Visa & TFL Rename Southgate Station ‘Gareth Southgate’ & Run Tactical Press Ad To Welcome Home The England Team

A fairly timely name-based pun OOH stunt.

Albeit a short one.

But even a few days might be worth it for a brand like Visa.

After all, TFL’s real estate – especially the tube map itself – is closely guarded and ring-fenced from brands.

Indeed, it wasn’t until 2012 when Emirates became the title sponsor of the under-used cable car across the river – the Emirates Air Line – that a brand negotiated its way onto the iconic London Underground map (see case study).

The Visa UK local work builds on its international official World Cup partner activation fronted by former Sweden captain and LA galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimović (see case study).

Technically this is a transport ambush, but The Football Association don’t currently have a financial sponsor.

While its lead partner Vauxhall is in the final period of its partnership and the team also boasts brands such as Nike, Carlsberg, EE, M&S, LG, Big Cola, Panani, Mars and Lidl amongst its sponsor stable – there is a space for a finance tie-up.

Could this possibly be a sign of things to come?

The thing about low latency, responsive tactical stunts and press/social ads is that it is vital to leverage the passion of the moment.

We wonder whether this twin Visa approach quite managed it: perhaps it was a couple of days too late to really leverage the national mood?

The British Airways’ “Coming Home” boarding pass rolled out while England were still firing and the nation was at the peak of its football passion, but Visa’s focus on the team actually coming home seemed to just miss peak passion by a day or two.