Itau, the official bank of the FIFA World Cup and of the Brazilian National Football Team, rolled out a World Cup Draw campaign revolving around two matching TVCs with different endings.
The spots explore the tension and expectation that accompany the tournament draw and, using light-hearted humour, focus on fans from various countries around the world hoping, praying and cheering that their country doesn’t draw the host nation Brazil.
The Brazilian’s bank message is clear – participating nations across the globe will want to avoid the world’s most powerful football nation (and its 200 million fans) at all costs.
The matching ads show two different endings: one with fans cheering as they avoid being drawn in Brazil’s group
and the others looking miserable as they go into Brazil’s pot.
The draw recreation for the commercial shoot, saw Itau and its agency Africa, run a production that involved more than 500 extras (and more than 100 advertising professionals – can you imagine?).
The commercial rolled out in Brazil in late November a week before the 6 December live draw itself.
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Earlier in November, Itau signed an eight-year extension to its sponsorship deal with the the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF).
Further consolidating Latin America’s largest bank’s footballing credentials which date back 20 years in terms of its Brazilian national team partnership – which originally kicked off with sponsorship of the TV broadcast of Brazil World Cup qualifiers, exhibition matches and games in the Brazil Cup.
Then in October 2008, its role was reinforced when Itaú became the official sponsor of Brazil’s national team in all its categories and then, in April 2009, the bank became the first company to sign as a National Supporter of the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
After warming up with a multi-platform campaign for the FIFA Confederations Cup Brazil 2013 – which included a competition encouraging fans to dress up in eye-catching styles, as well as more traditional advertising and hospitality work, the bank is now gearing up for the main event itself.
Itau says its Brazil 2014 activation will include the launch of some new products, massive advertising campaigns, plus celebrations for fans and customers outside of the stadiums in order to ‘expand the experience of the World Cup’ to as many Brazilians as possible.
With YouTube views of its World Cup Draw spot passing 3.5m in a week, it already looks well on its way.
Links
Itau Website
FIFA Website