FIFA

Marketing Plan

By: Matthew Collier

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Introduction:

The Federation Internationale de Football Association, International Federation of

Association Football, (FIFA) is the international governing body of association football, futsal
and beach soccer. On May of 1904, just 112 years ago, the federation was formed. It is most
famously known around the world for its creation of the FIFA World Cup, which began in 1930
for the men and 1991 for women. This world-wide event is one of, if not the, biggest sporting
event in the world. The World Cup is held every four years in various countries around the
globe. In the World Cup, countries compete to be the champion of the world. However, the
process is much more difficult than it sounds, for nations must compete in throughout the three
years prior in order to make it into the tournament with the other 64 total teams. One
misconception to the society is that FIFA controls the rules of them game, but they do not. FIFA
is strictly responsible for tournaments worldwide and the organization and promotion of those
tournaments. In 2013, FIFA reported over $1,300,000 in sales revenue. Although this
organization has such a major impact on the world of soccer, it has some downfalls. Which will
be discussed later as several major scandals and their effect on the organization will be
considered.

Mission:

FIFAs mission is to develop football everywhere for all. FIFAs primary objective is, to
improve the game of football constantly and promote it globally in the light of its unifying,
educational, cultural and humanitarian values, particularly through youth and development
programs.

Goals:

There are many diverse types of goals FIFA wants to accomplish as well. Being the
biggest soccer organization in the world and with soccer being the most popular sport around the
globe, there is a lot that FIFA can do with their influence. One of the most important things to
FIFA is to promote the ultimate fan experience. Promoting fan experience is simple, yet
something they want to make a top priority. With every major event, you want your fans to go

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home from the event completely satisfied and hopefully with the want to return someday. FIFA
strives for this in every event they hold, especially in the World Cup. Going along with the fan
experience, FIFA wants to show hospitality in the best way possible. They want other nations
and leaders to feel welcome into new countries and to be able to show them the new culture.
Another goal for FIFA is to keep their brand identity and official look. Being the leading soccer
organization in the world, FIFA has lofty standards to keep its look official look and brand
recognition high. Lastly, FIFA strives to keep soccer the most popular sport in the world. It has
stood the test of time, being the most played and most well-known sport in the world for years.

SWOT:

- Strengths

A worldwide organization, with lots of influence and many opportunities, such as FIFA
has many strengths inside its organization, including its sponsors, its fan base, its brand and the
World Cup. As seen above, one can tell that FIFA has managed to gain many promising
companies to sponsor them. Their six corporate sponsors are VISA, Hyundai and KIA Motors,
Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser. It is an accomplishment for an organization to land just one
of these sponsors, but FIFA has managed to land all six. This provides a huge benefit, allowing
FIFA to take their creative ideas and events
and have them become real life with the
backing of their sponsors. These sponsors
know how reputable and well-known FIFAs
na me is worldwide, they are happy to be in
partner with them for the exposure alone. If
you are to watch any FIFA sponsored event,
you will always see these six companies marketed throughout the event. Next is FIFA and its
international fan base. FIFA has been around for over 100 years, providing some of the most
watched events to ever exist. In America, soccer is rapidly growing, but almost anywhere else in
the world, soccer is played in ever street, alley, grass field, and more. Europe, especially, has an
incredible atmosphere of soccer. One could ask almost anyone around the globe what FIFA is

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and they would be able to tell you it has something to do with soccer. Their fan base is enormous
and it is one of the reasons it is such a successful organization. Another strength that ties into
their fans is the brand itself. The four-letter acronym of FIFA is well-known and a household
logo. Until recently, FIFA has been an organization to have the worlds best interest in mind. In
2015, FIFA ran into some corruption on the inside. Although this was a big deal and it made
national headlines, the organization was able to recover itself with its already existing strong
brand to regain its brand strength. Lastly, and most famously, the World Cup is one of the
biggest events in the history of sports. As mentioned earlier, it happens every 4 years and is a
tournament uniting the world together with soccer. The World Cup is held in various locations
around the globe, which benefits those economies, and brings nations together to cheer on their
mens and womens national teams to be the best team in the world. Although there are many
strengths, FIFA has some weaknesses inside its organization.

- Weakness

Having the pressure of being an international business, FIFA has kept a clean record until
lately. The organization itself has had internal corruption that has led to national headlines. The
scandal came as a surprise to many, to have such a reputable and respectable brand have internal
corruption. In 2015, fourteen members of the FIFA committee were indicted by the FBI and the
IRS-CI for wire fraud, racketeering and money laundering. Also, ten of these members were
arrested on May 15th, 2015, for accepting $150 million bribes and many more were arrested in
the prior months. After the scandal, the president of the organization was Sepp Blatter was under
scrutiny and people were calling for his resignation. This scandal has led to some major fall
backs within the organization. First off, no organization wants to have the people calling for their
president/CEOs resignation. The people are your consumers and if they are not happy with the
people inside this can hurt business. Secondly, corporate sponsors do not like when the company
they are working with has major global headline scandals. VISA, one of FIFAs biggest
sponsors, have warned the football body that it would reassess its sponsorship if FIFA failed to
clean up its act. If FIFA is not careful, other sponsors will follow in VISAs shoes and abort.

- Opportunities

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 The influence of a major international company such as FIFA, allows them to have many
opportunities. Some of the major opportunities would include, developing the game even more in
third world countries, setting up academies to develop the game, and organizing more
meaningful friendly's. Soccer is a sport know around the world, yet there are some places that
play the game on dirt and rocks and sand. FIFA, with its impact, can invest in places such as
China or India to develop the game even further. FIFA has the money and the resources to do
something special for third world and developing countries. Sometimes something simple as the
game of soccer can change someone's life around. These countries, such as China and India,
deserve the same kind of opportunities as the
rest of the globe. Next, FIFA with it's incr
edible backing of sponsors and resources,
could set up schools or academies to help
develop the game. This could be done in
third world countries or in countries such as
America, where soccer is one of the most
popular sports. These academies would work something like the schooling system we see today,
where kids would play soccer and learn about the game as well as get their schooling. Another
opportunity would be to produce academies where coaches and players could come learn, study,
and play the game. The academies could be worldwide, and they would all connect, so people in
America could be learning the techniques that are popular in Brazil at the time. This would
promote their main mission and goals of creating an environment that brings the world together.
Although they seem like tall task, with the influence and power FIFA has, these opportunities
could become realities in quick fashion. The last opportunity FIFA has as an organization is to
make their friendly's more meaningful. International friendlies are played in the years prior to the
World Cup getting teams ready at the international level for this incredible tournament. These
games are not highly promoted or sponsored, making them feel like a joke. FIFA has the
opportunity to make these friendlies into something really cool and exciting for the fans, and it is
a great way for them to generate more revenue as an organization. Just putting a little more effort
into the friendlies could go a long way in the future for FIFA.

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 - Threats

With any organization, especially an International organization, the threat of racism is

very apparent, along with the threat of corruption, since FIFA is such a profitable organization.
Racism is something that is real and apparent in almost all aspects of life. Players from many
different ethnic backgrounds, religious backgrounds, cultural backgrounds come together to
compete for their nation against other nations. This is something that the players should be proud
of and should cherish. It's hard for FIFA to control the racism that happens in the game, but they
have taken very good steps to help promote against racism. They have a campaign strategy that
is about saying no to racism. The slogan is shown along the border of the fields during the
games. It is unfortunate that at an international tournament such as the World Cup, there is
racism, but FIFA is doing everything in their power to help the problem go away. Another threat
that FIFA must deal with, which was mentioned in more detail in the weakness section, is the
corruption inside the organization. For many years, FIFA was never known for its corruption, but
in 2015, all that change. Moving forward FIFA must continue to rebuild its reputation in the
international community and continue to promote ethical action inside the organization.
Brand:
FIFA has a unique logo which is FIFA. It is not very common that the name of the
organization is also the logo itself, but it helps with brand recognition. Along with the letters F-I-
F-A, the logo is comprised of two hemispheres that resemble soccer balls. This is to symbolize
the global reach and international presence in the organization. The logo is one of the most
famous logos worldwide and as mentioned earlier, is a household logo that
many would know. The logo itself is blue, which stands for reliability,
excellence, and grace; along with yellow which symbolizes joy and
passion. As for mascots, the organization itself does not have a mascot, but
ever since 1966, each World Cup host nation has made a mascot for their World Cup. In 1966,
England was the first nation to do so with their mascot, World Cup Willie. The next World Cup
is set for 2018, in Russia, where the mascot will be Zabivaka. Zabivaka is translated from

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Russian to American as the one who scored and is symbolized as a wolf. Taking the pieces of
the logo, from the colors to the two globes in the background, they
all play a pivotal role and how FIFA is branded. From the two
globes showing unity of the world, to the colors of blue and yellow
symbolizing grace and passion; all of these things were taking into
account and are key aspects in FIFA's branding. FIFA uses their
brand and logo to reach millions of people around the world. Their target audience includes
athletes of any age, soccer players of any age (male or female), and competitors of any age. Their
target audience is quite large, covering many different age groups, races, ethnicities, religions,
and more. FIFA really prides itself in that it is for the people and for the world, it isnt just for
the wealthy or just for the prestigious. It is an organization that wants to bring the world together
through something as simple as a soccer game. They really pursue this in their market campaign
and in their promotion of the World Cup. One thing that FIFA must be careful about, is the
diverse group they are broadcasting to. Being an international organization, they should make
sure they are not promoting something that might be perfectly normal to Europeans, yet largely
offensive to the people of India. This is something every international organization deals with,
but FIFA, especially, with their large target audience must be alert.
The Five Ps:
FIFA is a large-scale, international organization that deals with many different events and
products. For the sake of this marketing plan, the World Cup will be the focus of the 4 Ps.
Looking towards next years World Cup in Russia, the product, price, promotion and place are
done in a combine effort between FIFA and Russia. Together, FIFA and

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 - Place:
Russia is the host nation in 2018, but ultimately FIFAs name goes down
with the tournament; so, the two entities work together to produce a plan which
is best for all. Every four years, nations around the world bid for the chance to
host the World Cup in the next time it comes around. FIFA checks out each of
these bids and decides which place would suit the tournament best. Russia was
chosen around four years ago, which allows them to begin to build
stadiums, touch up the streets, and much more.
- Product:
Secondly, the product itself, which is the World Cup, is something special. It is the
largest soccer tournament in the world. People look forward to this event every four years. Bars,
blocks, houses, and more are filled in each nation when their team is on the big stage. Along with
the tournament, FIFA has gear they can sell, as well.
- Price:
Looking at the price of tickets, they range from around $100 to $400. This is not
exceptionally high priced for a tournament such as the World Cup, but FIFA wants to make sure
the fans can experience the games at a reasonable price. A good amount of people will be
coming from Russia to see the games, but even more will be traveling from around the globe to
Russia to see their favorite nations and players playing on the world stage. The price of coming
could add up, counting in the travel, stay and food; pricing around $100-$400 dollars is
reasonable. Promotionally, FIFA and Russia, along with all other nations around the globe, work
together to present commercials, posters, billboards, ads, and so much more to promote their
country and the FIFA World Cup.
- Promotion

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 Lastly, the place of promoting this
product is everywhere. I mean
everywhere. Sixty-four teams are
selected into the World Cup, with a
hand full that fall very close. FIFA
takes advantage of this and promotes
their tournament a year or so in advance
putting ads on the television, billboards
in major cities with sayings like Road
to Russia 2018, and much more so the
word gets out about this major tournament.
- Peril:
As for an international organization such as FIFA, peril is very real. Having connections to
nations across the world, there are so many opportunities where a simple mess up can become a
major deal in the news. Since FIFAs logo and brand is such a common household name, taking
the scandal in 2015, news outlets around the globe were reporting on it. Another peril that could
come to FIFA could possibly be terrorist attacks. In the world today, terrorist attacks are real and
unfortunately a lot more common. Having to add extra security to big events such as the World
Cup to keep the fans safe and keep the wonderful experience FIFA wants them to have.

Sponsorships:
FIFA has many partners/sponsors that help them promote themselves on such a large
scale. VISA, Hyundai and KIA Motors, Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser are six of their most
prestigious sponsors. By looking at the list, one can tell that this list is no joke. FIFA has
connected with some of the most reputable and respected brands in the world. These companies
help back FIFA and allow them to pursue their goals as an organization. Along with these huge
corporate partners, FIFA has many other smaller organizations that help them produce the major
scale of the World Cup.

Conclusion:

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 FIFA, is an international organization that has served the soccer world for over 100 years.
It is an incredibly profitable organization that has amazing mission and goals for the future and
success of the game of soccer. Its strengths lie within its brand recognition, strong sponsorships,
and awesome passions. Weaknesses in the organization are the recent scandals that happen in
2015, which hit global news. All in all, FIFA doesnt create the rules of the game; however, they
are the governing body who oversees international soccer and beach soccer. The World Cup,
FIFAs biggest event that is held every 4 years in various countries around the globe, where
countries compete to be the champion of the world. This world-wide event is one of, if not the,
biggest sporting event in the world. The process is much more difficult for nations as they must
compete in the 3 years prior to make to make it into the tournament with 64 total teams. FIFA
will be around for years to come providing fans around the globe connecting each other through
the game of soccer.

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Sources

"Ticket Prices." FIFA. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

"FINANCIAL AND GOVERNANCE REPORT 2015." FIFA Financial Report (n.d.): n. pag. FIFA. Web. 10 Apr.

2017.

FIFA.com. "Fdration Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)." FIFA.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Apr.

2017.

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