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June 19th, 2010

Front Page News

The U.S.A.’s stunning comeback yesterday against Slovenia provided soccer fans around the globe with a thrilling 2nd half to watch, but ultimately the ending to the game left this nation scratching it’s head over a disallowed (winning) goal in the final minutes of the contest.

And when we say a nation, we truly mean an entire nation.  For any doubters out there that this team has captivated America with its never-say-die attitude and fighting spirit, you need not look any further than the front page of your newspaper.  From the Miami Herald to the New York Times,  from the Chicago Sun-Times to the L.A. Times, the Yanks are officially front page news from sea to sea.

In fact, MarketingSoccer.com has found 12 front pages from newspapers across the country today that feature a photo of a U.S. Soccer player and either an article or a mention of the U.S. Soccer team and their thrilling comeback or the controversial call.

As the tagline goes, “The Yanks Are Coming” — to front pages across the country!

Find out if your local newspaper put the Yanks on the front page? If we missed any, make sure you let us know.


Posted in Print | by Tom Lillig
June 16th, 2010

ESPN’s World Cup Murals: What’s your favorite?

As was covered in one of our most popular postings earlier this month, MarketingSoccer.com has nothing but praise for ESPN’s World Cup murals.  These African-designed, country-specific murals are truly one of the greatest successes of ESPN’s astute World Cup marketing push.

In Chicago, we see them at bus stops and billboards all over the city.  It also appears as if they attempted to post country-specific murals in neighborhoods that have a large following for a particular country.  All that’s missing is ESPN Mural T-shirt collection.

After you review the murals, leave a comment on the MarketingSoccer Facebook or Twitter pages and let us know what your favorite mural is.

Click here for the full collection of the 32 posters and explanations of each of the illustrations.

In honor of Switzerland’s upset of Spain this morning, I’ll share the Swiss mural, one of my favorites.

Posted in Print | by Tom Lillig
June 9th, 2010

The History of the World Cup through Posters

Time magazine gives us a journey through art and sport as they present an interactive photo gallery of the official World Cup posters through the years.

Scan through all of the posters and share which one is your favorite.

In my opinion, the poster for Italia 90 stands alone for truly bringing together the uniqueness of the country with a compelling visual invitation to the world’s greatest sporting event.

Also posted in Other | by Tom Lillig
May 21st, 2010

The World Cup in 32 Murals

In New York, Los Angeles, and here in Chicago, we will be able to find visually stunning ESPN World Cup murals on our trains, billboards, buildings and magazines.  What makes them even more interesting is the distinctly African style.  The only place we have found the entire collection is on ESPN.com, however, the murals are only currently available for viewing in their thumbnail size.  The murals were created by a group of artists in Cape Town, South Africa and were inspired by Ghanaian movie posters of the 1980s.  Each one depicts some of the soccer heroes of their country and seems to dramatize a culturally or historically significant theme of that country.   My favorites include an Italian trio defending the World Cup trophy in a coliseum setting, the Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba and teammates riding elephants into battle, and Denmark’s “Olsen’s Eleven” led by former Danish star coach Morten Olsen.

As a marketer, ESPN continues to find new and differentiating ways of celebrating the World Cup and inviting non-soccer fans into the party.  Whether it’s the moving TV promos featuring U2’s music or the World Cup tournament predictor online tool and iPhone application, ESPN has delivered a truly comprehensive campaign.  They have thrown down the marketing gauntlet and shown their audiences that the World Cup is a bigger priority for their network then any other single sporting event.  And with the coverage, announcers, and on-site commentary, I expect few soccer fans will be let down this time around.

My suggestion to take this mural idea to the next level:  The mural T-shirt series


Mural for the Danes

Posted in Print | by Tom Lillig