ALKHOBAR, 13 June 2006 — World Cup sponsors are trying to leverage their investment in the event in both the real and virtual worlds. World Cup promotions seem to be everywhere and even for those who aren’t football fans, the Beautiful Game could still bring rewards.
As part of its sponsorship of the tournament, Toshiba is offering consumers a portfolio of products and prizes. Throughout the World Cup, consumers can buy the special 2006 FIFA World Cup Toshiba Edition package which consists of a Toshiba Satellite A100-237 coupled with a copy of “FIFA 06” by EA Sports and a Logitech gamepad, providing the ultimate gaming experience for football fans throughout the Middle East.
“Providing support for sports fans involves a combination of infrastructure, equipment and a sense of competition,” said Ahmed Khalil, GM, Toshiba Computer Systems Division, Middle East and Africa. “Toshiba’s involvement with the World Cup, brings the Beautiful Game right into the homes and hands of those who want to get involved with it in as many ways as they can.”
Equipped with a 15.4” WXGA widescreen TFT display, Toshiba TruBrite technology, the latest ATI graphics and Intel Centrino Duo mobile technology, the Satellite A100-237 provides a combination of crystal-clear viewing and state-of-the-art gaming capability that allows football fans the chance to get up close and personal with their favorite sport and its hottest tournament.
Visitors to Toshiba’s dedicated World Cup website, www.be-part-of-the-game.com, can also be part of the action by entering an online competition that gives them the chance to win great prizes.
Another company with a super online World Cup offer is Coca-Cola. The international pastime of collecting stickers of one’s football heroes has gone all-digital with the global launch of a new web community for football fans and collectors by the Coca-Cola Company and the Panini Group, the world leader in the sticker and trading card marketplace.
The first digital platform for exclusively collecting and trading Panini virtual football stickers features lineups from national teams in the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. Once an online member collects the small number of featured players from a participating FIFA World Cup team, stickers of that squad’s entire roster automatically become part of the collection, which can be kept in a complementary virtual album and referred to over and over. The entire Panini 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Official Licensed Sticker Collection consists of more than 500 players competing in this year’s tournament.
Approximately 100 football stars — an average of three or four from a selection of national teams — are featured as the keys to collecting the entire Panini 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany licensed sticker set. The tradable licensed stickers in the unique Panini collection showcased through Coca-Cola online are extraordinarily rich, with deeper information not found in any other series in the sticker world. Included are bios and technical performance measurements of the players, their FIFA World Cup statistics, photo gallery images and links to related sites. Records of players in the tradable group will be updated throughout the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
How It Works: Fans can register to collect and trade Panini’s virtual football licensed stickers through the Coca-Cola “We All Speak Football” website (www.coca-cola.com/football). At least 10 language options are available. A broadband connection is best for accessing this website and the computer used should have the latest upgrade of Macromedia Flash Player.
Through the Coca-Cola football web pages, visitors have several avenues for amassing stickers and searching out other collectors, for sticker trading. After registering for the Panini 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Official Licensed Sticker Collection, members automatically receive eight stickers. Every four hours, three new, randomly selected stickers are posted under an “Autodeposit” tab. When participants start receiving duplicate stickers, it’s time to start trading digitally, using the valuable duplicates as bartering currency. The more features visited and games played at the “We All Speak Football” Coca-Cola site, the more stickers members can collect, to eventually fill their screensaver team albums.
Once a fan collects the handful of player stickers featured from a particular national team, the digital stickers for all players from that team are unlocked, to fill in an entire team page. When a user completes the Panini collection, a free screensaver is provided. Users can also join forces with other virtual sticker traders around the world, for team collecting. The Panini 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany Official Licensed Sticker Collection will be available through the online Coca-Cola “We All Speak Football” platform until Sept. 15, 2006.
Lenovo is not a sponsor of the World Cup, but the company’s recently appointed Worldwide Brand Ambassador is a prominent figure in the event. Just before the World Cup, Lenovo Group Limited announced a cooperation with FC Barcelona and its superstar Ronaldo de Assis Moreira, otherwise known as Ronaldinho Gaucho.
Ronaldinho, the FIFA World Player of the Year for two years running, currently plays for Barcelona and the Brazilian national team, and is expected to fill a key role in Brazil’s defense of its World Cup. As Worldwide Brand Ambassador, Ronaldinho will feature in global marketing campaigns and promotional activities for new Lenovo-branded notebooks and desktop PCs.
“FC Barcelona and Ronaldinho bring world-class play and teamwork to the field, and they are always trying to improve his game. These traits resonate well with us at Lenovo,” said Milko van Duijl, senior vice president and president EMEA, Lenovo. “We believe Ronaldinho represents our culture of innovation and our pursuit of excellence.”
