Offical Non-Sponsor Of FIFA

Background

Rampant FIFA corruption was ruining football. But until someone dethroned Sepp Blatter, nothing would ever change. SKINS sportswear gladly took up this challenge as part of championing its purpose of 'pure' sport.

Idea

FIFA had many critics, but their protests fell on deaf ears. SKINS realised they couldn't attack FIFA directly but they could address FIFA's sponsors. Sepp may have had no shame, but the sponsors had reputations to protect.

Partnering with #NewFIFANow, SKINS announced themselves as the world's first 'Official Non-Sponsor of FIFA'. Parodying classic sponsorship activity with fake press conferences, launch videos, merchandise, usage guidelines, SKINS even placed a non-sponsorship announcement ad in Blatter's local Swiss paper. The media loved it.

Phase 2 of the campaign was a "World Cup Hypocrisy" video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVOc3-t1sCU) which pointed out the conditions for workers in Qatar building the infrastructure for the 2022 World Cup would be unacceptable within all of the sponsors' own companies.

Phase 3 was a fake International Herald Tribune newspaper handed out to the press and to FIFA executives at the FIFA Presidential elections with an ironic take on what reform might look like.

Throughout, the Official Non Sponsor campaign provided a flexible and powerful platform through which to start a movement championing 'Pure Sport' in SKINS unique and inimitable style.

Results

The Official FIFA Non-Sponsor campaign was embraced by sports personalities, politicians and celebrities, generating over £10m in global TV and press coverage and forcing official sponsors to add their voices to the call for change.

SKINS found themselves at the heart of football's biggest-ever scandal and SKINS' Chairman Jaimie Fuller became the media's go-to spokesperson for industry- reaction to FIFA . Ultimate success came when, with a little help from the FBI, Sepp Blatter resigned after 17 years.

All sports brands talk about the thrill of competition but only SKINS had the attitude to fight for sport itself. By taking on FIFA, SKINS galvanised its staff, demonstrated its values and staked out a sports territory where other sports brands feared to tread.

Our Thoughts

If Droga5 had done this it would be one of the most lauded campaigns of the year. Don’t let the rough edges of the execution get in the way of the brilliance of this strategy. If you want to establish your credentials as a challenger brand, you need something to challenge. And, boy!, have SKINS found an enemy to take on. In doing so, they have conspicuously become one of the only brands to pipe

up about the real values of sport – which are of democratic access, fairness and the triumph of the human spirit.