Hisense, the official television of the FIFA World Cup, ran parallel global and local market activation leveraging its tournament rights and promoting its televisions in more than 200 territories around the world in order to enhance its international brand exposure.
In addition to the standard sponsor logo rights, on and off-pitch opportunities, advertising boards in stadiums and on-screen credits, Hisense ran global and local campaigns and activations in the host country too.
In addition to an international TV specific product promotion led by a commercials called ‘Feel Like You Are There’
and ‘The World’s Greatest Stage’,
the anchor activation was an international initiative called #SeeTheIncredible.
This included a global content series featuring football icons from the past including Luis Figo, Michael Owen, Marcel Desailly and Diego Forlan
supported by interactions between these stars and fans on social media.
Another key activation strand was the brand’s ‘See the Incredible Tour’ fronted by English comedian Lloyd Griffith,who travelled in a branded bus across Europe to the 2018 FIFA World Cup final in Moscow and showcased ‘incredible people, incredible sights, incredible football moments and of course incredible prizes’.
With content linked by the #seetheincredible campaign hashtag and activity hubbed around a bespoke microsite at https://www.seetheincredible.com, the campaign also ran across the brand’s social channels including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram and included fan led content included ticket giveaways.
For its global campaign, the company worked in harness with global sports marketing and entertainment agency Lagardère Sports and PR agency Kwittken.
“Our program is built on #SeeTheIncredible, a global campaign we launched last year that’s all about getting consumers to recognize the difference between our exclusive ULED tech and the competition,” said Mark Viken, VP of marketing at Hisense USA.
The brand also ran several, local market, country specific initiatives too.
For example, in Australia, a local market campaign spanned digital and social fronted by Australian football stars and Hisense ambassadors Mile Jedinak and Ellyse Perry, a national consumer competition to take two Hisense customers to the FIFA World Cup in Russia, as well as eavy social and digital presence with the support of an online Hisense World Cup Hub at www.worldcup.hisense.com.au for Australian football fans.
A further strand of the consumer electronics company’s Australian work included an outdoor initiative spanning LED and premium billboards in high population centres promoting Hisense’s 2018 premium ULED 4K TV (model 55P7.
It also featured a flagship outdoor phase, developed with Mustard Creative, rolled out in the lead up to Russia 2018 and the creative focused on clean, colourful and bold messaging paired with imagery of Australia team captain and local Hisense brand ambassador, Mile Jedinak.
“Building on our 2018 FIFA World Cup sponsorship, the outdoor campaign is the most expansive out-of-home activity we’ve done in the country. We want to encourage Australians to experience the thrill and excitement of the tournament alongside millions of others around the world from the comfort of their own homes,@ commented Says Andre Iannuzzi, head of marketing, Hisense Australia.
“Television is the gateway to incredible experiences and our latest campaign reminds Aussies of the premium picture quality that our ULED products offer.”
While in The USA, the smart TV maker also released a new app to enhance World Cup viewing.
The Hisense Fox app, which built into most of its units, offered exclusive World Cup-themed content and other features aimed at ensuring the viewer could watch the tournament ‘like never before’.
“With one click, users will be able to select from 37 different angles,” explains Mark Viken, VP of marketing at Hisense USA. “Hisense is the only TV with direct access to 4K content.”
This tournament initiative was initially unveiled at CES.
“Our most-watched and praised appearance was when we partnered with soccer commentators Men in Blazers to host our press conference, helping Hisense unveil its 2018 slate of products and introduce the Phenoms documentary it sponsors that will air on Fox before the 2018 World Cup,” Viken notes.
Comment:
This comedian led content series approach reminds us of Samsung’s 2015 and 2016 ‘School Of…’ activations fronted by Jack Whitehall for the Rugby World Cup (see case study) and the 2016 Olympics (see case study)
Alongside the likes of Wanda, Hisense is yet another official sponsor of the tournament that is driving the FIFA partnership programme’s pivot East.
Hisense, a Chinese manufacturer of entertainment electronics with a special focus on televisions, was founded in 1969 and is the nation’s top TV maker.
It penned its FIFA partnership back in April 2017.
When the deal was signed, the Group’s president Liu Hongxin “Over the years, Hisense has gained a lot of experience and seen strong brand growth through sports sponsorships. We are honoured to take on our biggest challenge yet, the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and we believe that the competition will vastly improve global awareness and economic value for Hisense as a truly international brand. The FIFA World Cup brings together the highest levels of competition and prestige in global football, making it the perfect sports event for us to be a part of.”
A key plank in Hisense’s international marketing strategy is to actively engage in sports sponsorships in order to raise brand awareness.
In football, Hisense was a sponsor of UEFA Euro 2016 (see case study) and activated through a campaign called ‘Quest For Glory’,
and is also a premium partner of FC Schalke 04 since 2014 and as part of this tie-up it installed Europe’s largest video cube in the Royal Blues stadium.
While other properties in its international sports space stable includes being a partner of the Australian Open (with title naming rights of one of the Melbourne tennis complex’s main areas – the Hisense Arena), plus partnerships with NASCAR’s XFINITY series and Joe Gibbs Racing.
Links:
Hisense
https://www.seetheincredible.com
https://www.facebook.com/HisenseSports
https://www.instagram.com/hisensesports
https://twitter.com/HisenseSports
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVWVvaRqISdaosM65yVKCPg/featured
Lagarde Sport & Entertainment
Kwittken
Mustard Creative
