After successfully running in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Volkswagen wanted to “own” the event in the US market in 2018. While we weren’t an official sponsor, we wanted to have significant impact, like an official sponsor would. That meant having a presence in and around the tournament from the start of the first match, all the way through to the finals.

Then, national sporting heartbreak struck: the US Men’s National Team didn’t make the qualifying cut. The USA was NOT going to Russia.

We admit it: there was a moment of panic as we considered what to do. Millions of dollars had already been committed to FOX & Telemundo, the FIFA broadcast networks.

We needed to hustle, finding a new approach that would drive the awareness, opinion and consideration for the VW brand and select models (Jetta, Atlas, and Tiguan).

Although Americans couldn’t cheer for their homeland, we knew our target was passionate about soccer (158 index) and The World Cup (148). They flock to social platforms like Snapchat for big, sporting events (60% of active Snapchatters use a creative tool to enhance their snaps – Snapchat) and stream games more than ever (a third of US video viewers were live streaming from TV networks in May 2018 – eMarketer).

We just needed to find a way to keep them passionate without having their home team to cheer for, encouraging them to pick another team.

The idea was, “Jump on the Wagen”, a clever twist on the common phrase “to jump on the bandwagon.” We created a legion of “Bandwagen Fans” who would support the teams commonly believed most likely to succeed.

The creative featured representatives from countries convincing fans to jump on their wagen as they drove a Volkswagen.

Our communications strategy focused on how to keep Bandwagen Fans engaged from the first kick to the last whistle. We wanted our American-flag waving, red white and blue fan to develop a connection with the countries whose "wagen" they chose to jump on throughout the tournament.

Not only did we think it was important to highlight what differentiated teams in the tournament (which we did through our country-specific creative spots), but we needed to teach our audience the native cheers of these winning teams and enable them to connect with their new found fanbase.

With that in mind, we also knew how much the media landscape had changed since the last World Cup. While presence on linear TV would still be critical to amplify our creative, we needed to lean into both streaming services and social platforms to connect with the modern World Cup Viewer.

So, we went where our target would be most engaged.

We partnered with FIFA-official broadcast networks, FOX and Telemundo, on linear TV (to cover our bases) and went all-in on their streaming services, having a presence throughout the entire tournament with owned assets and concept-driven custom content.

We followed fans to social platforms. When they visited Facebook to connect with their new fanbase, we served them custom carousel units and videos encouraging people to watch the matches and pick a team.

We created a first-to-market Snapchat lens execution, inviting fans to side with a team through a flag face lens and an interactive chant in the countries’ native tongue; beginning in the quarter finals through to the finals.

This approach allowed fans to establish a connection with new countries, through exposure to their cultures, familiarity with their cheers, and a shared sense of community with other Bandwagen fans.

By the end of the tournament, we were able to recruit thousands of Bandwagen Fans and attract new people to the Volkswagen Brand.

Our efforts on FOX led to lifts in overall opinion (+10.6%) and consideration (+16.7%) of VW Brand, and significant lifts in awareness for our newest SUV models, the Tiguan (+6.5%) and the Atlas (+17.7%).

Our social presence led to increases in overall awareness by +6% and association between the World Cup and VW by +7%. Additionally, specific Snapchat lenses drove a +12-point increase in brand association!

Streaming paid off big-time. A record 7.7MM Americans streamed the game between Argentina and Iceland, compared to highs of just 1.5MM and 3.2MM people during the 2010 and 2014 World Cups (both tournaments the US actually played in).

Volkswagen gave Americans a reason to be engaged throughout the tournament – when their main reason failed to qualify!