What B2B communicators can learn from the 2010 World Cup

For those of you who don’t know already I am a long time supporter/player of soccer (football).  I actually attended the first week of the 2006 World Cup in Germany and watching it so far has me wishing I was in South Africa. This year I am paying attention via the Internet and TV. The World Cup is by far the world’s most watched sporting event (about seven times larger than the Super Bowl) so there’s a lot at stake (this is a great report on the Economics of the World Cup). With the World Cup now fully upon us there already are some great lessons to be learned for communicators. Here are my thoughts.

• Competition — In some cases rivalries in the World Cup can be extremely competitive based not only by the demands of the tournament but also for other reasons — think England v. Argentina; USA v. Mexico; Germany v. Netherlands; N. Korea v. S. Korea. How do you approach your competition? Do you study them with the passion of a world class manager? Do you understand and exploit their weaknesses? Sometimes the preparation for these matches is more important than the match itself.
• Media — Yes, the press can be relentless. Ask Robert Green of England. But guess what? I bet it doesn’t phase Green or the England team at all. Why? Because they are used to that type of scrutiny day in and day out playing in Europe. Are you ready for that type of scrutiny by the media? How would your team react to a negative story? Do you bounce back because you know you have a winning strategy and coach your management team to look beyond the headline? Does it rally your employees? Or does it rattle you so much your team can’t perform?
• Social media — Nike launched it’s World Cup commercial not via TV, but via social media. It now has more than 15 million views on YouTube alone. We’re also seeing Twitter struggle to keep up with all of the World Cup tweets (hopefully they will realize they need to build a world-class network). And there are numerous players now using Twitter to discuss what is happening in South Africa. How are you using social media to talk about your company? Are you just using tools to talk or are you looking at the right tools to listen and converse with your audiences?

• Fans — If you are following the action on Twitter or watching it on TV (or lucky enough to be in South Africa), you already know that people are passionate about not just their team, but their country. Look at the Netherland supporters in their orange. The Brazilian supporters dancing and cheering. Watch closely at the other countries and how their fans sing, cheer and support their team for 90 minutes each match. There is a tremendous amount of pride that comes with supporting your team/country. How are you instilling this into your fan base/followers? Are you making them truly your fans or just treating them like customers?
• Fatigue – Players in the major European leagues may not say it, but they have to be tired. Between league matches, cup matches and recent friendly/exhibition matches it will be interesting to see how players last. Fatigue will play a factor for communicators as well in our now 24/7 connected world. My suggestion — take a break from the marketing madness to recharge (my choice of relaxation is my kids). You’ll be a better person for it and a better communicator.
• Technology – Adidas invests lot of resources to build the perfect ball for the World Cup. And this year there is a lot of criticism over how it was designed and how it reacts. It could be factor in games (or at least an excuse). How are you taking advantage of the technology your company has at its disposal? In addition, don’t forget to include your InfoSec team as we discussed here earlier.

Hopefully this makes you look at the World Cup in a slightly different view as you watch the games for the first time or if you’re an experienced World Cup fan. How else do you see this global competition changing the way you look at your job? Let us know.