Marketing for FIFA Confederations Cup 2009 kicks into a higher gear
Driving back from Cape Town yesterday – a dreadful drive if ever there was one – I once again heard Derek Carstens on the radio, this time SAfm. There has been quite a bit of hoo-haa over the lack of marketing/interest in the Confederations Cup 2009 which has FIFA in a bit of a tizz, but Derek’s known as something of a marketing whizz and he and his team at the LOC are swinging into action.
The gist of the interview was that there is a planned campaign around Confederations which takes into account a number of constraints and actualities. Among these is a somewhat limited marketing budget of some R15-million, the propensity of South Africans to buy their tickets at the last minute…and the big thing, is that the FIFA 2010 World Cup itself has to be the show-stopper. Or as Derek put it, ‘We have to keep our powder dry’ for 2010.
Now, then. What also emerged is that many people still are not sure of how to get tickets for either Confederations Cup or the 2010 World Cup. I mean, it’s easy for you and me, we’re on the Interweb and can find out all we need to know and order our goodies (tikets included) online. But, sadly, connected folks are still in the minority. At a presentation I attended a couple weeks back, Arthur Goldstuck revealed that just over 5 million South Africans use the Internet. That’s not a lot.
For the rest of us, we need radio and TV and the print media to get the education necessary to navigate what is a fairly complex process. But in the SAfm studio with Derek was a creative director from Ogilvy; the ad campaigns are getting underway and I got to hear a few of them on air. The excitement is conveyed as well as the sense of opportunity which is presented by events of this nature in our back yard. Nice. Derek also stressed that there is most certainly ‘a plan’ behind the marketing of the events and this is not ‘knee-jerk’ stuff.
On that note, however, FIFA does remain a tad concerned; Jerome Valcke was a bit miffed about the state of the empty seats in Royal Bofokeng stadium, in Rustenburg.
I reckon, though, that with the contributions of people like Derek who is something of a branding and marketing boffin, things are moving in the right direction. He also indicated in the interview that FIFA is giving the LOC some room to innovate and adapt strategies to local market conditions…that’s a very good thing as FIFA is definitely not known for its flexibility…
”Coupled with the IPL Cricket beginning on 18 April, the British Lions Rugby Tour kicking off on 30 May and 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in June, South Africa is certainly the favour of the year as far as top level sporting events are concerned,” notes Robert Wilson. CEO of travelinsouthafrica.net . “Fans would be well advised to sort out their travel and accommodation soon,” he said.
