The FIFA World Cup is a unique, quadrennial tournament. And by the end of it all, one sixth of the world's population had engaged with at least one of FIFA's Digital platforms. Together we took up a simple, inclusive, global invitation to #joinin - and the world did just that.
OBJECTIVES
From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, FIFA's aim was to ensure football fans, wherever they were in the world, felt part of the biggest sports event on the planet. FIFA's live and social hub, the Global Stadium, captured and shared the emotion of what was happening on and off the pitch. We connected fans, enabling their own content to stand shoulder-to-shoulder alongside the world's biggest stars and sporting commentators.
There was a physical attendance of 3.5million fans in Brazil's 12 stadiums during the World Cup but it was the Global Stadium that provided a rich experience for the 1 billion fans who attended.
All of this was facilitated by FIFA, putting fans at the heart of everything we did. A dedicated editorial team made this possible for fans who, had they not been privileged enough to be working in Brazil, would have been in the stadiums, cheering on their own country.
EXECUTION
Doors to the Global Stadium opened one hour before every kick-off for social World Cup fans, using #JoinIn as their virtual ticket
Six dedicated editorial language teams tailored content to the appropriate social medium:
We touched over a billion people with official FIFA World Cup content and the Global Stadium was where the masses of fans converged.
The blend of fan-centred sporting insight and interaction coupled with official FIFA campaigns resulted in a truly organic social platform, generating the highest interaction rates.
The key to success was making our unrivalled access to the tournament work for us in fulfilling our goal of putting the fans at the centre of our output and transmitting our team's passion for football.
Our #SayNoToRacism campaign typified this, with huge names from the World Cup presenting coloured cards emblazoned with the hashtag to promote it. Supporters could then print off copies and post their own selfies, which were retweeted and posted in the Global Stadium for millions to interact with. Or they could take selfie videos which were displayed on huge physical Fan Fest screens during the World Cup quarter-finals to thousands of engaged fans.
On a day-to-day basis we were able to provide exclusive views to fans around the world of behind-the-scenes action in Brazil, provide reliable information before any other outlet could do so, while also connecting fans directly with stars such as Shakira and Brazilian football legend, Zico, through Live Q&A sessions.
Through our Instagram account – which went live five days before the start of the tournament – we were able to spread vibrant and emotive images of the festivities, on and off the field, with the fans themselves becoming an organic part of the output.
With daily infographics produced in six languages, we provided current and relevant insights into the tournament via popular and easy-to-consume bite-sized content, as well as proudly reflecting the fans' interaction with our content via our daily 'factoids' infographics.
Overall, the output was tailored to the requirements of each particular social medium. For example, Twitter saw up-to-the-minute score updates from the games, Facebook provided longer-lasting content to users such as reports and team announcements, while Instagram users benefitted from the most inspiring and exclusive images from Brazil.
The official FIFA World Cup Facebook page was at 21.8 million likes on 11 June and peaked at over 24 million by the final whistle of the opening game on June 12, rising to 39 million by the end of the tournament to become the largest single sporting event page on Facebook.
Every second of the tournament saw FIFA's official Twitter accounts attract an average of ten new followers, with 35.6 million tweets recorded during the Brazil-Germany game, which was to become the tweet record of the tournament. There was a 110 per cent growth across our accounts, rising to 17 million from 8.1 million across the same date range.
FIFA's official Twitter accounts also interacted with stars from outside the world of football, garnering their predictions to prove football's global appeal. Shakira (over 20 million followers, Claudia Leitte (nearly 10 million followers), Anderson Silva (over 5 million followers) and Wyclef Jean (over 3 million followers) were some of the superstars who interacted with @FIFAWorldCup or @FIFAcom during the tournament.
CAMPAIGN RESULTS
Record breakers
Audience Engagement
