Master Thesis: Fan zone at football events - more than just a Commercial Display

I
Fan zone at FIFA football events –
more than just a commercial display
Master thesis in MAS Brand and Communication Management
University of Applied Sciences Luzern, Switzerland
Picture: Action Images©
Sandra Stucki
18th March 2011
@sandra_stucki | sstucki00@gmail.com

II
Fan zone at FIFA football events – more
than just a commercial display
**If using content from this thesis, please reference the author**
Master thesis in MAS Brand and Communication Management
Hochschule Luzern
18th
March 2011
Author:
Sandra Stucki, Etzelstrasse 59a, 8820 Wädenswil
@sandra_stucki
sstucki00@gmail.com
Consultant:
Prof. Dr. Carsten Baumgarth, Hochschule Luzern, Zentralstrasse 9, 6002 Luzern
Co-consultant:
Ralph Straus, FIFA, FIFA-Strasse 20, 8044 Zürich

III
Executive Summary
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, FIFA, is the world governing body of
association football and the rights holder of the FIFA World Cup™ and other world cups
organized by, or under the auspices of, FIFA. As organizer of the tournaments, FIFA strives
to offer the best experience to the various stakeholders: the fans, the sponsors. FIFA’s, and
indeed, football’s flagship event is the men’s senior tournament which is staged every four
years. The next edition of the event will be held in Brazil in 2014.
FIFA’s sponsors play a key role in delivering all FIFA events, particularly the FIFA World
Cup™. With the FIFA sponsorship property, FIFA’s sponsors aim to reach behavioristic and
economic objectives over a short- or long-term period as an integral part of their brand
management. One major part of a sponsor’s rights is the on-site activation element, meaning
during a tournament at the stadium. Be it around the pitch, where their selected brand
messages appear on the advertising boards, in the hospitality where they can provide food
and drinks to their guests while watching the game or outside the stadium where sponsors
may showcase their products and creating a special brand experience for ticketholders.
The area at the stadium where sponsors may showcase their products or services has been
called commercial display historically by FIFA and by the sponsors. It is now clear that the
traditional concept of commercial display needs to be reworked, due to dissatisfaction from
several of the sponsors involved at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ or other competitions staged
earlier. In order to develop a new strategy for the commercial display area, which will now be
called Fan zone, insightful knowledge from the various stakeholders needs to be gathered
and analyzed. The scope of this master thesis lies with the sponsors and their experience
and approach of their commercial display booth for a Fan zone to understand the importance
and valuation of a commercial display booth as brand communication tool. As a further step
three alternative Fan zone set-ups were developed by FIFA and introduced to the sponsors
in order to understand their preference and general comments.
The survey concept covers the key areas in brand communication from the sponsors, thus
the conceptual framework focuses on the theory of brand management, integrated marketing
communication and dialog communication in the environment of sport sponsorship.
The representative survey, targeting the sponsors who have worldwide rights with FIFA, was
conducted in writing with a feedback rate of 92%. It contained quantitative aspects (such as
the importance of a commercial display for their brand communication or how satisfied they
are with their commercial display success at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™) and qualitative
Executive Summary

IV
aspects (what was their best commercial display concept, why does a sponsor prefer a
specific alternative Fan zone set-up).
The findings provide a better understanding of how each of the sponsors approaches a
commercial display booth with pre- and post-activities, how success is measured and which
alternative Fan zone option they prefer. FIFA Partners that have worldwide rights to
additional FIFA events than FIFA World Cup™ also provided feedback on the Fan zone
concept for competitions in host countries where a sponsor has no commercial
representation. From past experience, sponsors do not activate any of their rights for a
commercial display in the Fan zone of a tournament, where they have no commercial
representation.
Evaluating the findings in light of the theory of the conceptual framework, various
recommendations on certain aspects can be identified. One of the key findings is that
sponsors could look to integrate specific pre- and post-event activities about their commercial
display experience they offer to the fans in order to realize maximum achievement on their
sponsorship and overall communication objectives. Secondly, a more aligned integration of
the sponsor’s commercial display concepts in their integrated marketing communication to
deliver a consistent and real brand experience. Other recommendations for sponsors are
sharing the entire commercial display concept with their FIFA Alliance Manager not just
designs, activations and branding. The transparent sharing of concept with the FIFA Alliance
Manager includes what objectives are set, how they are achieved and how success is
monitored.
The sponsors’ preference on the alternative Fan zone set-ups is clearly the Host City Fan
zone with a commercial display on match day at the stadium. This concept foresees moving
the main Fan zone away from the stadium to a highly-frequented area in the center of each
of the host cities. The Fan zone is accessible free-of-charge for visitors and is open from the
first day of the competition until the last one. In order to still provide entertainment to the
ticketholders when they arrive at the stadium and take advantage of the atmosphere shortly
before a game, a smaller Fan zone with sponsors’ commercial displays is to be set-up at the
stadium. The least preferred option is a Host City Fan entertainment area, which combines
the FIFA Fan Fest™ (public viewing) and the Fan zone in the center of a host city giving free
access to the public throughout the competition.
The next steps include the prioritization of the recommendations and turning them in to
projects for implementation. Also, further analysis has to be conducted targeting the fans and
their expectations from a Fan zone. Benchmarking other sport events, their Fan zone
Executive Summary

V
concepts and best practice examples will help to further understand how a Fan zone is best
implemented for the sponsors and the fans. Since the Host City Fan zone concept is the
most preferred by the sponsors, it should undergo a feasibility test with the host cities
regardless of whether it will be the final concept or not. Understanding opportunities and
threats from the host cities will help to look for creative solutions at an early stage. In order to
measure the success of the new Fan Zone concept it is vital that FIFA includes this in its
tournament research. By conducting surveys amongst visitors of the Fan Zone FIFA will be
able to define the success of the event on an event-by-event basis, whilst using the findings
to continuously strive to provide the best offerings for all involved stakeholders.
Executive Summary

VI
Preamble
Long nights, little sleep and the constant uncertainty whether the content I had written so far
was easy enough to understand. I’m glad it is the same for most of the students working on
their thesis. It has undoubtedly been fun and challenging to develop this master thesis,
although I sometimes wished my topic was less complex and not as broad. The support I got
from various people inside and outside FIFA was great and I would like to thank them deeply.
I’m sure they are happy it’s all over!
During the process of reading literature, finding surveys and articles in special interest
magazines, I noticed that the specific topic of commercial display is not much covered and
has to be analyzed considering the aspects of “live communication”; an expression which is
used mainly in Europe. The consolidation of the various theoretical aspects was very
interesting and again presented a learning experience to me.
Again sincere thanks to everyone supporting me, especially Ralph Straus and
Prof. Dr. Carsten Baumgarth.
Preamble

VII
Table of figures
Figure 1: Marketing pyramid of FIFA Commercial Affiliates ............................................ 3
Figure 2: Structure model pre-economic brand effect (Source: Baumgarth, 2008, p. 37) . 9
Figure 3: Management-oriented decision making process for Live com (Source:
Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 41) .......................................................................16
Figure 4: Fan zone at stadium during 2010 FIFA World Cup™ (Source: Action Images©)
....................................................................................................................24
Figure 5: Fan zone at Ellis Park during 2010 FIFA World Cup™ (Source: Action
Images©) .....................................................................................................25
Figure 6: B2B Commercial display booth of Yingli Solar(Source: Action Images©).........26
Figure 7: Dutch fans regrouping at the final game (Source: Action Images©).................27
Figure 8: Hyundai commercial display booth at FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Brazil
2007 (Source: Action Images©).....................................................................28
Figure 9: Photo opportunity with changing team backdrops (Source: Action Images©)...29
Figure 10: adidas - Giant Jobulani photo opportunity ......................................................55
Figure 11: Emirates booth - Goal scorer game for fans...................................................55
Figure 12: Hyundai – Linked to Fan of the match............................................................56
Figure 13: Sony - 3D World...........................................................................................56
Figure 14: Stadium Fan Zone in Chengdu......................................................................57
Figure 15: Stadium Fan zone in Wuhan after gate opening.............................................57
Figure 16: Hyundai commercial display in Cairo .............................................................58
Table of figures

VIII
Table of content
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 1
1.1. Background ..................................................................................................... 1
1.2. Problem statement........................................................................................... 4
1.3. Objectives ....................................................................................................... 5
1.4. Scope.............................................................................................................. 6
1.5. Format and proceedings .................................................................................. 7
2. Conceptual framework ................................................................................................ 8
2.1. Brand Management ......................................................................................... 8
2.2. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) .....................................................11
2.3. Live Communication (Live com).......................................................................13
2.4. Sponsorship characteristics.............................................................................20
3. Fan zone practice......................................................................................................24
3.1. Best practice activation examples....................................................................25
3.2. Activation examples that can be developed......................................................28
3.3. Alternative FIFA Fan zone set-up ....................................................................30
4. Survey.......................................................................................................................32
4.1. Survey objectives............................................................................................32
4.2. Conceptual approach......................................................................................33
4.3. Findings .........................................................................................................35
5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................42
6. Recommendation.......................................................................................................48
7. References................................................................................................................51
8. Annex .......................................................................................................................54
Table of content

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1. Introduction
1.1. Background
Being a football fan, attending a match of one’s favorite team is always a highlight. Taking it
to higher levels, a ticket for a European or a World championship is the ultimate experience.
A rights holder of such tournaments, be it an association or an agency, aspires to offer a
world-class experience to fans and other stakeholders. This starts with the planning of and
communication about the event and peaks on the day of the match, no matter where in the
world it is. Ticket holders expect a real fan experience from the way to the stadium, through
the entry until they leave again. In the world of football it is common to provide extra
entertainment to the fans who arrive at the stadium. Such Fan zone can be erected at the
stadium in the controlled area, where ticket holders can boost their excitement before the
match and enjoy entertainment courtesy of the event sponsors. Mostly activated by
sponsors, there are various activities offered to fans such as face painting, enter a singing
competition, dribbling against a virtual football star to becoming fan of the match where a
fan’s picture is projected to the big screen in the stadium. Event-branded gifts are handed out
to fans, such as whistles, photos, key rings, etc.
History shows that such Fan zones are unequally activated by sponsors. Strong international
B2C1
brands have at times decided to drop their active involvement while smaller B2B2
niche
brands have taken the chance to integrate their brands. Looking at some sponsor’s
commercial display3
concepts, it is sometimes not clear what the message is to the fans and
how an emotional connection between a sponsor’s brand and a football fan can be
established.
Football business
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the world’s governing body of
association football and was founded in 1904. Today FIFA has 208 Member Associations4
and its goal is the constant improvement of football. The FIFA statutes provide the basic laws
for world football on which countless rules are set for competitions, transfers, doping issues
and other concerns (FIFA (f), online).
FIFA’s mission is to “Develop the game, touch the world, build a better future”. The mission
gives meaning and direction to each and every activity that FIFA is involved in - football
1
Business to Customer
2
Business to Business
3
The branded booth of a sponsor in the Fan zone
4
The body who represents football in each country around the world
1. Introduction

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being an integrated part of our society. FIFA sees it as its mission to contribute towards
building a better future for the world by using the power and popularity of football (FIFA (f),
online).
The FIFA brand promise is “For the Game. For the World”. It reflects the core element of
FIFA’s mission and represents both a chance and a challenge: a chance to contribute to
making a difference to people´s lives, and a challenge to balance this social element with
FIFA’s traditional competence of overseeing the rules of the game and organizing world-
class competitions (FIFA (a), online).
FIFA is the rights holder of all FIFA World Cups which climax every four years with world
football’s flagship event, the men’s senior competition. The last one was staged in 2010 in
South Africa, with the next edition set to take place in Brazil in 2014 (FIFA (j), online). Apart
from the senior event, there are a number of other, smaller tournaments in the portfolio for
both male and female players (FIFA (i), online):
Competition last staged, country next staged, country
FIFA U-20 World Cup 2009, Egypt 2011, Colombia
FIFA U-17 World Cup 2009, Nigeria 2011, Mexico
FIFA Club World Cup 2010, United Arab Emirates 2011, Japan
FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2009, United Arab Emirates 2011, Italy
FIFA Women’s World Cup™ 2007, China 2011, Germany
Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup 2010, Switzerland 2011, Switzerland
FIFA Interactive World Cup 2009, Spain 2011, Zurich
FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2010, Germany 2012, Azerbaijan
FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup 2010, Trinidad & Tobago 2012, New Zealand
FIFA Futsal World Cup 2008, Brazil 2012, Thailand
FIFA Confederations Cup 2009, South Africa 2013, Brazil
FIFA World Cup™ 2010, South Africa 2014, Brazil
In addition to the above-listed tournaments, FIFA as the governing body of football is
involved in all Olympic football tournaments. Besides tournaments, FIFA organizes a number
of additional events, such as the FIFA Ballon d’or5
, Draw functions, FIFA Fan Fest™6
and
many more; either during a competition or as separate football related events (FIFA (b),
online).
5
Annual Gala that crowns the year’s best performers in various categories
6
A FIFA World Cup™ public viewing concept in the host country and at selected cities around the globe
1. Introduction

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FIFA properties offer a highly attractive communication platform for commercial brands.
Being the biggest single sporting event in the world (The Independent, online), a FIFA World
Cup™ offers sponsors solutions that go beyond traditional media opportunities. At the FIFA
World Cup™ and other FIFA events, sponsors are part of the activities surrounding the event
and are able to use their marketing rights in line with their individual marketing strategy to
deliver a clear brand image to the public (FIFA (c), online).
As shown in figure 1, the current marketing pyramid of commercial affiliates consists of four
tiers, whereas only the top three can be considered sponsors (FIFA (h), online).
Figure 1: Marketing pyramid of FIFA Commercial Affiliates
The entire group of commercial stakeholders is called commercial affiliates, each of them
having exclusive rights in their contractual product category. The group of sponsors only
consists of: FIFA Partners, FIFA World Cup™ Sponsors and National Supporters. Since
National Supporters only have rights in the respective country where the next competition will
be played, their contracts are limited to four years maximum (FIFA (h), online).
No matter what size a tournament or in which country it takes place, they all have one thing
in common: the Fan zone (o.V. Rights delivery, 2010, p. 118). A Fan zone is an
entertainment platform where FIFA’s commercial affiliates can showcase exclusively their
contractual products and interact with the fans. It’s a space where sponsor brands can
engage their main target group during the tournament: football fans. The FIFA Fan zone has
traditionally been located at the stadium (o.V. Host City support and integration, 2010, p.41).
In addition to being a communication and entertainment platform it also serves as a buffer
1. Introduction

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area for the fans, as a commercial environment with food & beverage concessions and
merchandise shops or as meeting point. The Fan zone opens on match day only.
1.2. Problem statement
Historically, the Fan zone has been called “Commercial Display” by FIFA, both in internal and
external communication. It is situated at the stadium, right after the ticketing checkpoint and
before the entry to the seats (o.V. Host City support and integration, 2010, p.41). It is only
open on a match day at the respective stadium, starting from 3 hours before kick-off when
gates open (FIFA Commercial Display Manual, 2010, p. 11). The commercial displays have
to shut down at kick-off and may not reopen again on that day (FIFA (k), Commercial Display
Manual, 2010, p. 11). The Local Organizing Committee7
needs to provide the respective
space and resources for the Fan zone but the actual implementation of the Fan zone concept
lies with FIFA and its commercial affiliates. The activation of a commercial display is always
granted but is optional for a sponsor; they may choose between all or certain matches only.
The typical set-up of a Fan zone consists of individually branded booths from the commercial
affiliates all grouped in the same zone as well as food & beverage concessionaires and
merchandise stands. Commercially-oriented sales booths only sell products of the sponsors,
such as Coca-Cola and adidas or unbranded such as event-branded souvenir items (o.V.
Rights delivery, 2010, p. 120).
The missing piece and problem that is addressed in this master thesis is thorough insightful
knowledge from sponsors on their commercial display approach, decision making criteria and
their success factors. Individual debrief meetings with sponsors on their event activation are
conducted after a competition with commercial display an integral part of the discussion,
however in an unstructured way. Therefore it’s unclear what role and importance budget and
other decision-making criteria, such as pre- and post-event activities, monitoring or
communication play for sponsors to plan and activate a commercial display. In addition,
alternative Fan zone set-ups have been developed by FIFA and general feedback and
preference on these is needed from sponsors for FIFA World Cup™ and other competitions.
Such information will help to develop the Fan zone project further, to better meet the
sponsor’s needs.
Other reasons, which will not be covered in this master thesis, lead FIFA to revise the Fan
zone strategy. To name the most important (Sonntag, 2010, p. 1):
7
The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is the organizing body of a FIFA competition in the respective host
country
1. Introduction

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 Lack of positioning for the Fan zone: it only exists in a fragmented and incomplete
state. The Fan zone has no body and soul
 Considerable investments: both FIFA and the commercial affiliates record significant
spending for the set-up and operation of such onsite appearance
 Uncontrolled return on investment: the ROI seems to be unclear for most commercial
affiliates – apart from the food & beverage concessions and merchandise shops
 Lack of integrated communication: non-existent communication apart from directional
signs onsite
 FIFA brand communication: Fan zone is currently not used for communication around
FIFA assets
 Fan’s opinion: vague knowledge of Fan’s attitude towards the Fan zone
 Missed target audience: recent basic research at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in
South Africa showed that 42% (1.3 million people) of stadium visitors enjoyed
spending time at the commercial displays, which leaves a potential of 58% stadium
visitors (1.8 million people) that can be actively entertained at the stadium or even
more outside the stadium (Sport + Markt, 2010, p. 50).
The alternative conceptual ideas that have been composed by FIFA are intended to be
tested at other tournaments in 2011. The revised Fan zone concept should be implemented
for the FIFA Confederations Cup 20138
and the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil. The new
concepts move the Fan zone in the center of each host city9
and provide free entertainment
to the public from the first till the last day of a competition (Nussbaumer, 2011, p. 2). The
optional Fan zone draft ideas are described on p. 30 under the section “Alternative Fan zone
set-up”.
1.3. Objectives
In order to better understand the sponsors’ valuation of their commercial display or the Fan
zone set-up in principle, this Master thesis aims to provide fundamental information covering
the following areas:
 Interpret the theory of dialog communication at an event in the context of brand
management and integrated marketing communication and point out special
characteristics in the sport sponsorship environment
 Understand the importance of commercial display in the sponsors’ brand
communication as an instrument to engage the fans
8
Selected programs undergo a feasibility check the year before the FIFA World Cup™
9
A host city is home to one or more stadiums where matches of a FIFA World Cup™ are played
1. Introduction

6
 Analyze the sponsors’ decision-making on the commercial display project and
understand their success factors to realize maximum achievement
 Find out how the success of a commercial display is monitored by the sponsors
 Get the sponsors’ opinion and preferences on the alternative FIFA Fan zone set-ups
for FIFA World Cup™
 Find out why the sponsors do not participate in a Fan zone when they have no
commercial representation in the host country of a tournament
 Get the sponsors’ opinion and preference on the alternative FIFA Fan zone set-ups
for other FIFA competitions
1.4. Scope
The scope of this master thesis lays with the FIFA Partners and FIFA World Cup™
Sponsors. The existing National Supporter is new on board with FIFA and lacks experience
with commercial display projects at FIFA competitions. Other stakeholder groups like the
food & beverage concessionaires or merchandise companies concentrate primarily on
commercial success in a Fan zone and not on brand communication. Therefore, these
stakeholders are not included in this thesis and the survey.
The fans, which form the target group of the sponsors and FIFA, are not part of the research
for this master thesis and have to be analyzed separately.
In terms of events, only actual FIFA football tournaments are considered as listed in section
1.1., p. 2. Non-FIFA events, such as an Olympic football tournament or a draw function,
where no actual football competition is staged, are not in the scope because their set-up is
different or FIFA sponsors have no rights (FIFA (i), online).
What concerns the Fan zone concepts, the alternative Fan zone set-ups as described in
section 3.3., p. 30, as well as the traditional commercial display set-up as detailed in section
1.2., p.4 are in focus and questioned through the survey.
Sponsor’s activity at a commercial display during the event is not part of the focus, only pre-
and post-activities. General activation examples can be found in annex I, p. 55-58.
Conclusions are considered for all findings of the survey, whereas recommendations and
next steps are suggested for certain aspects of conclusions.
To narrow the scope, brand management and integrated communication are reviewed from a
sponsor point of view, not from FIFA’s perspective.
1. Introduction

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1.5. Format and proceedings
The master thesis consists of six parts:
1. The introduction provides background information on the environment of FIFA, the
actual Fan zone and its challenges overall. It also contains the main focus of this
master thesis which is to gain insightful knowledge from sponsors on their commercial
display projects and their opinion and preference of the alternative set-ups
2. In the conceptual framework, the focus lies with brand management, integrated
communication and live communication where the relevant aspects, key success
factors, objective setting and potential issues are analyzed in the environment of
sports sponsorship
3. Part three of this thesis focuses on general Fan zone concepts and describes
practical examples of sponsor commercial displays at FIFA or UEFA events. The
alternative Fan zone set-ups, which are introduced to the sponsors in the survey, are
detailed as well
4. In the fourth section of the thesis, the survey concept, method and findings targeting
the sponsors are explained
5. In part five, the objectives of the master thesis are evaluated in light of the outcome of
the sponsor survey and the theory of the conceptual framework
6. The sixth part of this thesis focuses on recommendations for certain aspects that
should be considered for sponsors when developing their commercial display concept
for the FIFA Fan zone and the future concept of the FIFA Fan zone strategy. It also
contains next step proposals
Outlook:
In the next section of this thesis, the conceptual framework based on the review of the
respective theory is explained incorporating brand management, integrated marketing, live
communication and the characteristics of sport sponsorship.
1. Introduction

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2. Conceptual framework
In order to understand the characteristics and importance of a commercial display as a
communication instrument at an event, the relevance of brand management and integrated
communication in the sport sponsorship environment needs to be evaluated.
2.1. Brand Management
The word “branding” is considered to be established by North American settlers that
stigmatized their animals for recognition in case they ran away (Esch, 2008, p. 207).
A great number of definitions can be found in the technical literature; an example of a short
version is “A brand is a person’s gut feeling about a product, service or company” (Neumeier,
2006, p. 2). A more scientific definition comes from Schultz and states that “A brand is a
product or service represented by a name, symbol, graphic, or other visible and recognizable
identifying element that (a) can be legally protected, (b) can be exchanged or sold for
consideration, (c) contributes perceptual value to the relationship between buyer and seller,
(d) has some form of financial value, and (e) is managed for ongoing value creation by the
brand owner” (Schultz et al., 2003, p. 304).
Both definitions express the same concept - that a brand is an image in the mind of the
stakeholder that needs to be managed on a continuous basis in order to differentiate from
competitors, to make it relevant and financially successful.
Building a brand
A strong brand is an intangible asset that creates added value for a company (Esch, 2008, p.
5). Be it through the release of shares or the intended transfer of an enterprise, the higher
the brand equity of a company, the more powerful it becomes. Financial key indices of
companies with strong brands are usually more positive than those of weak brands (Esch,
2008, p. 13).
Strong brands possess emotional power (Esch, 2008 p. 9). In an environment with
interchangeable products that provide the same or similar features, the brand makes a
difference in the perception of a costumer. It guides the customer with identification and
distinction and adds to the loyalty.
Strong brands influence price and quantities in a positive way (Esch, 2008 p. 12). A brand
adds emotional value to a product through its image. This results in a consumer behavior to
spend more for a product that is branded than the same unbranded or to give preference to a
brand that stands for a certain image compared to an unbranded faceless product.

9
Brand perceptions are more resistant to external influences. An image of a brand hardly
vanishes (Esch, 2008, p. 17). Strong images of a brand in people’s minds are resistant to
exhaustion. They are just difficult to overcome which is connected to the strong emotional
power of a brand.
Effects of brand management
Fundamentally, two different effects of target-oriented brand management can be observed:
 Behaviorist effect: awareness, attitude, loyalty (Baumgarth, 2008, p. 33)
 Economic effect (direct): sales quantity, price, sales premium, cost, market share,
earnings and profitability (Baumgarth, 2008, p. 117)
The behaviorist objectives define why a brand is successful (Esch, 2008, p. 58) and are
achieved through target-oriented and systematic marketing measures. The following model
in figure 2 illustrates the links between brand environment, its handling and consumer
behavior and why behaviorist objectives are preceding economic effects.
Figure 2: Structure model pre-economic brand effect (Source: Baumgarth, 2008, p. 37)
Brand environment incorporates factors that influence an individual externally, meaning a
brand itself and the general environment an individual lives in. Involvement 10
is highly
10
Involvement is based on the memorization of an individual’s knowledge about the context of certain stimulators,
such as a brand, and the individual’s target, such as a specific self-expression (Baumgarth, 2008, p. 39)

10
influencing an individual’s brand handling. As an example, a person’s involvement in soft
drinks is generally lower than in a laptop. Brand behavior, resulting out of individual’s brand
handling, determines primarily brand loyalty as behaviorist effect and repurchase as
economic effect. Brand behavior is already a changeover to brand environment (Baumgarth,
2008, p. 36).
Implementing a brand
Everything a brand does is communication. The way the packs are designed, the way words
are used, the way phones are answered (or not), the products the name is put to, the shops
in which these are sold, the experience of interacting with a brand on the internet: these are
all aspects of brand communication and are more or less under the control of the brand
managers. It is the strength of these associations and the nature of this relationship, which
can lead to stability and profitability for a brand and hence increase its value. How a brand
communicates is therefore of central importance to its long-term business success (Feldwick,
2009, p. 127).
In order to influence customers systematically to buy a specific brand and/or pay a higher
price, instruments of social engineering11
are considered. This is to build up brand knowledge
in the customers mind in an efficient and effective way. Such brand knowledge can be
segmented into brand awareness (behaviorist effect) and brand image. The combination of
awareness and image leads to a brand preference with the customer which supports the
economic success of a brand (Esch, 2008, p. 57).
The objective of a brand-oriented communication is the coordination of all brand touch
points12
. Meaning, no matter when and in which communication environment, the perception
at brand touch points must be the same through consistency (Baumgarth, 2008, p. 214). The
selection of instruments to communicate the brand depend upon the objectives set. In
integrated marketing communication, sponsoring is considered among the important
instruments. Baumgarth (2008) refers to sponsoring as “a brand enrichment option in order
to strengthen or change a brand image” (p. 194).
11
Social engineering instruments are also implemented for other stakeholders like shareholders or employees to
create a positive and preferred brand image
12
Equals “brand contacts” as on p. 12

11
General success or failure factors of a sponsorship for the brand management can be
recognized as (Baumgarth, 2008, p. 206):
 Fit between entities: sponsor and sponsorship receiver have a reasonable
link: goods and services, target group, image, region
 Limited number of sponsors: events with a great number of sponsors are
problematic due to the cognitive capabilities of
consumers
 Established brand: the sponsor brand should be established for easy
recognition and awareness because of elusive
contacts with consumers
2.2. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)
Integrated communication roots go back to the 1980s when companies restructured their
business to independent “silos” to maximize profits. It worked short-term, however the
changing environment led to a rethinking and reorganization of the strategic communication
(Schultz et al., 2003, p. 3):
 Exchangeable products in the market, no differentiation for the customer
 Broader product range, more heterogeneous segments
 Shift from above-the-line to below-the-line communication
 Unbalanced internal communication
 Uncoordinated execution of marketing activities
 Multi-nationalization and Globalization
The APQC13
defines IMC as „a strategic business process used to plan, develop, execute,
and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communication programs over time
with consumers, customers, prospects and other targeted, relevant external and internal
audiences“ (Schultz et al., 2003, p. 20).
13
American Productivity and Quality Center: one of the world's leading proponents of benchmarking, business
research and performance improvement

12
Objectives of IMC
The effect of IMC is to leave multi-channel brand impressions that the target audience
recognizes. The objectives can be explained as psychological and economical (Bruhn et al.,
2008, p. 30):
 Psychological: - Development of a common corporate image
- Credibility enhancement for internal and external target groups
- Addressing messages in a clearer, more transparent and more
consequent manner
- Differentiate from competitors
 Economical: - Realization of synergy effects through coordinated
implementation
- Realization of financially oriented targets, for example lowering
cost
Criteria of IMC
To integrate the various communication measurements the following characteristics have to
be considered (Bruhn et al., 2008, p. 31)
 Contextual: such as slogans, key messages
Functional: how to form a synergy in terms of instruments
- Instrumental: what instruments transport the message best
- Horizontal: align communication measurements throughout the
focus level
- Vertical: align communication measurements throughout various
levels
 Formal: align design principles in order to reach a consistent and easily
recognizable visual appearance; a corporate identity 14
(such as
logos, fonts, colors)
 Time wise: timely coordination on short and mid-term communication
measurements (pre- and post-event)
Brand contacts
An integral part of the IMC concept is the selection and categorization of key instruments in
the planning phase. Today, there is a virtual explosion of message delivery systems which
makes the selection process more difficult. The end result is that today creative – or what
marketers say – is less important than how and where they say it. A primary method to
14
The brand identity of a company consisting of its visual identifiers such as the name, trademark, typography,
and colors (Neumeier, 2006, p. 165)

13
understand such brand touch points is the brand contact audit. A contact can be defined as
any element of the customer’s experience with the entire product or service offering that he
or she attributes to the brand (Schultz et al., 2003, p. 146).
The simple test of a brand contact consists of two questions:
 If a particular element of the customer’s experience with the brand goes well, who
gets the credit?
 If an element of the customer’s experience with the brand goes poorly, who or what
gets the blame?
If the answer to either of these questions is “our company” or “our brand”, the experience is a
brand contact (Schultz et al., 2003, p. 147).
Kirchgeorg et al. (2009) refer to the analysis of customer contact points as “an integral part of
fundamentally understanding how target groups can be reached by which instruments” (p.
180).
Since live communication is conversational communication and the objectives mainly
psychographic (see “Measurable objectives”, p. 17), such analysis is essential for the
planning of live communication.
2.3. Live Communication (Live com)
General marketing communication can be classified into (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 16):
 Above-the-line: mass media like press, radio, TV, cinema or outdoor billboards
 Below-the-line: all instruments transporting the message personally, individually
and not visible to everyone
Typical instruments of below-the-line communication are exhibitions, events, mailings,
sponsoring, product placement and sales promotions (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 16).
In addition to above, there is Through-the-line communication, which can be described as an
approach mixing above-the-line and below-the line for marketers to optimize returns from
these separate investments (Wikipedia (a), online).
Live com is not an instrument as such but describes all different kinds of below-the-line
communication where a personal, direct and bilateral dialogue between sender and receiver
is established (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p.16).

14
Defining Live com
Live communication is the personal, direct, interactive encounter and the active experience
of the target group with an enterprise and its brand. It’s in a staged and often emotionally
attractive environment in order to generate unique und sustainable memories (Kirchgeorg et
al., 2009, p. 17).
Typical instruments of Live com are events, exhibitions and brand lands15
(Kirchgeorg et al.,
2009, p. 17). The characteristics of such communication instruments which fall under the
term Live com can be detailed as follows (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 20):
 Presence: direct interaction between sender and receiver at same place
 Articulation: the common language between sender and receiver
 Reciprocity: continuous change of roles from sender to receiver and vice versa
 Staging: the sender creates an atmosphere with the use of music, moves,
language and light to influence the perception of the receiver
 Emotion: the event is experienced by the receiver in such kind that it
will be memorized for a long time
 Effect: behavior patterns and stages of experience influence the
Memorization
An example of Live com activity, that even has been awarded, is the Coca-Cola Christmas
tour which takes place every year beginning of December. It features the festive decorated
truck in Coca-Cola’s red color that brings Christmas to town. For Coca-Cola, this tour is a
long-term activity focusing on consistency and not only on the big bang of a single activity
(Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 38).
Issues in Live com
The grade of general planning and implementation of Live com concepts is less professional
than in classic advertisement. However the complexity is much higher. This leads to the
following areas of potential issues with Live com that can be discovered (Kirchgeorg et al.,
2009, p. 28):
1. Planning issues Live com
 Awareness specific stakeholders: customer-oriented marketing communication
needs to be extended to a stakeholder perspective in order to cover the
overlapping of all segments
15
Showcasing a brand exhibition that can be experienced and learned in a real environment with unlimited
duration (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 126)

15
 Demanding integrated Live com: managing various stakeholders by different
internal departments needs more internal planning and organizational effort on
higher level. Otherwise it may lead to unbalanced planning and implementation of
Live com strategy
 Country specific needs: globalization leads to a “one fits all” thinking, but cultural
differences and country specific needs must be considered in the Live com
strategy
 Incomplete briefings: all planning starts with a briefing. Often, such briefings are
fragmentary or the objectives too ambitious. Local general conditions impose a
certain dynamics to the data of a briefing
2. Implementing Live com
 Prioritization of Live com instruments: efficiency is considered more important than
effectiveness which may lead to missing considerable strategic emphasis of the
corporate communication
 Coordination of all Live com involved persons: Planning is key, amendments are
difficult to handle especially when various parties (enterprise, agency, service
provider) are involved and need to be coordinated
 Realization of unique and brand adequate Live com performance: The Live com
implementation should attract attention and interest, otherwise it may harm the
brand
3. Monitoring Live com
 Measuring Live com success: a company’s value orientation needs reliable
measurement methods, especially since the impact of Live com is subject to a time
lag
 Consideration of all factors: all relevant factors need to be considered in an
analysis such as the competitor’s Live com activities or seasonal up- and
downturns in economics
 Analysis over a period of time: not only short-terms effects should be monitored, as
it may lead to misinterpretation

16
Decision-making process
Research has shown, that often a detailed planning process is missing because decision
makers tend to rely on general standards or experience from the past. But only a systematic
planning of Live com instruments can bring the desired effects (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p.
40). The following figure 3 shows the different steps of the decision-making process when
approaching a new live com project.
Figure 3: Management-oriented decision making process for Live com (Source: Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 41)
The situation analysis covers the market and environment of a company, as well as a
company’s resources and core competencies. Identify opportunities and threats as external
factors and describe internal strength and weakness to face them. The principle idea is to
find out whether Live com is the right instrument to support achieving communication-specific
objectives of a company (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 42). The analysis of the relevant target
groups and how to reach them is to be amended by a thorough appraisal of the competitor
activities since the findings will provide important points of reference for the Live com
planning (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 49).
Each step of the planning process is to be conducted for every new Live com project. Key
learnings from previous events/projects form an integral part of the situation analysis for the
approach of a new planning process. Each step of the process is aligned with the
communication mix which is derived from the overall marketing-mix.

17
Measurable objectives
Live com objectives are conclusive of corporate, marketing and communication targets. Their
definition must be precise, otherwise a monitoring is hardly possible. Based on the type of
Live com instrument, the targets vary. The following effects are typical for events (Kirchgeorg
et al., 2009, p. 76):
 Psychographic: increase awareness, manage relation, improve image, motivate
dealers
 Economical: increase sales, increase market share
In principle, Live com instruments seem much more effective for the purpose of
differentiation and customer loyalty compared to traditional and virtual communication. This
is due to the possibility to build an emotional connection between a customer and a brand
(Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 77).
Live com integration in IMC
In order to include Live com elements in IMC, the following functions need to be initiated
within a company (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 182):
1. Planning: involvement of all communication tasks in the planning and
monitoring system; from situation analysis, objective setting
through to the role of a communication instrument
2. Organizational: creating an organizational and operational structure that meets
the coordination need of IMC (centralization or staff functions)
3. Personnel: cultivating the integration awareness of people involved in IMC in
order to develop a well-functioning working and communication
atmosphere
4. Cultural: open communication culture within a company and with
customers is an enhancer for successful implementation of the
Live com instruments
5. Informational: contextual, formal, time wise
Event as an instrument
Events have developed rapidly over the years to become independent communication
instruments with individual action profiles. An event can be defined as “A temporarily staged
happening, addressing company internal and external groups, targeting to the conveyance of
company, brand or product related communication content in a multi sensual and experience
oriented way” (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 139).

18
A special segment is mega events, such as Olympic Games, World exhibitions or a football
world cup. Those are defined as “unique or recurring happening which is temporarily staged.
It attracts global media attention and has strong appeal for visitors from all over the globe”
(Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 157). Typical for mega events is the enormous number of visitors
of 1 million and more. Mega events are also considered as target oriented, predictable and
planned happening with the difference that even more stakeholders are involved with varied
objectives (for example geographically). The integration of all different objectives is a
particular challenge for the organizer (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 157).
Event marketing has become an important instrument in the marketing mix. The basic
communication functions of an event are to inform, emotionalize, activate and motivate
(Bruhn et al., 2008, p. 240). Events are cost intensive but a valuable investment for one to
one contact with existing and potential customers.
In order to realize a maximum achievement with the event planned, the individual activities
have to be detailed and can be categorized in three stages of activation (Bruhn et al., 2008,
p. 245):
 Pre-event: invitations, mailings, ads, posters, TV spots, staff briefings,
media invitations, viral campaigns, etc.
 During event: competitions, attractions, give aways, leaflets, stickers,
banners, lounges, press receptions, etc.
 Post-event: evaluate achievements, mailings, ads, letters, etc.
As Udo Klein-Bölting (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, Interview, p. 165), Consultant, explains, there
is no such thing as the theory on the ideal mixture of supporting communication instruments
pre-, during and post-(mega)event. The optimum communication-mix is influenced by too
many factors such as budget, objectives or competitor environment. Also cultural aspects
need to be considered, which is mandatory in general for global corporate communication.
Distinction of Event and Fan zone
The definition of a Fan zone can be derived from the definition of a road show (Kirchgeorg et
al., 2009, p. 140), as a compilation of several, temporary and at various locations staged
happenings at/during a (sport) event, addressing company internal and external target
groups with the objective to convey company-, brand- and product-related communication
content in a multi-sensual and experiential way.

19
The major difference from a Fan zone to an event can be recognized in
 The main happening is the (sport) event, a Fan zone acts as a supporting instrument
 It is happening at various geographical locations
 Several happenings instead of just one
 Involvement of multi brands
Taking a close look at the main differentiation it seems unlikely that an individual would buy a
ticket to a sport event because his/her favorite brand has a booth there. The primary interest
for the fans lies with the sport event itself and not the side-activations onsite (Happel, 2010,
p. 69). This only applies when the Fan zone is at the stadium and only accessible for
ticketholders.
Monitoring Live com success at events
Psychological and economic parameters that were set after having concluded a situation
analysis, need to be evaluated as achievements of Live com (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p.
243). The following problems in the effect analysis can be defined (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p.
235):
 Cause and effect: the isolated monitoring of single communication instruments is
difficult, since integrated marketing communication principles
define enhancing effects through various instruments
 Time lag: momentary monitoring may not incorporate the full extent of the
effect because of the time lag between the measure and its
monitoring
 Relation status: general conclusions about the effect are problematic since the
effectiveness of communication instruments is depending on
the type and stage of relation between target group and
company
Instruments for the monitoring of Live com success are number of contacts, subjective
estimation, checklists and handbooks, employee survey, consumer survey, economical key
indices, media coverage analysis, external expert opinion (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 238).
In essence, the monitoring is about effectiveness (return on objectives) and efficiency (return
on investments) (Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 243).
The outcome of a monitoring not only provides important information on whether the
objectives have been achieved, it also shows gaps or failures and thus provides fundamental
input for a new Live com project planning and implementation (see figure 3, p. 16).

20
2.4. Sponsorship characteristics
The development of professional commercial sport sponsorship goes back to the ban of
tobacco and alcohol advertising in the 1970ies where alternative means for brand building
were needed. It is expected, that investments into sport sponsorship are still raising in the
near future (Bruhn, 2010, p. 79), which makes it a key instrument in IMC. This helps to
ensure that sponsorship is executed in cooperation with other marketing and communication
instruments (Bruhn, 2010, p. 8).
In particular sport sponsorship stands out for the vast variety of sports, the high reach that
can be achieved as well as the opportunity to emotionalize and specify the message to target
groups (Happel, 2010, p.34).
The image dimensions of sport sponsoring can be defined as (Baumgarth, 2008, p. 207)
 Sportsmanship
 Youthfulness
 Exclusivity
 Dynamic
 Performance
Sponsorship as a brand communication instrument has the potential to contribute to brand
building in a variety of ways (Aaker et al., 2009, p.17):
1. Mobilize the organization: Employees and other brand partners can receive emotional
benefits that result from pride in being associated with the sponsorships, as well as
the link between the sponsorship and their own lifestyle and values
2. Provide an experience: Involving a customer in an event can make that customer
become a part of the same family or team as the brand
3. Demonstrate new products/technologies: A sponsorship can be the necessary lever to
elevate the news value of a product or technology so that press coverage results. As
a bonus, the visibility of the product or technology can also enhance the link between
the brand and the event
4. Create brand exposure: The cost of a sponsorship can often be justified solely by the
brand name exposure achieved through event publicity or signage
5. Develop brand associations: The creation of the desired association among target
segments will depend on the desired associations, the own brand and the sponsored
property

21
6. Become part of an event/customer bond: An affiliation effect could occur provided that
the brand is tightly associated with a named event, the activity would have to be an
involving part of people’s lives and some feeling that the brand was taking a risk by
making commitment to an activity should contribute to the affiliation effect
Sponsorship objectives
The greater marketing objectives can be classified into two groups (Happel, 2010, p. 52):
 Economical: increase of profit, sales
 Psychological: increase of customer satisfaction and customer
loyalty
Sponsorship objectives are derived from above and in particular the psychological objectives
can be further divided into (Happel, 2010, p.53):
 brand awareness: increasing or stabilizing, focusing also on new
target groups
 image: building-up or strengthening corporate or brand
image
 relation management: with customers or opinion leaders
 employee motivation: improving the relation with employees
 performance demonstration: integrating the products into the sport event
operations and services
One of the key objectives in sponsoring is the image transfer, since the brand message and
the medium become one unit. Whereas in classical mass communication mediums, the
brand message and medium have an independent impact on the image transfer (Bruhn,
2100, p. 9).
Sponsorship has emerged as key below-the-line activity in IMC. It provides the opportunity to
communicate in an emotional and experience-oriented way with authenticity and credibility
(Kiendl, 2008, p. 261)

22
Brand building with sponsorship
Sponsorship has the potential to contribute to building a brand in various ways (Aaker et al.,
2009, p. 203):
1. Mobilize the organization: employees and other brand partners can receive emotional
benefits that result from pride in being associated with the sponsorship, as well as the
link between the sponsorship and their own lifestyle and values
2. Provide an experience: an event experience can provide a customer with a unique
opportunity to develop a link to the brand and its organization. Providing customers
with an event experience says a lot about the brand and its organization. Involving a
customer in an event may lead to customers becoming part of the same family or
team as the brand. Such involvement can create an intense level of loyalty if the
experience is duplicated over several occasions.
3. Demonstrate new products/technologies: the most powerful way to introduce a new
product or new technology is by publicity. Publicity is more cost-effective and more
credible than advertising and an enhancer to brand-building goals.
4. Create brand exposures: from event publicity to signage (both on- and off-site), the
cost of a sponsorship often can be justified solely by such brand name exposure.
5. Develop brand associations: the creation of the desired association among a target
segment will depend on a) the associations connected to the sponsorship property,
b) linking the brand to the sponsored property, c) changing or enhancing the brand
image, d) associations need to click, e) creating your own event
6. Become part of an event/customer bond: for almost every sponsored event, there is a
segment of heavily involved people who make time for the activity. It may be a
significant part of their lives and vehicle to express their identities.
Sponsorship activation onsite
Sport sponsorship offers onsite event activation for the sponsors. Such activation can be
operation support, onsite branding (boards, towers, shirts, print), hospitality or a commercial
display. At a commercial display, sponsors have a platform to interact with the fans and
make them aware of their brand. It is important however, that the interaction entertains the
fans and connects the sport event with the message of the sponsor (Happel, 2010, p. 71).
When it comes to target groups, it has to be considered that not only a sponsor’s target
groups are focused but also those of the sponsorship receiver (Happel, 2010, p. 58).
On the other hand, the principle interest for the fans lies with the sport event itself and not the
side-activations onsite (Happel, 2010, p. 69).

23
Risks
Sport sponsorship as a key instrument in IMC offers drivers and features that rank high in
comparison with other instruments. However, it also bears risks that a sponsor has to
analyze before entering into a sponsorship agreement. The following risks can be named
(Aaker et al., 2009, p. 219):
1. The event fails: event organizers under deliver, a main act drops out
2. Bad associations emerge: negative publicity by non-delivery or in-correct delivery
3. Good associations fail to emerge: make brand fit of event and own brand more
explicit
4. Loss of future rights: long-lasting sponsorships have a stronger link, competitors may
obtain the sponsorship property
5. Sponsor clutter: too many sponsors have bought into the same property
6. Ambush marketing: competitors associate successfully with the event they are not
sponsoring
7. Overpay for property rights: escalating cost may lead to overpriced properties
In addition, a tendency can be noticed that enterprises fail to develop a long-term integrated
communication strategy for their sponsorship. As a result, the actual sponsorship activities
are planned short term and overall consistency and long-term effects go missing (Klein-
Bölting, Interview Kirchgeorg et al., 2009, p. 164).
Outlook:
Part three of this thesis focuses on general Fan zone concepts and describes practical
examples of sponsor commercial displays at FIFA or UEFA events. The alternative Fan zone
set-ups, which are introduced to the sponsors in the survey, are detailed as well.

24
3. Fan zone practice
For many years already, the activation of a commercial display has been an integrated right
for sponsors to get additional branding onsite during the tournament, but not compulsory
(o.V., Rights delivery, 2010, p. 118). Sponsors would choose whether they activate a
commercial display booth at all matches of a tournament or only selected ones, such as the
opening game, the final or when their home team would play (for example team Germany in
adidas’ case). The actual FIFA Fan zone set-up can be described as an event at a mega
event, as described in section 2.3., p. 18, whereby the primary target group is limited to the
ticket holders for each of the games.
Ridley (Interview, 18th
February 2011, annex V, p. 77) states that the Fan zone for the UEFA
Euro 2008 in comparison to FIFA’s set-up was downtown in each of the host cities, never at
a stadium. This will remain so for the upcoming tournament in 2012. Sponsors must activate
a commercial display at all Fan zones, as it is a contractual obligation. In practice, sponsors
tend to focus their activation on the most interesting host cities. Motivational factors for the
sponsors are projected visitor numbers and teams playing in the respective venue.
In the run up to the event, FIFA provides the sponsors with guidelines that contain basic
information in order for them to draft the activation concept (FIFA (k), 2010, p. 2). All
concepts need FIFA approval before implementation can start. Such approval incorporates
branding, planned sponsor activities, give aways, risk management or limitations in terms of
music volume and height restrictions. A typical traditional FIFA Fan zone at the stadium can
be seen in figure 4 taken in Rustenburg.
Figure 4: Fan zone at stadium during 2010 FIFA World Cup™ (Source: Action Images©)

25
In figure 5, which was taken in Johannesburg, a different Fan zone set-up can be recognized
in a more spacious area:
Figure 5: Fan zone at Ellis Park during 2010 FIFA World Cup™ (Source: Action Images©)
In annex I, p. 55-58, impressions of various FIFA Fan zones set-ups and booths at past
competitions can be found, which will give an idea of the traditional set-up for both FIFA
World Cup™ and other competitions.
3.1. Best practice activation examples
During the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™, Yingli Solar, a sponsor who had just signed
up with FIFA shortly before the event, put one commercial display up at the Soccer City
stadium in Johannesburg. In this venue, eight matches were played including the opening
and the final game (FIFA (e), online). Yingli Solar, whose headquarter is in China, is in the
solar panel business in B2B. The booth was a display of their product, a solar panel, slightly
secluded from the main commercial display area. At the debrief meeting, the sponsor pointed
out why it was so successful for them (de Redelijkheid, 2010 (b), p. 4):
 The commercial display was themed as the first green commercial display in the FIFA
World Cup™ history
 This theme was used consistently for their pre-event communication related to their
product display onsite and their public relations campaign. This helped to get
maximum achievement as stated in “Event as instrument”, p. 17
 Media was invited to the booth in order to demonstrate live their technology

26
 Media coverage around the globe was above their expectations
 Concentration on one location where the main focus of public and media was –
Soccer City
 High cost/benefit ratio
In figure 6, the solar power commercial display at night can be seen, The electricity for the
booth comes from the visible solar panels that were charged during the day.
Figure 6: B2B Commercial display booth of Yingli Solar(Source: Action Images©)
Another best practice activation came from Coca-Cola. The activation celebrated Roger
Milla’s makossa16
dance back in 1990 when he scored four goals at the FIFA World Cup™
for his team (FIFA (g), online). Coca-Cola had a party bus in Soccer City and smaller busses
in Pretoria, Ellis Park, Durban, Pretoria and Cape Town. On a soccer pitch stage, dance
animators motivated the fans to do their own makossa dance. The craziest fan dances were
filmed and selectively published on Coca-Cola’s South African website. On a regular basis,
Coca-Cola’s own world cup song was played, which was well known to the crowd since
promotions with the song had started 10 months before the tournament which further
boosted the party spirit of the fans on-site. It also demonstrates a best practice example of
communication integration (see “Criteria of IMC, p. 12). As a present, fans received face
tattoo kits.
16
A type of music that is most popular in urban areas in Cameroon (Wikipedia (c), online)

27
Resounding success of their commercial display was reached at the final game, when a vast
group of Dutch fans agreed to use the Coca-Cola bus as a meeting point as shown in figure
7. A variety of Dutch songs were played to boost the excitement (Schetters, 2010, p. 16).
Figure 7: Dutch fans regrouping at the final game (Source: Action Images©)
As an enhancer to the party, a concession stand selling beer was placed next to the Coca-
Cola bus which was a central point of attraction. Such activation is a good example to avoid
one of the potential issues in Live com which is to prioritize efficiency over effectiveness as
described in section 2.3. under “Issues in Live com”, p. 14. Also, for the specific example of
the Dutch fans at the Coca-Cola bus for the final game, the overall experience may strongly
influence their brand handling as detailed in section 2.1. under “Effects of brand
management”, p. 9.
A best practice example from UEFA Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria can be named
from adidas. They activated majorly in Vienna, the city where the final was played. For the
interaction and experience with the fans, a five-a-side football pitch was set-up, skill areas
and other fan entertainment. Adidas also sold products in the official shop onsite and
considered this investment as very successful. However, the measurement metrics are not
known, presumably sales figures as stated by Ridley (Interview, 18th
February 2011, annex
V, p. 78). Such association of the adidas brand with UEFA (or FIFA) and their football
products sold onsite is a perfect example to make a difference in the perception of people’s
mind with the help of sponsorship, as detailed in section 2.4. under “Brand building with
sponsorship”, p. 22.

28
3.2. Activation examples that can be developed
Hyundai, a car sponsor, who activated a commercial display at a FIFA Beach Soccer World
Cup 2007 in Brazil, reported an unsatisfactory outcome. For beach soccer competitions,
there is only one stadium in one host city where all games are played on 6 to 9 days (FIFA
(d), online). The general commercial display concept of this company includes car display as
a must as shown in figure 8 to showcase their key competency. For security reasons and
since the stadium in Brazil was located on the Copacabana beach, the sponsor displayed the
car in the stadium next to the VIP boxes, targeting well-funded people. The sponsor reported
the following reasons for the lack of success (Nussbaumer, 2007, p. 3):
 Lack of general commercial display concept – just a car in a stadium. This refers to
the potential issues of country specific needs that were not considered and poor
implementation of the live com in terms of effectiveness and unique performance as
described in section 2.3., p. 14, under “Issues in Live com”.
 Lack of communication pre, during and post event with target group
 Too high set-up cost
Figure 8: Hyundai commercial display booth at FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Brazil 2007 (Source: Action Images©)
The commercial display activation from Visa during the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ was themed
“go fans”, the actual corporate claim. Visa set-up commercial displays at the four main
stadiums in Johannesburg – Soccer City and Ellis Park, Cape Town and Durban. Interaction
with the fans included photo opportunities, face painting and scream recording as part of a
viral campaign. As a present, fans received a branded lip balm. In general, the fans and their
fandom was the focus of their activation. The fragmented entertainment of the fans could be
linked to the lack of a unique and brand adequate Live com performance of the Visa booth,
which is listed as issue for Live com under 2.3, point 2., p. 16.

29
In the debrief meeting, Visa stated their activation was not successful (de Redelijkheid,
2010a, p. 54):
 Too few people at the booths. Such outcome leaves room for interpretation on
whether the brand contact fans had with Visa was positive or not, as mentioned in
section 2.2, “Brand contacts”, p. 12.
 Unbalanced cost/benefit ratio
Figure 9 shows one of the various interactions with the fans inside the Visa booth, a photo
opportunity in front of the flag of one of the participating teams of the upcoming match.
Figure 9: Photo opportunity with changing team backdrops (Source: Action Images©)
Alan Ridley (Interview, 18th
February 2011, annex V, p. 78) from UEFA Events S.A. generally
states, that sponsors which are new in this environment often experience a lack of success
and effectiveness at their commercial display. Be it because of underestimating the Live com
possibilities of the Fan zone or an agency concept which goes beyond targets. Ridley also
states that sponsors “waste time and budget an things that patently will not work or are just
over ambitious in their plans or get it wrong for the type of location” (Interview, 18th
February
2011, annex V, p. 79).

30
3.3. Alternative FIFA Fan zone set-up
FIFA is reviewing the existing Fan zone concept with commercial displays located at each of
the stadiums and only operating on the day of the match as of gate opening. Based on the
various debrief inputs from the sponsors, alternative Fan zone set-ups were developed by
FIFA and introduced to the sponsors in the survey, which is described in section 4, p. 32:
 Host city Fan zone: The Fan zone is located in a highly-frequented place in each of
the host cities during the entire time of the event and accessible for everyone at no
cost. Sponsor commercial displays are individually integrated in the overall concept
as well as food & beverage concessions and merchandise stands. General
entertainment platforms are offered for the sponsors to use for additional exposure
and fan interaction such as mini pitch, stage. No Fan zone at the stadiums on match
days. Such concept respects the fact that the primary interest of a match ticket holder
only lays with the game, as mentioned on p. 18 under “Distinction of Event and Fan
zone”. Such set-up will be tested for the FIFA U-20 World Cup Columbia
(Nussbaumer, 2011, p. 2)
 Host city Fan zone and match day stadium: The principle Fan zone is located in a
frequented place in each of the host cities during the entire time of the event and
accessible for everyone at no cost. Sponsor commercial displays are individually
integrated in the overall concept as well as food & beverage concessions and
merchandise stands. General entertainment platforms are offered for the sponsors to
use for additional exposure and fan interaction such as mini pitch, stage. On match
day, a small traditional Fan zone is activated onsite at the respective stadium.
Sponsors can choose which Fan zone they activate: host city, stadium or both. Such
set-up is a mixture of the actual stadium Fan zone as during the 2010 FIFA World
Cup™ and the approach chosen by UEFA to have the Fan zone in the city center.
 Host city Fan entertainment area: The local FIFA Fan Fest™ (public viewing, see
p. 2) and the Host City Fan zone merge as one fan entertainment area in a
frequented place in each of the host cities during the entire time of the event and
accessible for everyone at no cost. Sponsor commercial displays are individually
integrated in the overall concept as well as food & beverage concessions and
merchandise stands. General entertainment platforms are offered for the sponsors to
use for additional exposure and fan interaction such as mini pitch, stage. No fan zone
at the stadiums on match days.

31
The general idea to move the Fan zone into the center of a city marks it as an individual
communication instrument, a real event as described in “Event as instrument” on p. 17. In
addition, the Fan zone could become a strong Live com instrument of FIFA in its integrated
marketing communication, as detailed under “Live com integration in IMC”, p. 17.
In order to move forward internally and further develop the new Fan zone set-ups, the
sponsors - as integral part of the activation - are being asked for their feedback and
preferences on the alternatives.
Outlook:
In the next section of the thesis, the sponsor survey concept, the method and findings are
explained and detailed.

32
4. Survey
In order to understand sponsors commercial display experience and valuation, a research
was conducted. A Fan zone is only successful with the full support and cooperation of the
sponsors and therefore, sponsors need to share their general commercial display objectives
and best practice examples. The scope of the survey is described in section 1.4., p. 6.
4.1. Survey objectives
The purpose of the survey is to understand how sponsors integrate and treat the commercial
display as an instrument in the communication. In addition, the sponsors feedback on the
alternative Fan zone set-ups is important, in order to include the findings in the actual
concept development. Based on the objectives of this thesis as outlined under 1.3., p. 5, the
following key and abstract questions are the objects of investigation:
 Understand the importance of commercial display in the sponsors’ brand
communication as an instrument to engage the fans, as defined under section 2.3,
“Defining Live com”, p. 14, and to find out their best practice.
o How important is a commercial display for the sponsors?
o How do sponsors integrate the commercial display in their external
communication before or after a tournament?
o What activities around the sponsors’ commercial display are implemented pre-
and post the tournament or match?
 Analyze the sponsors’ decision-making on the commercial display project and
understand their success factors to realize maximum achievement (see p. 18).
o What are the influencing criteria that sponsors activate a commercial display?
 Find out how the success of a commercial display is monitored, since monitoring live
com effects bears risks as described in “Monitoring Live com success at events” on p.
19.
o How do sponsors measure success?
o Which commercial display concepts or set-ups are considered best practice?
 Get the sponsors opinion and preferences on the alternative FIFA Fan zone set-ups
o What do they think about the concepts in general?
o Which is their preference for the FIFA World Cup™ (and the FIFA Partners for
other competitions) and why?
4. Survey

33
 Find out why the sponsors do not participate in a Fan zone when they have no
commercial representation in the host country of a tournament. Do sponsors see a
value of the characteristics Live com offers as described in section 2.3 under
“Defining Live com”, p. 14.
o Who (local or HQ) decides whether a commercial display is activated for small
tournaments?
o What are the influencing criteria that sponsors activate a commercial display?
o What are the reasons in case sponsors do not activate in a country they have
no commercial representation?
o Which of the alternative Fan zone set-ups is the sponsors’ preference for
other FIFA competitions and why?
4.2. Conceptual approach
Sample cell
From the stakeholder group of FIFA sponsors, which is the universe, only FIFA Partners and
FIFA World Cup™ Sponsors are targeted for the research. The sponsorship or operations
responsible person of the following companies is targeted, a total of 12 persons:
FIFA Partners:
adidas, Germany Coca-Cola, USA Emirates, United Arab Emirates
Hyundai, South Korea Sony, Japan Visa, USA
FIFA World Cup™ Sponsors:
Budweiser, USA Castrol, England Continental, Germany
McDonald’s, USA Seara, Brazil Yingli Solar, China
All of the FIFA Partners have a long-term relationship with FIFA and experience of a great
number of tournaments. The same goes for most of the FIFA World Cup™ Sponsors. The
actual National Supporter is not included in the survey since its lack of FIFA Fan zone
experience. National Supporters change for every senior event, meaning every four years
(see figure 1, p. 3) and thus the lack of experience with FIFA events could lower the quality
of the feedback. Food & beverage concessionaires or licensees are not considered since
they are purely sales-oriented and do not focus on psychographic objectives as described on
p. 17 under “Measurable objectives”.
4. Survey

34
Method
The survey is primary research in order to get first-hand feedback from the sponsors.
Secondary sources are 2010 FIFA World Cup™ on-site fan survey, which was conducted
during the event. It is confidential but selected Fan zone extracts can be found in annex IV,
p. 72-73, of this thesis.
The survey has both quantitative and qualitative aspects. It is conducted in writing; the
interviewee receives a questionnaire (word form) over email. The potential risks of low
feedback ratio or missing proof of who actually filled in the questionnaire are considered but
the advantage of low cost and lack of interviewer bias rank higher. The survey is
representative since 90% of the universe is in the sample cell (ter-Hofte et al., 2009, p. 172).
FIFA Partners and FIFA World Cup™ Sponsors receive separate questionnaires whereas
the first part on the FIFA World Cup™ and FIFA Confederations Cup is the same content.
FIFA Partners get additional questions on the alternative Fan zone set-up focusing on other
events than the FIFA World Cup™ as listed on p. 2 herein.
Scope
The commercial display research in principle focuses on all tournaments as listed under
section 1.1., p. 2, with the exception of the FIFA Interactive World Cup17
and FIFA Futsal
World Cup18
. Those tournaments have a different set-up.
The concept test of the alternative Fan zone set-up is focusing on any FIFA competition that
will have a Fan zone in the host city as opposed to the stadium with the exception of the
FIFA Interactive World Cup and the FIFA Futsal World Cup.
Execution
In annex II, p. 59-64, the cover letter and questionnaires can be found and reviewed. The
sample cell received the questionnaire on 7th February 2011 and was asked to provide
feedback by 21st February 2011.
17
Played online, no actual stadium (FIFA (i), online)
18
Indoor tournament on small pitch, different set-up (FIFA (i), online)
4. Survey

35
4.3. Findings
In the objectives section under 4.1., p. 32, the key and abstract questions for this survey
were identified. In annex III, p. 65-74, the summary of all feedbacks received from the
sponsors can be found.
General findings
Cut-off date for feedbacks from sponsors was 1st
March 2011.
Feedback ratio: 92 % 12 questionnaires to 12 people were sent out, 11 returned
No feedback: 8% 1 FIFA Partner
Feedback Structure: 54% from 6 FIFA World Cup™ Sponsors
46% from 5 FIFA Partners
Key question findings
Hereafter is a compiled interpretation of the findings for each of the key and abstract
questions, which were defined in the survey objectives in section 4.1., p. 32:
How important is a commercial display for the sponsors, why do they activate?
Sponsorship plays a very important role in the brand communication of the sponsors, as
indicated by 82%. Whereas the commercial display itself is an important instrument for the
brand communication for 33% of the sponsors, the same goes for the commercial display as
part of their live communication (40%). It is specifically pointed out that it offers a chance to
touch base with fans/consumers and showcase the sponsor’s products and brand
experience.
17% of the sponsors indicate that a commercial display is satisfactory in their brand
communication or even not an important activation. One of the sponsors (8%) indicates that
brand communication does not exist as such.
73% of the sponsors had a commercial display at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.
Those not activating (27%) indicate the lack of resources (cost). One input refers to the lack
of time because signing with FIFA only happened shortly before the tournament.
4. Survey

36
How do sponsors integrate the commercial display in their external communication before or
after a tournament?
In general, 70% of the sponsors do not advertise or promote their commercial display in any
way before a tournament. One indication is that advertising would be considered depending
on the concept in order to maximize the exposure. 30% of the sponsors do advertise their
commercial display; be it in the official match programme19
or on their (football-related)
website.
When it comes to consideration, 31% of the sponsor state that they would consider a
commercial display concept that contains specific activities pre and post a match depending
on the event. It is also stated that it would maximize the value of being on-site. Another 31%
would not consider it, or have never considered it.
23% of the sponsors indicate that such activities depend on the sponsorship concept and
only 15% of the sponsors make it an integral part of their commercial display activation. As
an example it is stated that a photo download of the fans picture that was taken at the
commercial display was in fact offered for the fans to engage more directly with the actual
campaign.
What activities around the sponsors’ commercial display are implemented pre-, and post the
tournament or match?
Pre-tournament:
What concerns pre-tournament activities of the commercial display activation, 22% of the
sponsor votes go equally to public relations and mention in the FIFA Fan Guide20
.
17% of the votes are for viral campaigns and 13% for no pre-activities at all. In this context, it
is stated that an activation is very much depending on the local subsidiary and since Brazil,
where the next FIFA World Cup™ will be staged, is a key market for the sponsor, pre-
tournament communication will undoubtedly be included in the activation.
9% of the votes are equally for media invitations and relying on FIFA to do activities before a
tournament. Only 4% of the votes go to mailings or TV ads.
19
The official match programme is a licensed product by FIFA. Sold on-site during the event and handed out for
free to all hospitality and VIP guests
20
The Fan guide is produced by FIFA before the event. It contains useful information for the fans and sponsor
ads. It was distributed through the sponsors to their guests
4. Survey

37
What concerns the collection of fan data at the commercial display during an event, 70% of
the sponsors claim not to do so. Only 30% actively collect data of the target group, either by
consent forms or simple questionnaires and brief interviews.
Post-tournament:
Post-tournament activities as follow-up related to the commercial display are not considered
by 60% of the sponsors. One mention is that it needs to be considered for the future.
30% of the sponsors include it in their public relations and 10% in their viral campaign. No
votes were given to media invitations or TV ads.
What are the influencing criteria that sponsors activate a commercial display?
First the decision on whether a commercial display is activated at all at a FIFA World Cup™
or FIFA Confederations Cup is taken by the sponsors headquarter by 67%. 33% of the
sponsors leave this decision to the local market of the host country. However it is also
mentioned that such decision is discussed between the sponsor headquarters and the local
market and decided together.
The most input regarding criteria was given to budget and sponsorship objectives with 17%
each. 15% to the Host country and 13% to the sponsor’s commercial representation in the
country. 12% voted for the host city criteria.
8% of the votes came in for FIFA’s Fan zone set-up and 6% mentioned as criteria the FIFA
event promotion. For 4% it is the match schedule or the unimportance of the tournament.
Only 2% of the votes were given each to the criteria of participation of the other sponsors or
an existing commercial display booth for reuse.
Other important criteria that are mentioned:
 resources and communication objectives/target group
 location, people’s flow and FIFA/LOC host city organization
 the opportunity to display the sponsor products at the stadiums and closer to fans
How do sponsors measure success?
50% of the sponsors indicate that the success of their commercial display at the 2010 FIFA
World Cup™ was below expectations. The reasons indicated are mainly poor location or
poor management of the spectator traffic flow to the commercial display booths. It is also
mentioned that there were difficulties with the logistics and a limited window of activation
4. Survey

38
which would not allow a robust customer experience. 38% of the sponsors met their targets
and for 12% the success was above expectations.
In terms of criteria used for the monitoring, 29% use the estimated number of fans at the
commercial display booth. 22% rely on the research that is conducted by FIFA. 20% of the
votes are equally for press coverage and budget spending. 9% of the votes are given to own
research that is conducted.
Other important criteria that is mentioned by the sponsors are:
 Sales figures given by the fact that one commercial display was selling drinks in a
beer garden environment
 Feedback from the on-site staff
 Reach based on network
Which commercial display concepts or set-ups are considered best practice?
From the FIFA competitions that are indicated as the most successful activation for a
sponsor, the FIFA Club World Cup was mentioned by two sponsors. Further FIFA
tournaments mentioned are the FIFA Women’s World Cup 1999 in the USA, FIFA U-17
World Cup Korea and FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada both 2007.
From sponsors also involved with UEFA, two mentioned the commercial display of the UEFA
Euro 2008 in Switzerland and Austria.
General reasons mentioned can be summarized as follows:
 The activation added key value to the fans (beer garden)
 Good location
 Great execution, interaction, own activities
 Lots of fans
 Good display of products / photo opportunities
What do sponsors think about the alternative Fan zone set-ups in general?
The generally most liked set-up is the Host city Fan zone and match day at the stadium,
followed by the traditional Fan zone at the stadium (as during 2010 FIFA World Cup™).
Number three is the Host city Fan zone and the least feasible is considered the Host city Fan
entertainment area (combination of Host city Fan zone and the FIFA Fan Fest™).
4. Survey

39
General comments to the alternative Fan zone set-ups are on the budget impact that needs
to be considered, the positive free entertainment for football fans outside the stadium and a
general concern about how the sponsors’ products can be integrated into the area if not in
the stadium and what the expected press coverage would be.
Which is their preference for the FIFA World Cup™ and why?
Preference:
Host city Fan zone and match day stadium is voted most suitable with 67%.
Reasons indicated are:
 Maximize exposure
 Reach more people
 More flexibility in choosing where to activate
However it is also mentioned that budget needs to be considered.
Second choice is the Host city Fan entertainment area with 18%. Reasons indicated are the
larger audience number overall and the longer fan experience with the brand.
With 8% each the Traditional Fan zone at the stadium and the Host city Fan zone form the
bottom of the list.
No preference:
Host city Fan entertainment area and the Traditional Fan zone at the stadium are voted as
the least suitable concept with 33% each of the sponsor votes.
Reasons for Host city Fan entertainment area are indicated as the loss of opportunities for
brand presence.
For the Traditional Fan zone at the stadium it is indicated, that presence is limited to the fans
who get access.
22% of the votes go to Host city Fan zone and match day stadium with the reason of budget
issues or logistical issues.
11% each go for the Host city Fan zone or none of the concepts and indicate it is a must to
be present at the stadium with the sponsor brand.
4. Survey

40
FIFA Partner section only on other tournaments than the FIFA World Cup™ or FIFA
Confederations Cup:
Who (local or HQ) decides whether a commercial display is activated for small tournaments?
83% of the sponsors indicate the decision is taken in the local market of a host country.
Only 17% take the decision at their headquarters.
What are the influencing criteria that sponsors activate a commercial display?
18% of the sponsors vote are given each to the Host country and budget, 14% go to
sponsorship objectives.
10% of the votes go to the commercial representation in the country, the Fan zone set-up of
FIFA, and the Host city.
7% each are given to the match schedule or the tournament which is not important.
3% of the votes go to existing commercial display booths and the participation of other
sponsors.
No votes are given to the event promotion of FIFA.
What are the reasons in case sponsors do not activate in a country they have no commercial
representation?
100% of the sponsors do not activate a commercial display at a tournament in a country
where they are not commercially represented. Reasons indicated are:
 Unwise spend of resources
 Not meaningful compared to commercially represented countries
 Lack of on-site staff to manage the activation
 Country not commercially relevant
Which is their preferred alternative Fan zone set-up for other FIFA competitions and why?
Preference:
60% of the votes consider the Host city Fan zone as the most suitable for their commercial
display activation. Comments are that such set-up attracts more people than just the football-
affiliated groups.
40% vote for the Host city Fan zone and match day at the stadium because of the ability to
choose the most ideal location.
4. Survey

41
No preference:
50% of the sponsors vote for the Host city Fan entertainment area, the other 50% to none of
the concepts. It is also indicated, that budget is an issue and the FIFA competition itself as
the interest varies.
General comments on the alternative FIFA Fan zone set-ups for other FIFA competitions are:
 More creative ideas for the FIFA Fan zone are asked by the sponsors
 Budget is an issue
 Location is key
 Driving traffic should be a priority
Outlook:
In part five, the actual objectives of the master thesis are evaluated in light of the findings of
the sponsor survey and the theory input of the conceptual framework.
4. Survey

42
5. Conclusion
Considering the main objectives of this master thesis, as outlined in paragraph 1.3 on p. 5,
conditions from the conceptual framework and the compiled outcome of the survey help to
interpret the sponsor views on the following key objectives:
Understand the importance of commercial display in the sponsors’ brand communication as
an instrument to interact with the fans
Sponsorship as such plays a very important role in the brand communication of the
sponsors. This reflects that sponsorship as instrument has a great potential to contribute to
brand building in a number of ways (“Brand building with sponsorship”, p. 22). Given the long
relationship between FIFA and most of the sponsors, it seems an essential and
indispensable part of their communication. As listed under 2.4 “Sponsorship characteristics”,
p. 20, sponsorship mobilizes organizations, provides experiences or creates brand exposure.
The commercial display as such is only considered an important tool as part of the sponsors’
Live com. Since Live com incorporates presence, articulation, reciprocity, staging, emotion
and effect (see “Defining live com”, p. 14), sponsors have recognized the potential of a
commercial display to demonstrate products and brand experience. But they may also be
aware that the actual commercial display at a stadium is limited to the ticketholders, whose
primary interest is the game, which distinct event and Fan zone (see p. 19). The stadium Fan
zone is a supporting instrument to the main happening, the sports event.
With the exception of three sponsors, all others were present with a commercial display
during the recent 2010 FIFA World Cup™ with a commercial display in one or several
stadiums (see annex I, p. 55). However, the major part of them did not promote their
commercial display in any way before the event and only concentrated on the actual
activation. In order to realize maximum achievement with the planned event, the three stages
of activation need to be considered: pre-, during and post-event (see “Event as instrument”,
p. 17). Covering invitations, campaigns or viral campaigns at pre-event stage or ads, letters
and PR for post-event.
The sponsors who actually advertised their commercial display around the tournament used
ads in the official programme, their own football-related website or via viral campaigns.
Ideally, it is implemented as part of an IMC approach (see “Criteria of IMC”, p. 12) in order to
leave multi-channel brand impressions and enhance brand contacts (see p. 12). Also, public
relations, media invitations and the FIFA Fan guide are used for pre-tournament
communication on the commercial display. Media invitations are a success factor that can be
monitored (“Monitoring Live com success at events”, p. 19).
5. Conclusion

43
Concerning the collection of fan data during a competition, this is only actively done by a
small number of the sponsors either by questionnaires or consent forms in addition to their
main interaction with the fans. Hence it is not an integral part of their general live com
concept (see “Decision-making process”, p. 16), which can be given by the nature of the
sponsor’s product category. Or the execution of commercial display is more related to fan
experience to form an event/customer bond “Brand building with sponsorship”, point 6, p. 22)
than to data collection.
Looking at post-event actions related to the commercial display, activities by the sponsors
are very limited and if so, focus on public relations or viral campaigns. Both can be measured
regarding effectiveness and efficiency. Events are cost intensive and since a mega event like
the FIFA World Cup™ attracts global media attention (see p. 18), it may be a better
investment for sponsors to allocate budget for targeting general IMC (see “Objectives of
IMC”, p. 12) or sponsorship objectives (section 2.4, “Sponsorship objectives”, p. 21),
especially since the target group of ticketholders, that have access to a commercial display,
is limited at this stage.
Analyze the sponsors’ decision-making on the commercial display project and understand
their success factors to realize maximum achievement
The general decision whether a commercial display is activated or not is taken by the
headquarters by the majority of the sponsors. This might reflect that the strategic
sponsorship decisions are made centrally in order to align the various activations within the
sponsorship concept (“Issues in Live com”, p. 15) in order to connect with the multi-cultural
target group on-site (see “Sponsorship activations onsite”, p. 22).
Most of the sponsors indicate that budget and sponsorship objectives are part of their
decision-making for a commercial display. These criteria are sponsor driven especially since
their objectives determine how the money is invested (as seen in figure 3, p. 16).
Geographically, the host country and the sponsor’s representation in a country are named,
followed by the host city. Both, the selection of the host country and host cities are FIFA
driven factors that cannot be influenced by the sponsors and are part of the overall
commitment when a sponsor buys into the FIFA property (see 1.1., “Background”, p. 1).
However, this is only valid for the senior event like FIFA World Cup™ and the FIFA
Confederations Cup (see list p. 2). For all other competitions, where FIFA Partners have
rights, it is mostly not known at the time of signing where the next competition will be staged.
This forms a potential risk in sponsorship (see “Risks”, p. 23) but also for the event, since
5. Conclusion

44
other competitions may only be promoted by the FIFA Partners and National Supporters (see
figure 1, p. 3).
Other important criteria mentioned are the location and the opportunity to display sponsor
products close to the fans.
Very few votes were given to the participation of the other sponsors or an existing
commercial display booth that could be reused (see “Next steps”, p. 50).
Other FIFA influenced criteria mentioned are the Fan zone set-up as well as the event
promotion through FIFA or the match schedule. All three are not in the scope of this master
thesis and will have to be analyzed separately.
Find out how success of a commercial display is monitored
Half of the sponsors who activated a commercial display at the 2010 FIFA World Cup™
indicate that success was below expectations. The reasons provided are poor location, poor
management of the spectator flow, difficult logistics and a limited window of activation. This
may be true and has to be analyzed further (see “Next steps”, p. 50). However, no indication
was given to a potentially poor or incomplete commercial display concept of a sponsor.
Potential issues in Live com can be found in planning, implementation and monitoring (see
p. 14). Or even one level up, in the decision-making whether live com is the best instrument
to reach the target group (see figure 3, p. 16). It would have been interesting to find out,
whether the fans who were seeking entertainment at the respective commercial displays,
were entertain so poorly by the brand, that a negative brand contact occurred (“Brand
contacts”, p. 12). In such case, a thorough and consecutive sponsor objective-setting and
monitoring plan is mandatory for the next commercial display project (“Issues in Live com”,
p. 14).
Monitoring criteria used range from estimated number of fans at the commercial display,
FIFA research (see annex IV, p. 75-76), press coverage, budget spending, feedback from
on-site staff to sales figures. Key however to monitor success at all is the setting of
objectives which are measurable (see p. 17) either through own monitoring or reliable other
sources. However, the potential issues of cause and effect, time lag and relation status need
to be considered in the achievement analysis (“Monitoring Live com success at events”,
p. 19).
5. Conclusion

Master Thesis: Fan zone at football events - more than just a Commercial Display

Master Thesis: Fan zone at football events - more than just a Commercial Display

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