Activating during the FIFA World Cup™ presents an immense challenge for brands that don’t fall within the sports industry. The news cycle is dominated by match coverage not payment solutions. Our brief was simple. Cut through this noise and establish a genuine reason for Visa to participate in the global football conversion and get ahead of our fellow official (and unofficial) sponsors.

With Visa being accepted in over 120 countries, our audience was truly global which in itself proved to be a challenge. What idea could unite a seemingly disparate audience from all ages? A socially curated campaign which stoked the flames of speculation across online news outlets and social channels. A conversation which was seeded and supported by a global network of specially selected influencers including a global megastar by the name Zlatan.

An integrated campaign launched with TV commercials and social posts, followed by appearances on TV shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live and online sports channels.

Over a hundred social films and posts followed Zlatan - one of the world’s most notorious footballers and a social media star with 34.6 million Instagram followers – on his way to the World Cup.

Zlatan interacted with global influencers who leveraged their social followings throughout the tournament. Influencers included: Freekickerz, a German soccer-focused social channel, Kotaro Tokuna, a Japanese soccer freestyler, Tatiana Vasilieva, a Russian style blogger, and Chris MD, a UK YouTube star.

In Moscow, Zlatan proved his return by addressing a crowd of 25,000 people at FIFA Fan Fest. During the tournament, Zlatan posted live commentary on the opening game on FIFA’s channel, along with videos of him meeting fans from other countries and taking lucky ones to the game with him.

Activating during the FIFA World Cup™ presents an immense challenge for brands that don’t fall within the sports industry. The news cycle is dominated by match coverage not payment solutions. Our brief was simple. Cut through this noise and establish a genuine reason for Visa to participate in the global football conversion and get ahead of our fellow official (and unofficial) sponsors.

The message was simple. Defeat your FIFA World Cup™ FOMO with Visa. When a game of football can be won or lost in seconds, you don’t want to take your eyes off the match, especially if when it comes to paying for that coffee. With Visa contactless, you can tap and pay, never taking your eyes off the ball.

With Visa being accepted in over 120 countries, our audience was truly global which in itself proved to be a challenge. What idea could unite

An integrated campaign launched with TV commercials and social posts, followed by appearances on TV shows such as Jimmy Kimmel Live and online sports channels.

Over a hundred social films and posts followed Zlatan - one of the world’s most notorious footballers and a social media star with 34.6 million Instagram followers – on his way to the World Cup.

Zlatan interacted with global influencers who leveraged their social followings throughout the tournament. Influencers included: Freekickerz, a German soccer-focused social channel, Kotaro Tokuna, a Japanese soccer freestyler, Tatiana Vasilieva, a Russian style blogger, and Chris MD, a UK YouTube star.

In Moscow, Zlatan proved his return by addressing a crowd of 25,000 people at FIFA Fan Fest. During the tournament, Zlatan posted live commentary on the opening game on FIFA’s channel, along with videos of him meeting fans from other countries and taking lucky ones to the game with him.

According to PR WEEK: ‘VISA SCORES BIG WITH ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC AT THE WORLD CUP.’

‘The campaign resulted in more than 1,500 articles and media placements worldwide, including features in Associated Press, Yahoo, and Hypebeast. The brand's partnership with Ibrahimovic led to a massive buzz on social platforms, with videos and GIFs posted to his Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram channels receiving more than 35 million views.’

Zlatan’s 16 social posts alone generated 39.9 Million views.

Additional organic posts through Zlatan achieved an additional ~$1.3 Million USD in value.

Visa’s 10 global influencers shared over 225 pieces of content across social, garnering 11.2 Million organic impressions, 24.9 Million views and an average engagement rate of 8.4%.

The campaign reached half of the global World Cup audience and 25% of the global population.

Visa achieved the highest positive sentiment of all World Cup sponsors.