Coca-Cola showcased appealling marketing activations to leverage its partnership with the 2010 FIFA World Cup. The Trophy tour and the Celebrations ad are good examples. With the Coca-Cola celebration award recently given to Tshabalala, the Atlanta firm is capitalizing on the World Cup momentum, by adding a strong CSR component and engaging football fans. Another benchmark of how global football brands display their CSR initiatives by leveraging their products and simulteneously activating their marketing rights in the smartest possible way.

The first goal scored in the 2010 FIFA World Cup by Tshabalala against Mexico was chosen by millions fans worldwide as the most iconic celebration of the World Cup. Siphiwe Tshabalala earned the first ever “Coca-Cola Celebration award”. Coca-Cola engaged football fans to decide on the winner through an online vote. 

For every goal scored at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Coca-Cola donated $1,500 contribution to the Company’s “Water for Schools”. It’s an initiative to provide clean water access to schools across the African continent. With 145 goals scored, $217,500 was raised to fund the project and an additional $50,000 was donated on behalf of Tshabalala bringing the total amount raised to $267,500. By participating in the voting, football fans have had a hand in supporting clean water initiatives that will leave a lasting legacy of water sustainability in Africa and beyond.The “Water for Schools” program is just one part of the $30 million “Replenish Africa Initiative” (RAIN) by Coca-Cola to provide at least 2 million people in Africa with clean water and improved sanitation by 2015.

Emmanuel Seuge, group Director, worldwide sports and entertainment marketing, commented on this initiative: “Fans from around the world have voted for their favorite goal celebrations”. Throughout our 2010 FIFA World Cup campaign, we’ve encouraged them to let go of their inhibitions and celebrate. The Coca-Cola Celebration Award was another way we brought fans closer to the celebration of the FIFA World Cup while also leaving an important legacy for the host continent.” [Source: The Coca-Cola Company.com].

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Hello everyone,

On June 18, I wrote an article on how non World Cup sponsors are linking their brand to the biggest football event. Consumer’s awareness on Nike as a World Cup partner significantly increased. I based my sources on a survey The Nielsen Company carried out from May 7th to June 6th 2010, therefore before World Cup starts.

NM Incite, Nielsen Mc Kinsey Company, issued a follow up survey from June 11-25th*, and the results is worth looking at. In fact, the World Cup sponsors are now trusting the VIP seats of having their brands associated to the FIFA World Cup.

In the “Nike wrote its future” article, I pointed out that although not being a FIFA Sponsor, Nike managed to link its brand to the World Cup. This achievement is strongly due to many elements. The “write the future” marketing campaign contributed to a huge online buzz. On field, Nike sponsored 9 Federations during the World Cup** with key players such as Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Drogba regardless of their  performances (which were poor). Another element to consider is Nike positioning itself as the football brand caring for the environment.

However, since World Cup started on June 11, adidas recovered and positioned itself at the top of the World Cup brand recognition. Indeed a follow up survey from The Nielsen Company (from June 11th-25th) points out that in the first two weeks of the tournament adidas overtook Nike as the top brand. “Adidas buzz accounted for 25.1% share of World Cup buzz online compared to 14.4% before the event. Nike, meanwhile, dropped from 30.2% to 19.4%.”

Ironically, the Jabulani controverse strongly contributed to this recovering.  The first week of the World Cup, 8% of all english World Cup related messages were about the matchball. This said, adidas sponsored 12 Federations in South Africa,  is the official matchball supplier, launched a very well received UMU campaign about unity and diversity, benefits from ad boards exposure, and sponsors  world class players Lionel Messi, Villa and Robben to name a few. Those elements did play a key role.

Pepsi also did some great efforts to associate its brand to the World Cup. The Pepsi ad launched before World Cup starring Henry, Messi, Kaka, Lampard and Drogba was a big success. However, the official World Cup beverage brand, Coca-Cola received more football apraisal than its competitor. Not only Coca-Cola did launch a cool ad celebrating……football celebrations, but Coke also executed a fantastic World Cup  Trophy Tour worldwide.

The survey also emphasised on the fact that other official sponsors managed, with smart marketing activations, to link their brand and image to the FIFA World Cup. Hyundai/Kia for instance (from 2.4% to 4.7%) and McDonald’s (2.8% to 4.2%).  The overall share of buzz for the 10 official World Cup partners/sponsors increased from 52% to 66% since the start of the tournament.

Bottom line is that sponsorship is vital for big sporting events. However, being a sponsor of the FIFA  World Cup or the Olympics is NOT a guarantee for marketing success and significant return on investment. I would even say that creativity, inovation and smartness must be a priority for sponsors, as it is proven that their competitors are not asleep!

** Although Umbro belongs to the Nike Group, I do not count the Umbro brand within the Nike ones.

* The NM Incite follow-up study compared the share of online buzz between World Cup sponsors and their major competitors in relation to the World Cup in the run up to the event (month-long period ending June 6th) and during the first two weeks of the tournament (11th -25th June). English language World Cup-related messages on blogs, message boards, groups, video and image sites – including Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter – were monitored for the study.

The World Cup in South Africa has dominated the airwaves (social and traditional) for the past month and much of the recent conversation has been around the ‘ambush marketing’ tactics we have seen from non official sponsors like Nike and Pepsi and how they stole a march on their official sponsor competitors, Adidas and Coca-Cola. While the balance seems to have now been addressed it was interesting to see how the media landscape has shifted in the last four years (since the last tournament) to such an extent that sponsorship of a major event is no longer enough, on its own, to command the lions’ share of audience attention and WOM.

This is the first World Cup that we have had established, organized social media channels  and they have moved the goalposts in terms of what is needed to be covered in corporate marketing mixes to own the airwaves and conversations between fans. Sponsorship used to be all you needed to do to ‘own’ the conversation and dominate WOM. You now need a fully integrated program that covers all the channels and that includes social media along with TV, offline and exposure in the stadiums.

Nike showed, with their ‘write the future’ video, that you don’t need to be a sponsor to create viral content around a context and get the same or increased return…plus they bought well placed 30 sec ad slots in the key games encouraging viewers to head online to see the full version. In contrast, Adidas focused far more on social media at the expense of heavy TV ads…and this may be why Nike were able to steal the jump on them so early in the tournament.

Commercial partners of sporting events, or any other event for that matter need to cover all the bases. Use the exclusive relationship they have with the event to generate exclusive content that they can give to their online audience as well as realizing the traditional channels should not be ignored but rather weaved into the overall communication strategy. Being a major sponsor for an event is a huge advantage and one that can provide significant value over the competition…but it isn’t enough on its own anymore.

For those who are familiar with my posts, I have pointed out the major football brands, and the key players in football marketing. Most of them are either FIFA sponsors or FIFA partners. The FIFA World Cup sponsors benefit from a tremendous marketing platform to showcase their producs, link their brand image to the biggest football event in the world, promote  online and offline activities, engage with consumers,  and ultimately have an exclusive component as an official sponsor.

The strategy to heavily invest in being a FIFA sponsor could be justified based on the above mentioned advantages. However, a recent survey by The Nielsen Company* showed that Nike was more frequently linked to the World Cup than any of the tournament’s official partners and sponsors. The survey analyzed online blogs, social networking platforms and came to the conclusion that the Swoosh was fully part of the FIFA World Cup landscape, and engraved in consumer’s minds.

With no doubt, the huge online buzz made by the “write the future” campaign strongly contributed to put Nike under the football spotlights. The viral was launched mid-may and had more than 3 million viewers the first week. So far, 14 million viewers enjoyed the video online.  Nike’s biggest stars were featured in the video:  Drogba, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rooney and even Kobe Bryant, Roger Federer and Homer Simpson. Not sure the latter is a Nike athlete though.

HIGHEST SHARE OF ONLINE WORLD CUP BUZZ (Sponsors vs. Competitors)

Source: The Nielsen Company
**Share of online buzz across the 10 sponsors/partners with a global footprint and two of their major competitors in English language messages related to the World Cup from May 7 to June 6.

I pointed out in a previous article, that Nike, adidas, Puma are widely acknowledged as football brands. It seems that not being a FIFA (nor UEFA) sponsor does not stop Nike from succesfully link its brand to the biggest football competition. The “Write the Future” campaign only did not contribute to those facts. It must be added that Nike sponsors 9 teams at World Cup, provides outfit to several players including superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and many others. On top of that, on February 25, the Swoosh launched a powerful campaign “taking ownership” of the sustainable component in football.

This strategy seem to pay off as Nike has managed to leverage its brands, products, activities in football around the World Cup without being a sponsor i.e without paying any sponsorship fees to FIFA.

Let me add one thing. I do remember back in 1994 after the World Cup in the US, a statement from Phil Knight (Co-Founder and CEO of Nike) about football. His goal was to make Nike THE global football brand.  I was a student at that time and was quite doubtful about this objective. To me, Nike was a Basketball brand with Michael Jordan as an icon, period.  I bet I was not the only one. However, one year later, Nike partnered with CBF (The Brazil National Team) then with, players, european clubs etc.

The results and facts speak for themselves, but what is interesting to point out is that this achievement has been done without being a FIFA sponsor or partner. Other brands such as Carlsberg and Pepsi are adopting a similar strategy although the results are not yet to be compared with Nike’s.

Don’t get me wrong, by no means do I say that it is not worth it to be a FIFA sponsor. I think  the contrary. It is key for a brand to associate with FIFA hence World Cup and benefit from all sponsorship components. Nevertheless, I must be pointed out that some brands, and in the present case, Nike managed to create a strong link between their brand and an event they do not sponsor. I would echo Pete Blackshaw (Executive vice president of digital strategy at The Nielsen Company) “If you’re a company with a large global footprint, it’s natural to want to associate yourself with a major worldwide event like the World Cup”

I am a big believer in strong competition. It makes other brands work harder, be more creative, think out of the box, and keep the stimulation flow on. For sure, the other football brands will strike back, and it’s….”for the good of the game” right?

I would be delighted to hear your thoughts.

Karl

*Nielsen’s study, conducted between May 7^th to June 6^th 2010, looked at English language World Cup-related messages on blogs, message boards, groups, video and image sites – including Flickr, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter – that mentioned at least one of the 10 official FIFA partners and sponsors with a global footprint or two of their top competitors (30 brands in all).

With the World Cup in full swing and England about the face the old enemy Germany in the last 16 there is an alternative way in which to find out the last news and views.  iSport Global and Synappsis have launched the must-have World Cup app every England fan will be desperate to own.

‘Geoff Hurst’s England 2010’ features exclusive video, daily World Cup diaries, competitions and all the latest news, scores and group standings from South Africa.

Sir Geoff will add video analysis of all England’s opponents, his thoughts on other teams and the players to watch out for during the tournament. The former West Ham, Stoke and WBA striker will also tweet on anything that catches his eye throughout the African tournament.

Using iTouch unique flick gestures users can slide through his bio, honours and profile before moving on to his own personal picture gallery and exclusive videos.  The latest news comes from Sir Geoff’s daily diary, so you know what is happening, as it happens.  Users will also be able to enter unique competitions for signed Sir Geoff shirts every time England play throughout the World Cup.*

Once 50,000 downloads have occurred iSport Global will draw one lucky winner at random to win a meal with seven members of the 1966 World Cup winning squad at a Gary Rhodes restaurant (Terms and conditions apply).  When they reach 100,000 users, iSport Global will draw one lucky user at random for the ultimate fan experience – a private meal for two with Geoff at his favourite London restaurant.

The app is available to all iPhone, iPad and iTouch users.  So join England’s legend of ‘football’s coming home’ as you cheer the Three Lions on with ‘Geoff Hurst’s England 2010’ app.  Its available in the Apple store and iTunes right now.

Follow Geoff @ twitter.com/sirgeoffhurst and his Facebook page.

A different way to follow the World Cup with the legend that is!  If you know of any other unique/different apps, technologies or places of interest then let us know.

There were fears before the World Cup and now it is becoming a reality.  Attendances at some of the games have been lower than expected and the blame is being firmly laid at the doorsteps of corporate, foreign and government ticket holders.

FIFA is said to be pleased with the overall attendances, which are slightly higher than at the same stage in Germany in 2006.  But some of the figures are being disputed as games that have been declared sell outs, just 4 of the 11 so far, despite empty seats and boxes clearly visible to those attending. 

“We have made some group sales to large organisations and companies, but some ticket holders have not come. We are not talking about unsold tickets, we are talking about sold tickets which have not been occupied,” said a FIFA spokesman.

“What we have realised in our investigations is that some ticket holders, including international ticket holders, have not turned up. We clearly recognise this [the empty seats] but you have to recognise the bigger picture. It’s not nice to see empty seats in a stadium but the attendances are good.”

Sales of general tickets have been hampered by a lack of internet access amongst locals and a lack of football culture amongst the more affluent white population but the global recession has also had an impact on the sale of corporate hospitality packages, which have been a great source of income for host countries in the past.

Leading international corporate hospitality provider PROSKE group’s head of sports, Andreja Wieser, says: “Without doubt the economic down-turn has had an impact on the sale of hospitality seats reserved for corporations and sponsors at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The result of this will be that more unsold tickets will go back onto the open market. In such cases, the demand for lower end hospitality will be higher.

“The economic downturn has affected people´s perception of hospitality. Corporations and sponsors have become more cautious about buying hospitality packages, programmes or tickets. At the same time, people´s perceptions on whether to accept hospitality invitations or not has changed, too. The last thing that people want to see in times of downturns is spending unnecessary money. Corporate decision makers look harder to see whether the use of hospitality is justifiable and ensure that there is no over-indulgence. In times of recession, companies want to ensure that high costs for large events are a secure investment.”

But Wieser believes that corporate hospitality still has a value at international sports competitions.

She added: “Hospitality at major sporting events is still used as a popular marketing tool for global corporations. Major sports events such as the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, may continue counting on their unbowed popularity and remain an attractive platform for sponsors due to its high popularity. Sporting events have always been popular choices for corporate hospitality and can bring long term benefits. Face to face corporate hospitality is vital in developing and sustaining business relations. It is the sustainability that matters and makes the difference.”

We shall see if the situation improves as we move into the knock-out stages later in the month but for now the site of empty boxes and seats is going to be here to stay. 

 Would love to hear from you in you are one of the ‘stay away’ fans who have bought tickets but not made the journey or if you have a view on the situation….

South Africa 2010 is being billed as the ‘most social’ Football / Soccer World Cup of our generation.

However, if you have a dig around the official website for this year’s tournament, you don’t really get that impression – in fact, it almost seems like FIFA are ‘anti’ social media.

When assessing how ‘social’ an event is being pitched / marketed, the first stop is usually the website of the body in charge.

I spent about 10 minutes on http://www.fifa.com/worldcup home page (and subsequent pages) earlier today and couldn’t find any of the following:

- A link to an official FIFA Twitter account
- A link to an official FIFA Facebook page
- A RSS feed icon (although you will find one if you go to the media centre correction, there is a RSS feed icon on the home page, embedded under the news section, my apologies)
- A mention of the an official Twitter hashtag (#WC2010 seems to be the fan’s choice FYI – even   whatthehashtag.com doesn’t feature an explanation)

Note: There is no obvious YouTube link either but this is probably down to rights holders / contracts as opposed to a willingness to use that platform.

This is in stark contrast to most of the other major sporting events / bodies operating in 2010.

Just a couple months ago I looked at the NCAA Basketball Tournament (aka March Madness) via a blog post and discovered that they were doing a pretty decent job.

Most importantly, the very basics i.e. clearly signposted icons linking visitors to social media platforms, were clearly visible (see below).

Google

The next obvious stop is Google – perhaps the almighty search engine could direct me to the official social media properties of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

I conducted a simple test search: “2010 FIFA World Cup on Twitter”.

The top five results that came back were:

http://twitter.com/fifaworldcupsa - A ‘FIFA’ World Cup account (but not one that appears ‘official’)

http://twitter.com/2010oc - The SA 2010 Oranising Committee account

http://twitter.com/fifaworldcuptm - This appears to be the ‘real thing’ but it’s not verified and without a link on FIFA.com pointing me to it, I am somewhat dubious.

http://twitter.com/FIFA_news  - This took a little extra effort to find but appears officially ‘official’

http://twitter.com/2010FIFAcup - Another account using the tournament logo and FIFA name, but doesn’t appear to be official

With the recent events surrounding @BPGlobalPR and various similar instances, trusting Twitter accounts is becoming more and more difficult.

The most obvious way to get around that is to feature blatantly obvious links from official websites or to have accounts verified.

What’s the score?

If I was to put my ‘fan’ hat on, I’d be a little confused.

Not just because FIFA appear to be making it particularly challenging for me to follow the tournament via the platforms I am immersed in everyday, but the official tournament sponsors seems to be doing LOADS.

For a comprehensive summary of what FIFA’s sponsors are doing around this World Cup, click here.

After having worked with the Cricket Australia for many years, I know how much sponsors attempt to own as many properties as possible – or, at the very least, conduct activity that is very different to the other associated partners.

Even at my most cynical, I can’t imagine FIFA is taking a gentle approach to social media because of sponsor rights / deals.

It just seems odd…very odd.

Best in class?

If you take a look at some of the other leading sporting bodies around the world, you’ll see how much they have embraced social media.

The NBA is probably the best example.

More than 2.5 million people ‘like’ the NBA on Facebook.

Nearly 2 million people follow the NBA on Twitter.

NBA.com even has an official guide to Twitter featuring current and former players, commentators, teams and much more.

Why is this so perplexing?

Without knowing the ins and outs of FIFA, I don’t really think I or anyone else is in a position to throw stones.

There may be a perfectly logical explanation (or an even more compelling commercial reason).

But, with less than a week to go until the greatest sporting event in the world begins, I am curious as to why these basics haven’t been covered off.

My hope is the heatwave currently smothering Europe is the reason I can’t find what I was looking for at FIFA.com - maybe you’ll log on tomorrow and the Twitter and Facebook icons will smack you right in the face?

If you do have the answers to any of these questions please let me know (especially as I am more than five months into my ‘newspaper-less’ experiment and keeping up with the World Cup via social media is my only ticket to the dance this year).

It is still very (very) early days for social media, especially for global organisations often constricted by layers of approvals, so I don’t think we can be too hard on who’s in charge of social media at FIFA…but a couple of icons and some direction as to official accounts would be super!!

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Herbert Hainer, CEO Adidas, speaks openly and honestly about his efforts to knock Nike off the Top Spot in 2010 by leveraging the firm’s $200 million World Cup sponsorship push to its full advantage.

Currently within spitting distance of Nike’s 2007 €11.1 billion revenue, Herbert explains how the World Cup equates to big wins for brands like Adidas in terms of sponsorship, advertising and exposure. “The World Cup is definitely the biggest event for us,” he admits, adding that football is in the DNA of the sporting giant.

A global presence

Already it is widely known that Adidas will have the greatest sanctioned presence during this month’s FIFA World Cup. Not only is the brand an official top-tier partner of the tournament, but it also sponsors the highest number of teams competing in the finals – boasting the likes of Argentina, France, Spain, Germany, and host nation South Africa among those teams that will be brandishing the famous three-stripe logo. As such, Herbert promises to capitalise on such marketing investment with new and exciting products to market.

“In my opinion this industry is clearly product-driven and the product is innovation. Innovation, in my opinion, is the key to success.” Herbert continues, “we have to bring out one complete new innovative product every season, and so far we have even exceeded this promise. We are bringing permanently new, innovative products to the market, and I think this is one of the key success factors for us.”

Such innovative thinking does not go unnoticed. For the 11th year in succession, for instance, Adidas has earned the right to field their version of a world-class official ball. The “Jabulani” ball, which means “to celebrate” in Bantu, will be used by the world’s biggest sports stars this summer as a result.

The innovation of the Adidas ball, is mind-blowing. Featuring completely new, ground-breaking technology, the ball is constructed of eight 3-D spherically formed EVA and TPU panels that are moulded together, resulting in an energetic unit combined with perfect roundness. In addition, it seems the number 11 adds further symbolism to the ball, not only signifying the 11^th year that Adidas have created the official World Cup ball, but also highlighting other heavy cultural references: the 11 tribes of South Africa; and the number of players in a football team. And, in honour of this, 11 colours are used on the official design.

Nike, meanwhile, are fighting back. Adidas’ biggest rivals recently released an advertising video that when viral in just 10 days, with over 8.5 million plays on YouTube. The question now is, as competition heats up on the field, how will these sporting giants face the music off the pitch as well?

I have to put my hands up right from the outset and admit that I only have a casual interest in football. A quick scan of the results and league tables on a Saturday afternoon and the all too occasional trip to the Madejski Stadium to watch The Royals play but that’s about it.

My career has been entirely consumed by fast cars whizzing around race tracks, but thankfully I do realise that there is more than one Alonso in the sporting world. But whenever the World Cup comes around, an unexplainable sense of national pride takes over and I find myself wanting to fill the vacuum in my head where the previous four years of football knowledge would otherwise have been stored.

Recently, I have persuaded my 5-year-old son to start collecting Panini stickers for this year’s 2010 South Africa World Cup. Again, I have to be honest, this was initially more an excuse for me to recreate a childhood hobby than providing my son with a new pastime, but thankfully for both of us, he has more than come around to the idea.

With Nigeria and Ivory Coast fast filling up, it dawned on me that the classic Panini sticker album is a classic social media tool. It is about a company using an international sporting event to tap into the wider public conscience and attract a long-lasting brand association.

My first Panini album was Mexico ’86, a contest best remembered by English fans for Diego Maradona’s Hand of God and Gary Lineker’s Golden Boot. Four year later, Italia ’90, think Schillaci, Gascoigne, Roger Milla. All of these things stick firmly in my mind and for someone with a self-admitted passing interest in football that’s quite something. It proves the power of football extends far beyond the loyal fans who frequent the terraces and embrace the sport as if it were their own creation.  

Panini’s sticker albums allow kids (and us big kids) to get passionate about a sport that might otherwise have been just on the periphery of interest. Just last week, Joshua (that’s my son) and I had a Charlie Bucket moment, when the silvery foil of one of the album’s team emblems glistened out of the packet. That is a moment of triumph, a feeling of obtaining one of the book’s more elusive stickers. I recalled with clarity that same feeling all those years ago and the feeling of triumph when we completed a team’s double page (the first one I finished for Italia 90 was Sweden and I chose them as my adopted team after England).

The social aspect of sticker collecting, of course, comes with the frustrating concept of swaps. There is nothing more frustrating than finding stickers in your pack that you have already got, especially if you’ve been waiting all week for a new pack.  But then comes the opportunity to exchange with your mates… Just like Facebook, Flickr, Twitter, any of today’s social media platforms, it is the ultimate sharing experience, learning from each other, drawing upon each other’s involvement. Who doesn’t remember the playground monotony of ‘Got…got…got…need…got…got…need’.

In a world where iPads, 3D HD Plasma screens and endless websites are offering fully interactive media options, it is refreshing that Panini sticker albums still exist. It may be my advancing years, my thirty-something tendency for nostalgia, but I hope Panini sticker albums continue to find their rightful place in households the world over and continue to unite sports fans around the world. As FIFA’s portfolio of partners and World Cup sponsors explore new ways to tap into this stream of public interest in the World Cup, to find new ways to activate their already costly sponsorship deals and to experiment with this still unexplained ‘social media’ concept, just look at Panini, a fifty year old Italian company who have been tapping into a much more traditional form of social and personal activity for decades and with such global success.

Now does anybody need Lukas Podsolski?

Tuesday, ( 1^st June), was a massive day for the England national team, and for us the fans, as this was the day England’s final 23 man squad for the upcoming World Cup was announced.

A day which started out with great promise for the FA ended up being a very mixed one, and one that they probably learnt a lot about the social media world from, so without further ado – The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

The Good.

The day started very well for the FA, with the launch of their new “Believe in England” Facebook app which allows fans to get their very own England squad number and display it on their Facebook profile.

The app seems to have exploded onto the scene, I discovered the app early on in the day and got the squad number 323, and in just over a day there are now 29,214England fans (as of 10am Wednesday) who have claimed their squad number.

The numbers 1-23 are taken up by the England players, with a number of shirts also given away to famous England fans such as Tim Lovejoy and Ray Winstone. Other special numbers include 66 representing  the Bobby Moore foundation, 2012 representing The London Olympics and representing the England 2018 World Cup bid.

This app is a great way for the FA to spread their “Believe in England” message and also drive greater connection and engagement with fans.

The Bad.

There was mass speculation around who will be the unlucky 7 dropped from the squad since England’s game against Japan, and this speculation naturally came to a boiling point on Tuesday with thousands upon thousands of England fans predicting who would be dropped and who would make it.

The FA had said that the official squad will be announced on TheFA.com at some point Tuesday, and of course there was always going to be speculation amongst fans and I’m sure the FA expected this – it’s when this speculation started to come from various journalists and respected news sources that it all started to gain a head of steam.

From what I understand Fabio Cappello wanted to speak to the 7 dropped players personally and let them know about his decision, and I think that is the best way he could have handled the situation – if you’re dropped from a World Cup squad the least you deserve is a personal message, and I think Cappello was spot on with this approach.

Where this approach fell down however was via social media – had the FA underestimated the power of Twitter? And the speed at which news can travel nowadays?

With the 7 players seemingly being told that they’d been dropped at different times throughout the afternoon, it was always going to be difficult to keep it under wraps. News of Darren Bent’s exclusion was first to break and was confirmed on Twitter by one of his friends, and the biggest story of the day – Theo Walcott’s absence from the squad – broke soon after, and I believe one national paper had even run a story about this on their website well before the official squad announcement.

By the time The FA Tweeted this message “Plenty of speculation about #EnglandSquad, but rest assured this and TheFA.com will be the first place you hear confirmation of final 23” at around 2 O’clock most of the fans already knew the major stories and could name at least 5 of the dropped players.

As I said earlier maybe the FA had underestimated the power of social media and what started out as a big win for the FA with the launch of their “Believe in England” app, turned into a bit of a shambles with the squad announcement, and as Chris Hughes said in his recent article: Did they really expect the rejected players to keep quiet in the many hours between the dreaded phone call and the FA announcement?

The Ugly.

From early on Tuesday morning the FA said that the official squad announcement would be put up on TheFA.com, which initially I thought made sense as it would be easily accessible (I thought).

However, from around lunch time if you wanted to check the FA’s official website you were going to struggle, the site was taking an age to load – I’m guessing due to the high volume of traffic seeking out the final England 23 – and eventually I just gave up with checking the site and found all the information I needed via social media. I wasn’t alone in doing this either, I noticed many other Tweets from people complaining about troubles with TheFA.com.

In the end I didn’t look at the official site to see the final squad, I already knew most of it from Tweets and speculation flying around, once the squad was confirmed (and even before) the news was up on hundreds of other sources (which all loaded).

In hindsight, maybe TheFA.com wasn’t the best place to announce the final squad?

Conclusion.

I’ve not written this article to get on the back of The FA, and I hope it doesn’t come across this way. It’s great that they are getting involved in social media and as I stated at the top of this article their new Facebook page and App is brilliant and a great way to further engage fans prior to the World Cup, I just feel that their approach to social media with regards to the squad announcement and also their website could have done with a bit more planning.

How do you feel the FA could have handled this situation better?