5th blog

Coca Cola, McDonald's, EDF and Budweiser have all stood out as World Cup brands. They have all done a good job associating themselves with the event and I can clearly remember where I saw all advertisements. Visa has a brilliant ad. I love the guy starts off fat and basically runs to the world cup and scores!

So many brands are pushing their associations that it is no has an impact. You see everyone basically advertising it so it’s no longer novel! It hasn’t made me consider buying anything from the sponsors either

Since Argentina got knocked out over the weekend 4-0 to Germany I’m not as interested. Still want to see who wins though and I’m behind Spain!

I watched Argentina – Germany in the pub, great atmosphere until they got thrashed!! I think FIFA should definitely bring in goal-line technology, most other sports use it, why not football?

Stupid Decisions and terrible referring

This year’s World Cup has been a very interesting one so far. No team has shown that they are a sure thing with France and Italy exiting early on. It’s very enjoyable to watch some of the smaller or less well off nations holding their own and even beating some of the rich/successful footballing nations.

I have enjoyed it so far but found myself infuriated at some of the decisions made by the refs such as Kaka’s red card. As I mentioned before the “acting” players do when they get “hurt” really puts me off the sport, if they were punished for this then I think the game would become a lot more interesting and there would be a lot less controversy around it. I believe that this World Cup has shown that the incorporation of technology into the game is long overdue e.g. obvious goals being denied and players being sent off for literally not doing anything wrong. This has soured it for me, the better team not always winning because of poor judgment and could even call into question whether some of the decisions made by the referees are totally sincere and not financially/politically driven.

I don’t know if it surprised me but I have noticed how football is a platform from which old rivalries or vendettas renewed and fought. For example take Germany vs. England, this is just like any other England game except.... they are playing Germany. Old wounds from (and this might seem a bit extreme) world wars etc are still apparent amongst many supporters. This might be subconscious but obvious to the outsider. They both want to win but its more than that, if England played the Ivory Coast there wouldn’t be the same drama...

Argentina is my favourite and they are doing very well. As I’m writing this I am watching Argentina vs Mexico. Surprise surprise there has been a goal which was allowed but 2 sec later EVERYONE (including the ref, the linesman, players etc) saw the goal on the big screen, realised the striker was offside. The goal had to be allowed because the linesman hadn’t initially put his flag up. Other than that Argentina are going strong and should progress quite far! (they just scored again!)

Technically I should be getting more and more excited but with so many mistakes with the referring I am becoming less and less interested. In a competition which should be all about the team’s skill, the matches are suffering hugely from poor official judgement, over acting and a lack of fairness. The winner will more than likely have gotten there on the backs of those who have been hard done by...

As far as I’m aware there have not been any events organised throughout London, or even the UK in relation to the World Cup. There has been the introduction of 3D in some pubs and a few cinemas are capitalising on the competition, showing the game on the big screens but not much else. There may be a few extra football leagues running but that is to be expected with the country’s current excitement and immersion into the sport

I have noticed McDonalds and Coke have been doing a lot of advertising around the World Cup which I think is disgraceful. 1000’s of brands would love (and deserve) to be associated with the sport but others are a completely out of place. McDonalds and Coke for example are brands largely responsible for obesity and diabetes. They should NEVER be associated with any sport, never mind at a global level. Do you think the players would go near this stuff? Money is the driver of many things and FIFA is a business but they would have done better to take onboard more brands offering less money.

Just getting started

My favourite moment of the World cup so far (and this might be surprising to most) is when North Korea scored against Brazil! NK played such a good game, they didn’t dive, they have very little international experience (as a squad) and they were holding Brazil to a 0-0 score line. When Brazil scored (and then scored a 2nd time) I felt bad for the Koreans. As a nation they may not be models of perfection but towards the end of the game I didn’t want to see them come away empty handed.
It is (I think) very hard to decide who will get through to the semi’s and to the final. The favourites haven’t exactly impressed (Brazil and Argentina just winning, Spain losing, France/England/Italy/Portugal drawing) but i think we have seen a few glimmers of hope. I think Argentina, Brazil, Germany and either Spain or Paraguay will make it to the semi finals with it being an all South American final Argentina Vs. Brazil.

I think South Africa has done a very good job with the event organisation. I have heard there have been problems with how tickets have been distributed but I believe this is FIFA’s fault. South Africa is still a country with many severe problems (regardless of how far they have come) so to be able to put on a show and provide facilities like these is testament to their love of the game.

The next matches I really want to see are Ivory Coast vs. Brazil and Brazil vs. Portugal but to be honest some of the best matches have been with the slightly less successful teams so I’d also like to see Mexico vs. Uruguay & France vs. Mexico. I will probably watch a few at home during the week with my flatmate and then go to the pub on the weekend and meet up with friends.

I have seen many brands (Mars, Coke, Kit Kat, EDF, UPS etc) advertising either their sponsorship of the World Cup or just supporting the English Team and appearing to be a sponsor. I haven’t really seen anything I’d consider cool though. They have all done very similar advertising, no one really being creative if you ask me and all focusing entirely on brand promotion. That’s fair enough, why spend money for no reason...but I’m 24, male, enjoying the World Cup, work in media, have a sport science background and enjoy going out like most and i have seen nothing original and nothing to really excite and engage with fans. Im sure they could do better!

I think it’s been a little slow so far but once we get to the last group stage games and move on I think that it will get very interesting!

The World Cup begins

Once every four years but I didn’t get to see the start of the World Cup (live as it happened). Like most people I was working but that didn’t stop me trying to find it online. I was able to watch a patchy version of the opening game S. Africa Vs Mexico using the ITV player (I’m presuming the quality and performance was so bad due to the amount of people watching it online too).

It was a little disappointing Nelson Mandela wasn’t able to attend, I’m sure he would have had something very inspirational and interesting to say, to motivate the players and everyone watching and creating a great buzz. The stadium (from what I could see) was awash with yellow jerseys (with a flicker of green). Considering I have no allegiances to either team, I was quite happy for S. Africa to score the opening goal and it would have made an excellent start to the tournament if they managed to win the 1st match!

I have found my iphone is the best tool to use when tracking the World Cup while out and about. The ITV W.C app shows you the highlights, the results and keeps you abreast of the latest news! I was commuting to Ascot on Sat while Korea/Greece and with a combination of radio and apps I was able to follow the match almost flawlessly (unfortunately it doesn’t have the same appeal as watching it on TV). After lunch I managed to watch the Argentina game with my girlfriend and her brother (both half Argentinean) which was quite a good match. As an Argentinean supporter I was quite happy with the result and with 2 natives in the house with me, the atmosphere was brilliant!

Of course it was the England game everyone was excited about seeing and I was curious to see if they could live up to their reputation. The England squad has been cited as one of the favourites by the British press but this isn’t what I saw on Sat... The match was fairly boring with one of two exceptions; I did feel very sorry for England keeper (Robert Green?) when he fumbled the ball, losing their lead over the USA (he will never live that down, especially if it affects England’s chances to progress). I was at Gordon Ramsays 'The Warrington Arms' when this happened, surrounded by both Americans and English. The English cursed while the US cheered, I was waiting for one smart comment to start a row and live up to footballs gorier reputation.
So far during this W.C I have spent a little more time out in the pubs with my friends watching the games or in the flat with the HD tuned in. No one phones, texts or emails each other when there is a good game on, if they aren’t watching it with you, they don’t exist! My flat mate (who is a massive football fan) barely says a thing that isn’t related to the game during a match which can become a bit boring for someone who’s not such a fanatic lol. There is also quite a bit of advertising going on promoting companies links to football or England etc. Sky is the big one for me, they seem to be everywhere!!! This makes sense though considering their links to the game and with TV sales going through the roof; they seem to be trying to convert everyone to their service.
This week I’m planning on watching Brazil vs. Korea DPR, Argen Vs. Korea, England Algeria and Brazil Vs. Côte d'Ivoire. This should be a good week with us getting a good idea whose going through to the next round and who isn’t!

An insight into my World Cup experience

My first WC football blog, and im not really sure where to start...

To be honest I've always considered myself more of a rugby fan. Other than playing a few games, watching the Premiership finals and the World Cup etc I know relatively little about the politics of the game.

When I do watch football it is in a social environment, with friends or colleauges (and only if it is a good game)! Im not interested in Grimsby Town Vs Carlisle United, I want to see two world class evenly matched teams go head to head with lots happening (shots, tackles, fouls etc) and good refereeing (not too strick with the tough tacklers but is stern with divers).

I dont really have a favourite team, I guess I support my local club. While living in Edinburgh it was Hibs (with the other attraction that they are "Irish") but now that im in London my "local" team would be Chelsea (they are also my flatmates team)! On an international platform Ireland would be of course my chosen team but... if I had to pick another team (some might say a better team) it would be Argentina! This again comes from an intrinsic feeling of loyalty, maybe because my partner is half Argentinian.

I have never attended the football World Cup but I imagine it is a place with a varied atmosphere. Being there in the crowd, supporting your team with 10's of 1000's of others and feeling the comradery between everyone would be a great experience! The problem for me is the football hooligans and the crime associated with the game. Football is one of the only sports in Europe where the fans "passion" leads people to riot and attack others. For me this is something I can live without and would happily watch from home.

For this World Cup we have gotten Sky HD+ installed and might even check out some of the 3D pubs broadcasting the semi's and the final. Myself, the flatmate and possibly some of my colleagues will definetly be hitting the pub to watch some of the games but with the Sky+ feature I can watch them whenever I want.

Because of the hours im currently working it wont be possible to watch all the games live from the comfort of my home or in the pub. To make sure I dont miss the likes of Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentinia and Italy playing I will track the games via apps on my Iphone and via the BBC website. I also have the Sky Player which can be used to view most of the games online (if I wanted to have a cheeky look at work or on my break).

I have also noticed a lot of brand activity around the World Cup with everyone from the local news agent to super brands such as Mars & Kit Kat trying to get in on the action. Kit Kat have been everywhere and to those not paying full attention, would appear to be the official English sponsor. Mars on the otherhand have changed their products packaging and a few of their creatives but havent exploited their position as the official English team sponsor. I have also noticed that Coca Cola, Budweiser and McDonalds have all been accepted as official World Cup sponsors. All three of these products damage your health and/or cause social problems on a massive scale e.g. diabetes, obesity and alcoholism and I dont believe are appropriate sponsors for such an event....

Welcome Jason!

Hello Jason,

Welcome to your very own World Cup Blog; this is the big time!

I'd just like to take this opportunity to outline what this blog is all about. We are really interested in getting your views on what is exciting/not exciting around the World Cup tournament, how you are consuming the event and content around it, your stories from all of this, as well as some pictures (these can be anything, we would just like anything that will bring your experience to life even further - e.g. mobile pics?). Hope that's clear enough!?

Please note that we have taken you on because we feel that your opinions would represent people who are occasional watchers of football well; for that reason whatever you can give us over the next weeks will be extremely invaluable.

At the very least we would like you to contribute one post per week, and this will be generated from a set of questions which we will e-mail to you for you to use in your next post. We will post these questions up on the following Wednesdays throughout the tournament and it would be extremely helpful if you could post your response to these on the Wednesday evening or Thursday morning at the latest. The dates which we will remind you to blog with new questions will be:

• Weds 2nd June
• Weds 9th June
• Weds 16th June
• Weds 23rd June
• Weds 30th June
• Weds 7th July

If you feel like blogging at other periods too :-) feel free to blog about anything concerning the World Cup (and it would be great if you could bear in mind the following things):

• Your feelings and emotions around the World Cup
• How you are using different channels to access World Cup content
• Your opinions about the event sponsors and your perception of the brands
• Advertising activity which you found interesting
• Any other things which peaked your interest in the tournament

Any questions just shout @ my work e-mail (which is 'Max.Colson@phdnetwork.com')

Cheers for this, it's much appreciated!

Max