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Hey Marketing Bestie,

Us marketers sure can learn a lot from our Marketing fore-fathers and fore-mothers. 

The greatest Marketing campaigns in history deserve to be etched in HTML stone. 

Welcome to Marketing Classics 411, a new kind of ancient history. 

In place of hieroglyphs, expect to decipher the campaigns of yesteryear. 

Professor Millennial teaches every Tuesday (remotely), via electronic mail. 

Class is now in session.

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How 7 Brands Scored During The World Cup

The FIFA World Cup is 1 of the biggest, most fragmented Marketing ecosystems on the planet.

In 2026, it’s bigger than ever:

⚽: 48 teams (up from 32)
⚽: 104 matches (up from 64)
⚽: 39 days (up from 29)
⚽: 16 host cities in 3 countries

Over 6B people (75% of the WORLD’s population!) are expected to watch.

You can’t blame brands for wanting in on the action, even if they can’t afford the $35M+ to become an official sponsor.

(And that’s just the “tier 3 regional supporter” level!)

Today’s lesson is a tour of 7 of my favorite World Cup Marketing plays.

Different brands, budgets, rights, and rulebooks.

All showing up at the largest, most-watched sporting event on Earth.

And, along the way, we’ll look at how Marketing became part of the story in the 1st place.

While we wait for England <> Ghana to start, this is the story of… how brands win the World Cup.

The 1st World Cup was held in 1930.

13 teams competed.

The 1st 2 matches occurred simultaneously. (France vs. Mexico and U.S. vs. Belgium, FYI.)

Uruguay, the host country, won the final.

1930 World Cup champions. Notice the brown ball.

The World Cup was televised for the 1st time in 1954.

But it wouldn’t be broadcast in the U.S. until 1966.

When NBC aired the final. On a 2-hour delay.

The U.S. wouldn’t have extensive live cable and network TV coverage of the World Cup until 1986.

But by then, advertisers were ALREADY a huge part of the tournament.

Because in 1974, FIFA President João Havelange transformed the World Cup by shifting from pitch-side local advertising to multi-tiered sponsorships.

Adidas, creator of the black and white Telstar match ball for the 1970 World Cup, became a global FIFA partner.

1970: A Telstar is born. Check out the local stadium ads. No más.

(Fun fact: Balls were previously solid white or brown. The Telstar, short for “television star,” was designed for visibility on black and white TV. ⚽)

Coca-Cola became FIFA’s official beverage partner in 1978.

FIFA’s revenue from advertisers this year is projected at $10.9B.

Nearly $3B of that is just from sponsorships.

Not a lot of brands can afford the World Cup price point. And FIFA’s ironclad exclusivity means most categories are already taken, anyway.

But that doesn’t mean smaller brands are locked out.

They just have to get creative… and be very careful.

Let’s dive into 3 strategies brands use to play in, or at least adjacent to, the World Cup.

OFFICIAL SPONSOR: COCA-COLA

As a global FIFA partner for the last 48 years, Coca-Cola has rights across all FIFA competitions.

This level of sponsorship is priced at $150M-$200M+.

Brands in this tier play the long game with sustained visibility and diversified participation.

Coke’s embedded in matches, fan experiences, lead-up promotion and activities, even FIFA video games.

Coke’s got game like EA.

While many big World Cup sponsors focus on the game and players, Coca-Cola's positioning is about the fans.

In 2006, they launched the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour, where the original 18-karat gold trophy made 75 stops in 30 countries to engage fans ahead of the tournament.

Then for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, they launched the biggest Marketing campaign in brand history.

“The World’s Cup” celebrated a melting pot of fandom with:

📸: A 3,014 square meter photomosaic flag of fan photos from around the world
🎶: 32 different versions of “The World Is Ours,” a global anthem tailored to different countries (here’s the U.S. version)
🎥: Over 100 short films about communities uniting through soccer in a series called “Where Will Happiness Strike Next?”

2,000+ fan photos from 207 countries, but interestingly, no Coke branding.

The campaign was ambitious, inclusive, and unmissable.

If you have the official rights, go big or go home.

OFFICIAL SPONSOR: LAY’S

Brands without Coca-Cola money can still become World Cup sponsors for $80M-$100M.

These sponsorships are tournament-specific and usually nod more to the culture than the sport itself.

This World Cup, Lay’s has a fresh spin on inclusivity. Instead of speaking to hardcore soccer lovers, it’s welcoming bandwagon fans.

Lay’s made the bandwagon literal. If this campaign’s successful, it could be used across sports to appeal to Americans who watch for the vibes.

It’s a clever move in the U.S. market, where soccer’s popularity trails football (the American kind), basketball, and baseball.

The “Bandwagon” campaign invites Americans to give soccer (and Lay’s) a try with:

📺: The “Jump On, America” TV spot, starring Will Ferrell, former NFL player Marshawn Lynch, and David Beckham
🎈: Pop-up activations in U.S. host cities with games and sampling
🥔: Limited-edition Lay’s flavors inspired by competing teams, like Brazilian-Style Garlic Sauce

AMBUSH MARKETER: NIKE

Adidas is FIFA’s official sportswear and match ball partner.

But Nike’s been engaging World Cup fans since 1994.

It’s classic ambush Marketing: when brands ride the hype wave of a major event WITHOUT paying official sponsorship fees.

The strategy’s clever, but risky. Not for the faint of heart or legal department.

Plus, ambush Marketing doesn't necessarily mean cheap.

Especially with FIFA, who is fiercely protective of its trademarks and IP.

During the 2003 Women’s World Cup, FIFA threatened legal action against Nike after the brand used the phrase “USA 2003.”

Nike sued FIFA and won that group stage round.

But “World Cup,” trophy imagery, logos, and host city slogans are all off the table.

Instead, Nike stays top of mind by sponsoring individual players and national teams directly.

Right now, 10 teams competing in the World Cup are outfitted in Nike kits.

Successfully sneaking in that Swoosh

1 is France, runner-up of the 2022 World Cup and winner of the 2018 World Cup.

A few others: Brazil, England, the Netherlands, and the U.S.

Nike also invests in blockbuster ads with major players, like Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappé, and Erling Haaland.

For the 2026 World Cup, they created a 12-week content ecosystem and campaign called “Rip the Script.”

It launched with the longest World Cup "summer tournament" commercial in history: a 6-minute short film starring more than 30 athletes and pop culture icons.

It’s set on a film set. Very meta.

Instead of sticking to the script, the athletes rebel and play spontaneously. A dig at FIFA??

Nike dropped the commercial 2 weeks before the World Cup and racked up 65M YouTube views in under 4 days.

Adidas dropped its 1st commercial in May and only got 6.7M views.

Oh, it’s on! 🍿

PUT IT IN PRACTICE

Navigating an event with official sponsors and constrained "participators"?

LET’S GOOOO!

Here’s your homework:

1️⃣. If you're an Official Sponsor…
Audit your last campaign. Did you use your rights to do something only sponsors could? If you stopped at logo placement, you left money on the pitch.

2️⃣. If you're the Ambush Marketer…
Identify the cultural moment, mission, or feeling surrounding the event that your audience cares about, and find a creative move that doesn't require official sponsorship. Skip the ambush if you can't commit, or your legal team’s not kitted out.

3️⃣. If you're the Constraint Player:
Set up a team war room: someone watching social, someone with comping access, someone with publishing rights. Speed’s the main strategy, but if you know the constraints, plan to capitalize on them in advance.

AMBUSH MARKETER: CRUMBL COOKIES

Maybe not a brand you expected…but a great example of participating anyone can copy.

Crumbl Cookies has over 1,100 stores across the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. They also have 6.3M Instagram followers.

The brand sells 6 classic cookies, plus a weekly drop of 4 limited-time flavors.

Aligning with the World Cup made perfect sense for Crumbl. It probably didn’t take much dough either. 🥁 (I’ll be here all week.)

During the FIFA World Cup big summer soccer tournament, Crumbl customers can enjoy flavors inspired by teams and the sport itself, like:

🌱: Soccer Field Dubai-Style Cheesecake
🥭: Tangy Mango Cookie ft. Tajín
💧: Blue Raspberry Sports Drink Cookie

What, no Protein Shake With Creatine Cookie?!

Apparently, Crumbl tried to partner with Powerade on that last flavor, but the brand doesn’t play with other food and beverage products.

CONSTRAINT PLAYER: LEVI’S

FIFA has a “clean stadium” policy that requires host venues to remove or cover all branding, unless it belongs to a World Cup sponsor.

Just think of all the spots brand names normally appear in sports venues.

Concession stands, the field, scoreboards, sometimes on every single seat.

Levi’s Stadium (temporarily the "San Francisco Bay Area Stadium") came up with a creative workaround: covering its name with a banner that perfectly fit their distinctive logo.

I'll give you 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count.

The move garnered a ton of earned media.

Consumers, many learning about FIFA's strictness for the first time, cheered Levi’s on.

A restriction became a viral brand moment.

Levi’s made the wrapped logo its social avatar and is now working on a campaign around #theredactedstadium.

So [REDACTED]-ing fun.

Did Levi's come up with this idea in the spur of the moment?

Not a chance. They knew the constraints ahead of time, and planned a creative response. (And probably made sure they wouldn't get sued.)

Levi’s move works because of their iconic logo shape.

P.S. You might have also seen an image floating around of Gillette Stadium supposedly covering its logo with shaving cream, but it's sadly just AI that went super-viral. Hopefully the real thing is already on their vision board for the next World Cup.

Gillette just went with plain-old white tarps.

CONSTRAINT PLAYER: HEINZ

Last call for “clean stadium” clapbacks…

Heinz just launched a limited-edition ketchup bottle, inspired by FIFA-censored condiment labels. Perfectly fits with their iconic branding.

Ketchup, if you can.

Unofficial, of course.

Available in Canada, while supplies last.

When the World Cup gives you lemons, you make (and Market) lemonade.

MARKETING CHEAT SHEET (WHAT TO LEARN FROM THIS STORY):

1️⃣. Official sponsorship is a creative permission slip.
Brands that just slap on a logo aren’t taking full advantage of the moment (or the price tag). There are tons of opportunities for sponsors to integrate with tech and embed their brand within sports events, doing something nobody else can duplicate, like Coca-Cola's Trophy Tour or Adidas' official match ball.

2️⃣. Ambush is a real strategy.
Adidas is a global FIFA partner, but Nike consistently steals the ball by tapping into the culture of the game, sponsoring national teams and individual players, and dropping blockbuster ads with A-list talent. On the other end of the price scale, Crumbl Cookies finds fun, on-brand ways to participate without stepping on legal toes.

3️⃣. Constraints are secretly opportunities.
FIFA’s “clean stadium” policy designed to protect sponsors gave Levi's the best earned media moment of the tournament. If FIFA gives you lemons, make (and Market) lemonade.

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Sponsorships like these can feel like they happen inside a black box. Intel on how these deals REALLY happen is a competitive edge.

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IN A MEME

“Ay no, tarjeta gris otra vez"

Ahh, the bell has rung. Please be sure to do the reading (follow The Marketing Millennials on LinkedIn and me, Professor Millennial, on X).

Off you go, passing period is only 11 minutes and there’s already a line at the vending machine that sells limited-edition sports drink-flavored cookies for “the summer soccer games.”

Until next time,

Professor Millennial