Adidas reflect on 2010 World Cup
Adidas reflect on 2010 World Cup
Posted: 2010-07-16 15:29
KICK OFF caught up with adidas Public Relations manager Zobuzwe Ngobese to get his views on the recently-completed 2010 Fifa World Cup.
How would you describe adidas’ involvement in the 2010 FIFA World Cup?
As a FIFA partner of more than 35 years, adidas continued to be heavily involved in the World Cup. Among other things we provided the attire for all the match officials and the ball boys, we supplied the official match-ball (Jabulani) as well as the official match-ball for the Final (Jobulani), we sponsored 12 federations – the biggest we’ve done in any World Cup, we supplied the kit for the volunteers, and we introduced football boots for the World Cup – F50 adiZero, Predator and adiPure.
What were some of the big events you hosted at your PR headquarters in Sandton?
We hosted big media events that had relevance for the World Cup, like Franz Benckenbauer and Carlos Alberto Parreira sharing their experiences on what it takes to win the World Cup; Eusebio and Gehrad Muller sharing their experiences on the Golden Boot award; Oliver Khan and Petr Cech sharing their experiences on the Golden Glove award; Lucas Radebe and Zinedine Zidane previewing the match between South Africa and France; Ruth Rensburg from 46664 speaking about the partnership between adidas and 46664; and Steven Pienaar coming to show his support for the 46664 auction.
Which awards did adidas present at the end of the tournament?
There was the Golden Ball award for best player of the tournament which went to Diego Forlan, the Golden Boot award which went to Thomas Mueller, and the Golden Glove award, which Iker Casillas won.
The fact that an adidas-sponsored team in Spain won the World Cup must feel special?
Of course that is always a big achievement for the sponsor when an adidas team makes it to the Final, and even sweeter when they win it! It is seen as a good return on investment.
What were the highlights for the adidas brand?
One of the biggest highlights for the brand has been the performance of the F50 boot –in terms of the number of goals scored in this tournament. The F50 has been by far the leading boot at this World Cup and as a sports performance brand we quite please about that.
After the World Cup is over, what will be the next focus for adidas?
The next focus for us will be the legacy aspects of the World Cup. The most important one will be the auctioning of the signatures that were put on the giant Bafana Bafana jersey that travelled the whole of SA. Here we are talking about generating funds for charity through the auction. We have chosen signatures of 11 prominent South Africans to be auctioned on e-bay. These funds will go to 46664 and we are please about this because we see it as a way of giving something back to the community when the World Cup has come and gone.
What other charitable cause or legacy projects were you involved in?
We did a lot on the sidelines of the World Cup, but we generally don’t shout about the charitable causes that we are engaged in. Among other things we did the following: Distributing 15 000 World Cup tickets to deserving school kids as part of the FIFA Ticket Fund initiative; Select 398 kids to be flagbearers of the FIFA Fair Play flag; and Supporting the FIFA Football for Hope Initiative.
What about your Unite Mzansi Unite campaign?
This was another highlight of this World Cup. We as a brand contributed in some way to the rallying of South Africans to unite behind the World Cup and Bafana Bafana. We were on the road for seven months, giving South Africans an opportunity to sign the big Bafana Bafana jersey as an expression of support for the national team and the World Cup. We believe that this campaign was a resounding success because South Africans heeded the message to support the tournament irrespective of whether Bafana is still there or not. Overall, the 2010 FIFA World Cup has been a resounding success for adidas and for South Africa.
PRIZES TO BE WON!!!!
Adidas have a special prize to give away to one lucky reader – the official match-ball that was used in Bafana Bafana’s historic win over France at the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
The Jabulani ball, complete with team names and dirt from the match, is available to one lucky reader. All you need to do is go to our competition section and see how to enter.
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