Outplaying FIFA: how Levi’s scored a goal with its “non-campaign”

The FIFA World Cup is a golden opportunity for a brand to shine in front of millions of viewers whose full attention is focused on this sporting event for an entire month. But what happens when you are banished from the field of play? If you know how to use marketing to your advantage, you can turn the score around and transform that obstacle into a viral brand campaign. That is exactly what Levi’s has done.

Only official sponsors are allowed

According to official FIFA data, “Nearly five billion people engaged with the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and followed the tournament across a range of platforms and devices throughout the virtual universe.” That is an enormous reach that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association wants to reserve exclusively for its official sponsors.

To that end, FIFA is enforcing a very aggressive policy that limits brand visibility inside stadiums exclusively to companies sponsoring the 2026 World Cup. In some cases, such as food products sold inside the venues, the solution is as “simple” as covering logos with labels. However, this strategy is also being implemented on a much larger scale, leading to large tarps being used to cover branded visual elements that decorate or form part of stadium infrastructure.

Likewise, FIFA has also changed the names of those stadiums that will host matches during the competition and include brand names. Some examples include Gillette Stadium, which will temporarily become Boston Stadium; Mercedes-Benz Stadium, renamed Atlanta Stadium; and Levi’s Stadium, which will become San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.

FIFA’s commercial restrictions have been applied before in previous editions of the World Cup with the aim of favoring its official sponsors, but this year they have been especially striking given the context of stadiums in the United States, Mexico, and Canada, where nearly every venue has a naming rights agreement with a commercial brand.

Levi’s turns a crisis into an opportunity

Among the brands affected by FIFA’s measures is fashion label Levi’s, which has had to hide the logo displayed prominently on Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, United States. Even though Levi’s has held the stadium’s naming rights since 2013, because it is not among FIFA World Cup’s official sponsors, it cannot promote itself during the competition.

Even so, Levi’s has managed to capitalize on the situation. The fact that the tarp used to cover the logo perfectly matches its shape, which is highly recognizable, means that anyone can guess what is hiding underneath. The brand has leaned into this with humor on its social media, posting a video that shows it from different angles with the caption “Welcoming the world to the beautiful [redacted] stadium!”

 

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A post shared by Levi’s (@levis)

And, to complete the play, Levi’s has changed its profile image on social media so that it now shows its logo covered with a white cloth. The result is a well-executed branding campaign that highlights Levi’s strong brand recognition among the public. And, in the process, it pokes fun at FIFA’s extravagant measures which, in trying to reward its sponsors, have ended up directing attention to that giant white target.

Photo: Levi’s Instagram