 300 000.
"We base our estimate on the experience of Japan and Korea where fewer visitors came — not the 18-m that visited Germany — but where they stayed longer, a week to 10 days instead of the quick in and out to watch a match as in Germany."
With the stadiums and all planning on track, Makgabo is confident that we will host a highly successful World Cup. FIFA is making sure that we have the resources to do it.
They have allocated R3.2-bn to the LOC — and R100-m to SAFA for the development of football and the funding of SAFA House. FIFA has already generated $3.8-bn additional funding for 2010 — the highest in the hisrory of the World Cup, without all sponsorship opportunities being sold. In Germany only $2.8-bn had been raised in total through sponsorship.
Retailers set to score:
Get ready to benefit from the 2010 FIFA World Cup
South Africa celebrated victory when we hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, we proudly hosted the African Cup of Nations in 1996 and we successfully hosted the Cricket World Cup in 2003. Now it is soccer’s moment as we prepare to host our biggest sporting spectacle yet.
The 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup will be here before we know it. Various sectors across South Africa are set to benefit from the massive influx of visitors who will be gracing our shores.
The retail sector is no exception, and retailers can expect to reap some of the benefits that will be permeating our economy.
Branding and Merchandising
Replica shirts and memorabilia are the main World Cup items that sport retailers will be selling.
International brand management and licensing company Global Brands Group (GBG) has been appointed by FIFA as its worldwide exclusive licensing representative and store operator for FIFA branded retail destinations.
Additionally, GBG has rights as the on-site concessionaire for all FIFA events throughout an eight-year term.
They recently opened an office in Johannesburg. "As the host country for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, SA is a key market for Global Brands and the country’s licensing program will be a major component of Global Brand’s worldwide licensing activities for the event," says Mark Matheny, CEO and co-chairman of GBG.
According to Matheny, Global Brands will work with best-in-class SA licensees and retailers across an extensive range of product categories to deliver a world-class merchandising programme that will be accessible to a wide cross-section of South African consumers.
At the time of writing this article, Global Brands, was expected to make an announcement soon as to the official local retailer for the 2010 soccer World Cup. The successful bidder will have the right to sell 2010 FIFA World Cup merchandise.
Global Brands will, in addition, manage a worldwide network of South Africa 2010 stores, as it has been appointed store operator for FIFA-branded retail destinations.
As the on-site concessionaire for FIFA events, the company could sell merchandise from kiosks around the venues used for FIFA events.
Various categories of merchandise pertaining to all FIFA competitions that Global Brands might sell consist of: FIFA-branded apparel, which is expected to account for more than 50% of products sold; souvenirs (15%); all FIFA-branded balls, except match balls and replicas thereof (9%); toys and games (6%); publishing (4%); and miscellaneous items (10%).
Global Brands are excluded from promoting certain categories which FIFA has signed up specific partners for, such as Emirates, the official airline; and FNB, the official national supporter in the financial services sector, and Coca-Cola, the official soft drinks provider.
Team replica shirts will also be available to retailers from the licensed supplier.
A victory for business
There have been numerous discussions and round tables conferences as to how the Soccer World Cup will benefit small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). Local Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan has indicated that SMMEs would have ample opportunities to conduct their business at venues outside stadiums.
Various venues such as pubs with huge television screens showing matches and similar gatherings of football fans would allow ample scope for small business owners to benefit from the soccer feast.
Fanparks, which will be set up outside all the stadiums where matches are to be played, will also be of major benefit to retailers, as thousands upon thousands of fans congregate at these events. The FIFA fan park projects are still to be discussed and finalised.
Positive effect on retail
"There is no doubt that the World Cup will have a significant and positive effect on the retail industry but it is difficult to quantify," says Janine Myburgh, President of the Cape Town Regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
According to Myburgh, the hospitality industry will clearly be among the first to benefit, leading to increased sales of food and beverages.
"The growing popularity of self-catering accommodation will ensure that the sales benefit will be reaped by all players in the industry from the supermarkets to the small convenience stores.
This, in turn will generate jobs, and the effect will ripple through the whole economy. The effects will not be confined to small-ticket items for car hire companies will increase their fleets, new buses and coaches will be bought and as the construction industry responds to the challenge purchasing of supplies will gather pace. Most of the wages paid will convert into retail sales down the line."
Africa is now widely considered as one of the key tourism players on the global scene. SA is also a key player. Global interest in this part of the world is set to soar as a result of the 2010 World Cup. More than 7-m foreigners visited SA during 2005, which is more than a 10% increase on the number of visitors during 2004
The World Cup will thus bring huge numbers of tourists to SA and many will travel to games or fan zones across the country.
Myburgh points out that aside from spending on food and accommodation they can be expected to do a fair amount of general shopping, souvenir hunting and typical tourist purchases. Thus, the retail sector will benefit although the effect will not be the same across the whole industry.
It is clear from Grant Thornton’s 2007 International Business Report, released earlier this year, that the build-up to the World Cup will boost business sentiment in SA, and expectations for growth in vital areas such as turnover, profitability and employment are higher than ever before.
Seventy-five percent of companies surveyed in SA were looking forward to some level of financial benefit from the World Cup. According to the Report, 60% of SA companies are considering diversifying their products or services in order to maximise their returns from the tournament, 53% are increasing their workforce, and 46% are making additional capital investments in their businesses.
Furthermore, a third of the businesses surveyed said they were increasing their geographic spread in preparation for the event and its build-up, while 25% said they would be importing more goods from abroad.
Retailers should prepare themselves and alleviate any possible problems to ensure that they are able to embrace the opportunities that the World Cup will bring.
It is almost time to play ball!
What to expect in 2010
Merchandising opportunities:
According to Tourism and Environmental Affairs Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk, the World Cup will attract about 1,3-m visitors. Because of the distance, it is expected they will spend longer time in SA (at least a week) than the few days they spent in Germany.
World Cup sales in GermanyDuring the World Cup in 2006, the fans around the Fanparks consumed:
Getting the game in shape
A football strategy for 2010 and beyond will be developed by a Legacy Committee recently formed by the SAFA National Executive Committee.
The committee comprises of nine SAFA provincial representatives under the chairmanship of Kirsten Nematandani, who will co-opt other football stakeholders from the 52 SAFA regions.
The committee is a result of a recent fact finding mission that was undertaken by SAFA president Molefi Oliphant to the regions, focusing on infrastructure and administration. A second mission, planned for June, will focus on technical aspects of the game.
Some of the challenges facing regions include shortage of playing fields, lack of coordination with municipalities on football tournaments and non-participation of the regions in 2010 activities at host cities’ level.
The Football Legacy Committee will convene in May to formulate a strategy to address all administrative challenges; the intent is to leave a sustainable football legacy after the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The technical fact finding mission will follow the same process and ultimately a Football Legacy Master Plan will be developed.
Resources:
» Global Brands Group: Nicholas Bloom, Tel: 082 098 4717. Email: enquiries@globalbrandsgroup.com» 2010 LOC: The 2010 Local Organising Committee (LOC) recently moved into offices in SAFA House, Nasrec Road, Johannesburg. Tel: 011 567 2010. See www.fifa.com/en/worldcup for the latest information
Opportunities and pitfalls of the 2010 FIFA World Cup
Although there will only be one SA retailer with the official FIFA Event Store designation, a wide variety of SA retailers will be encouraged to carry official licensed product, says Nicholas Bloom of Global Brands Group (SA), appointed by FIFA as its worldwide exclusive licensing representative and store operator for FIFA branded retail destinations.
"Only the official event store will be permitted to create FIFA store-in-stores, but other retailers can merchandise their ranges, using other innovative point of sale designs created by Global Brands," he explains.
The Global Brands Group have appointed XP Events as exclusive on-site merchandise concessionaire for all FIFA events from 2007 until 2010, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Official team replica and supporters jerseys will, however, not be distributed by FIFA or Global Brands and retailers will be able to source these from the individual team sponsors, as in the past.
Global Brands will focus on the official memorabilia.
"We will be appointing local manufacturers and distributors to handle official FIFA merchandise sales to retailers. The program is currently in development, with a number of major appointments expected over the next few months."
While the Global Brands Group intends to partner with best-in-class SA companies of all types, the number of partnership opportunities is limited. "Candidate companies should have a proven track record in their respective categories," says Bloom. "We also insist that products bearing the FIFA name consistently adhere to the best-practice standards in quality, production and related labour practices."
Prospective manufacturers or distributors should submit a business plan with a detailed description of items you’d like to produce or distribute and wholesale sale projections for these products for the term of the agreement, broken down by year, including margin breakdowns for each category. The business plan should also contain detailed company information like the history, BEE status, existing retailer relationships, and manufacturing locations (where applicable).
In addition, Global Brands requires all manufacturers and distributors to provide a Minimum Guaranteed Revenue Share (MG) — a substantial portion of which is payable to Global Brands upon signature of a binding agreement. The balance, paid in installments up to 15 Desember 2009, must be supported by an irrevocable bank guarantee or letter of credit. Two percent of wholesale sales for each quarter is payable into an Advertising and Marketing Fund (AMF) which Global Brands will use to stimulate sales of official licensed product at retail.
Protecting rights
FIFA has repeatedly warned that they will act against any company making unauthorized use of the World Cup for promotions and advertising. Dr Owen Dean, one of the lawyers appointed by FIFA to protect the world cup trademark and the rights of the organisation, recently told the audience at a SA Music Right Organisation presentation of the heavy sanctions that will be imposed on companies and people "doing whatever they can to get a slice of the event’s pie."
Using FIFA or 2010 World Cup trademarks without authorization constitute a criminal offence under the Merchandise Marks Act, Trade Practices Act and Copyright Act, and the Counterfeit Goods Act. According to Dean it is also a civil infringement of common law rights to pass-off products or services as part of the event; as well as unlawful competition and a breach of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) code.
The 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Special Measures Act also allows for the designation of exclusion areas — like stadims or Fan Parks — in which only persons identified by the Organising Committee may perform any commercial activity.
If found guilty of contravening any of these laws, companies’ director(s) could face a hefty fine or a lengthy jail term. There could also be an interdict against the company or director(s), and lastly a prohibition of advertising by ASA.
This is in order to protect the rights of sponsors, whose millions in effect pays for the event, and to prevent the violation of intellectual property rights.
But, the prohibition on linking any kind of promotion or advertising to the 2010 FIFA World Cup covers all areas, whether a sponsor will be affected or not - as a Cape Town jeweller who announced a jewellery design competition with a World Cup theme found out to his detriment.
Trademark applications
FIFA wants to make absolutely sure that nobody who had not paid for the right to be associated with the 2010 Soccer World Cup will benefit from any kind of association with the event.
And in order to make sure that nobody, except official sponsors, can link ANY kind of commercial activity to the 2010 Soccer World Cup, FIFA has applied for a wide range of emblems and phrases to be trademarked in SA. These include:
They have also applied that the following phrases by trademarked:
If these trademarks are granted, companies and brands that are not FIFA sponsors will not be able to use any of the above in any form of advertising in future — even long after the 2010 Soccer World Cup is gone and forgotten.
Interested persons had until August 2 this year to object, and after receiving feedback from readers — some comments bordering on slander — Sports Trader submitted an objection citing the following reasons:
The use of these words/phrases are not limited to soccer or FIFA:
The hosting of the FIFA World Cup will adversely affect the normal business practices of many suppliers and retailers should the following be trademarked:
World Cup optimism grows
South Africans are becoming more positive about our readiness to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In late May and early June this year TNS Research Surveys asked 2 000 urban adults whether they thought SA would be able to host the World Cup in 2010 — and how important they rate the success of the event.
Question 1: South Africa will NOT be ready for the Soccer World Cup in 2010
An identical question was posed to a similar sample in August 2006: then, 33% felt we would not be ready and 59% felt we would. In September 2005, 45% felt we would not be ready and 46% felt we would. Some differences by area emerge:
Question 2: Making a success of the World Cup is of vital importance to South Africa
Resources:
» Global Brands Group (SA): Nicholas Bloom. Tel: 011 537 4640. Fax: 011 537 4641. enquiries@globalbrandsgroup.com» www.fifa.com/worldcup/index.html
» www.sa2010.gov.za/government/merchandise_marks.php. 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Special Measures Bill
FIFA takes control of 2010
On 6 February 2008 the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) gave FIFA the intellectual property rights to the use of the phrases 2010, World Cup, Soccer World Cup and various variations.
By granting FIFA trademark rights to these phrases, it effectively bars anybody else from creating advertising or markering material using phrases or words like 2010, World Cup, RSA 2010 and various others.
The DTI has, however, given the press special dispensation to use these trademarked words — after all, it would have been rather difficult to publicise the fact that SA is hosting you know what in the year after 2009 in a Gauteng city on a newspaper placard.
What are the implications for suppliers of soccer replica and other products that could be linked to 2010… and how are retailers going to let the public know that they sell these items?
With difficulty, it seems.
Namibian, Botswana and other neighbouring retailers will be able to advertise freely that they sell the Puma Italy World Cup 2010 supporters shirt, or the Argentinian jersey by Lotto; Nike’s 2010 Brazil shirts, or Umbro’s England Soccer World Cup replica… but SA retailers will be prohibited from doing this (unless they can come to an agreement with FIFA soon!).
While adidas, as a major FIFA partner/ sponsor, will have no problem selling their Bafana Bafana, Germany etc shirts, other brands and retailers will have to be very innovative if they want to conduct business as usual.
As everybody who has ever sponsored an event will agree, it is just right that the companies, like adidas, who paid millions for the right to become FIFA partners, are protected against ambush marketing. There is, however, a vast difference between protecting a major sponsor against ambush marketing and preventing other companies and brands from conducting normal business.
As we said in our submission to the DTI when we objected to the FIFA application for such wide ranging trademarks, the granting of these trademark rights to FIFA will be detrimental to the normal business practices of all sportswear retailers and suppliers.
Not only will it be extremely difficult to sell football replica, it will be difficult to advertise all ranges launched for 2010.
These issues were also raised by the many people who requested us to submit objections to the FIFA trademark application on their behalf.
The deadline for these objections was September 2007 — but was extended to October. We know how many objections we submitted on behalf of the industry, and we also know that many other industries (including hospitality, advertising and marketing) submitted many objections. It must have taken super-human effort to read and duly consider all these before the trademark rights were awarded in February.
The fact that the trademark application process has been streamlined to such an extent must surely be good news for future trademark applicants. It took us three years to get the name Tackle Trader trademarked — and that without any objections!
CONFEDERATIONS CUP:
Why so little excitement?
We were in Beijing 18 months before the 2008 Olympic Games. Everywhere you went, stalls and stores were selling Olympic Games mascots, decals, keyrings and other memorabilia. There was no doubt that the Beijingers were extremely proud that they would host the Olympics the following year. And they made sure that every visitor remembered this by buying at least one souvenir.
Three months before the 2010 FIFA World Cup curtain raiser, the Confederations Cup, the Johannesburg lamp posts were covered with posters advertising the IPL Cricket tournament. People rushed to buy tickets and lined the streets of Cape Town to welcome the team managers and players in an event that is really — to be brutally honest — no more than Indian county cricket presented by Bollywood. But, the fun is contagious and cricket fervour grips even those who don’t know a six from a four, a googly from a yorker, or a leg-stump from an off-stump.
Not one football poster is to be seen. Sepp Blatter visits and is not amused.
A week before the Confederations Cup, the Tournament of Champions, a woman phones a radio station and asks: “What is this Confederations Cup business that people are talking about?” On another programme, a radio show host admits that he is clueless about what the Confederations Cup stands for, and invites a soccer journalist to come and explain.
Nationwide, the interest level is perilously low. Of the 640 000 tickets issued, 200 000 are unsold four days before the tournament. Of the 440 000 sold, 55% were bought by corporate companies. Clearly, the rest of the world is not lining up to attend the dress rehearsal as 95% of the tickets were bought by South Africans. Luckily, the actual event is generating a lot more interest with more than 1.6-m tickets requested for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In the first phase 630 000 tickets were sold — 50% to fans in 188 other countries. SA residents bought 301 601, with most international sales to the US (73 441), the UK (42 907), Germany(30 880), Australia (15 038) and Italy (6 063). The second phase of ticket applications will remain open until 16 November. Visit the ticketing application site on www.FIFA.com for more information.
It is not due to a lack of information. The media had just about reached saturation point writing about football, FIFA, the World Cup, Confederations Cup, what Sepp Blatter said and what Sepp says he never said, milestones we’ve reached and those we forget about, teams qualifying and players dropped — for more than four years now, hardly a month had gone by without at least one FIFA media briefing. Reporters and news editors struggle to find a new angle for an interesting story, many give up.
Nor is there a lack of effort to drum up support government departments who all have to launch at least one 2010 project.
In May, SA Tourism, the International Marketing Council, and the 2010 Organising Committee (OC) launched a campaign to market the event by involving all South Africans. The focus is on encouraging all of us to become champions who will make the 2010 event a reality and a stunning success — in other words, welcome the world next year as hospitable and generous hosts.
It is sad that it is necessary to conduct a campaign to tell South Africans that they need to celebrate an event of such magnitude. After all, we love to celebrate and take pride in national events. We were all tremendously proud that we could host an IPL cricket tournament with all the glitz and glam at such short notice and we supported the event by filling stadiums. We all wore green and gold and celebrated in the streets when the Springboks won the IRB Rugby World Cup. We hugged and shouted — some even cried with joy — when we were awarded the right to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
May history repeat itself!
Why do we remain largely unmoved when the world’s champion football teams bring some of the world’s most celebrated players to play here?
Maybe the answer lies in the name of the event: it is the FIFA World Cup. FIFA appropriated and sold the rights to every possible aspect of the 2010 World Cup — even the names of our host cities, the name of our country and the year it will be held. I have not yet come across a face cream bearing the FIFA logo, but it is possible that it exists, for just about every other item has found a FIFA partner: accommodation, airlines, banking, caps, cell phones, computers, footwear, keyrings, retailing, ticketing… and so you can continue down the alphabet, the rights have been sold by FIFA.
Small wonder then that 2010 World Cup Organising Committee CEO Danny Jordaan can proudly announce that this has so far been the most lucrative World Cup ever: R25.6–bn worth of commercial and broadcasting rights had been sold a year before the event, the most sponsors had ever paid for a FIFA event. And that during a world wide economic downturn!
With a heavy legal hand landing on anybody who haven’t paid their dues daring to advertise anything containing the words football, soccer, World Cup, FIFA or host city, or any football-related images, it is not surprising that South Africans are wary of embracing the event. A Pretoria pub was taken to court for advertising World Cup 2010 on his roof, Metcash was taken to court for selling Astor 2010 pops. A website who registered a domain name suggestive of the World Cup, a company that designed a keyring with World Cup logos, a billboard with soccer balls instead of 0’s in the numeral 2010, are just a few examples of SA companies told by FIFA to back off the World Cup. (But, a shoe with the words 2010 — Why Wait is considered to be OK, even though Skye Footwear was granted FIFA licensing rights).
In contrast, the people of Beijing could take pride in hosting the Olympics, because it belonged to them. They could take ownership of the event, it was theirs to embrace, enjoy and showcase, because it was the BEIJING Olympics.
“The Merchandise Marks Act gives the trade and industry minister the power to designate major sporting events as protected events, argued FIFA’s lawyer Owen Dean. “By this means, ambush marketers can be prevented from competing unlawfully with FIFA by obtaining special promotional benefit from, or associating themselves with, the 2010 World Cup, without being sponsors.”
Protect sponsors
“By virtue of the large fees which sponsors of the tournament pay, it is essential that FIFA can guarantee and deliver exclusivity of advertising exposure to sponsors in their fields of business.” Damaging the relationship between FIFA and its sponsors by detracting from the exclusive rights given to sponsors could seriously damage FIFA and place the staging of the World Cup in jeopardy, Dean said.
So true. But what if FIFA compete with their own licensees?
The merchandisers who paid a hefty price for the right to manufacture product for the 2010 FIFA World Cup can hardly be overwhelmed by sales so far… especially after one chain (Edgars) was designated the official FIFA 2010 World Cup memorabilia retailer, leaving other retailers unsure about their rights to carry World Cup merchandise.
Now, these licensees are facing stiff competition from FIFA itself, who is not only launching their own range of branded clothing and merchandise, but also announced that they are developing a dedicated Event Range celebrating the 2010 FIFA World Cup! This range, to be sold exclusively via FIFA Official Stores and FIFA branded retail environments, will complement the existing 2010 FIFA World Cup SA licensed event merchandise ranges that will be available in general retail outlets, onsite at games, as well as in the FIFA Official Event Stores.
Global Brands, the FIFA Master Licensee (international), are launching the first FIFA Collections branded clothing range at a series of high-profile international trade shows over the next few months. It will comprise five separate ranges of apparel — 1904, Editions, Code, Essentials and Trophy — and will be sold from August in the more than 100 official FIFA stores to open during the next few years and in an extensive network of FIFA branded retail spaces in twelve countries.
Who can blame SA retailers if they are not jumping for joy at the prospect of making money out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup?
Especially if they are situated within a kilometre from a stadium (as in Green Point), in which case they could be prevented from trading on the days that games are played... and suffer losses during construction because customers find it difficult to gain access.
South African B&B; and guest house owners could be luckier, because many refused to sign the accommodation contracts with FIFA’s designated accommodation provider, MATCH (yep, the same people who made the mess of the sale of the tickets for the World Cup in Japan and Korea). The snag was that if you sign up, you had to commit 90% of your available accommodation… at June-July 2007 prices plus 16%.
Now, as every South African knows, June-July are cheapie and specials months for accommodation and December 2007 rooms already cost 16% more than the June-July prices. You do not need a calculator to work out that Zurich-based MATCH would be able to sell these rooms to the thousands of tourists expected in June-July 2010 at a neat little profit. What’s more, MATCH can cancel rooms, without any penalty, as late as two weeks before the World Cup. No wonder SA Tourism CEO Moeketsi Mosola resigned in protest from the advisory board of MATCH at the beginning of November 2008.
In case you wondered, this accommodation contract is unique to South Africa, it did not surface in Germany, or any other country.
But, the catch in the plan is because the 2010 FIFA World Cup is a “protected Event” it will be difficult to advertise accommodation or any other service privately without using terms like host city, World Cup or the name of a host city plus 2010 in the same ad.
But. BIG BUT. If we shun the World Cup and everything it represents because of irritation with FIFA regulations, we’ll be cutting off our own noses, shooting ourselves in the foot and maiming ourselves in various other non-cliched ways. We’ve shown in the past that we can be creative and create opportunities. Our time HAS indeed come — and it is up to everyone to make the best use of it.
We’d love to hear good news stories about what the industry is doing to celebrate the 2010 FIFA (South Africa) World Cup.
2010 good news
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