Soccer is not typically the summer sport of conversation around American water coolers and watering holes, but this year was, of course, quite different. Co-hosting the FIFA World Cup brought the sport to the rare center of American attention, complete with watch parties, viral moments, controversies, the sight of Scots placing traffic cones on Boston statues and Lawrence, Kansas becoming a center of Algerian culture.
To some degree, America’s summer fixation on the World Cup was a natural result of staging the world’s most popular sporting event. However, the way we absorbed the tournament was hardly organic, with a complex communications strategy from FIFA down to national soccer federations and cities directing their own presentations of the event. Accordingly, there are some key lessons companies managing their own marketing strategies can take from the event, particularly as they look to build their brands.
Key Takeaways
- A compelling story helps brands stand out. A strong narrative gives audiences a reason to pay attention, particularly when a company lacks widespread name recognition.
- Consistency turns a moment into lasting visibility. Build around major announcements, milestones, or successes with ongoing content that keeps the story alive across channels.
- Distinctive branding makes you recognizable. Memorable visual elements, messaging, and brand personality help companies cut through a crowded marketplace.
- Put people at the center of your brand. Executives, employees, and other individual voices can create the personal connection that corporate messaging alone often cannot.
- Smaller brands can compete for attention. You don’t need to be the biggest player if you have a strong story, recognizable identity, and a smart communications strategy.
What’s the Story? A Compelling Narrative Drives Your Message
As any marketer will tell you, storytelling is central to generating interest in your organization. This is especially true for smaller companies and startups that may not have immediate name recognition.
Everybody Loves an Underdog
Helped along by the broadcasting impact of the internet and social media, which only grows with each World Cup, this year’s competition featured several feel-good stories that fans latched onto. For example, people love an underdog narrative in international sporting events, something underscored by the course of this year’s Cup. Teams like Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic of Congo held their own against soccer titans and advanced further than expected; suddenly, Americans across the country knew the name of the goalkeeper for an island country with a population rivaling Sacramento.
The soccer federations of these countries didn’t necessarily drive the viral interest in their teams, but their impact still demonstrates how smaller organizations can stand out in a crowded field. People will notice a company with a compelling origin story, or one that has a truly unique narrative to accompany their products and services.
Ro! Ro! Ro! Rallying Around a Central Message
A more deliberate and structured story can be seen in Norway’s team. The Norwegian soccer federation smartly centered much of their communications on Erling Haaland, one of the world’s greatest players who made his World Cup debut this year. The team benefited from Haaland already being popular on social media, but their communications team also surely worked with him on his World Cup posts – which included a series of vlogs on YouTube that attracted between 5 and 9.5 million views.
The team’s own communications channels also amplified and rode the wave of the attention Haaland brought to the team, including when fans thrust the “Viking row” into public consciousness. It was not just striking while the iron was hot, though; the national team demonstrated the value in steady posting, all centered around chronicling the story of the Norwegian team in America. The YouTube videos following the group at their North Carolina base may not generate the views of Haaland’s vlogs, but they created a wealth of content for keeping people’s attention and helping raise the team’s profile on search engines and in generative AI.
Team Norway’s strategy could be mirrored by small companies marketing their wares, as well; combining a single exciting technology or milestone with a measured communications strategy and plenty of longtail content, all of which generate excitement due to a compelling narrative. And the results speak for themselves; Team Norway’s Instagram page ended the tournament with nearly two million followers, a remarkable feat for an account that largely posts in Norwegian about the world’s 19th ranked men’s soccer team.
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: The Power of a Recognizable Brand
Not to dwell on praising Team Norway, but their marketing group also showed great success in embracing the value of branding and recognizable images and symbols. Aside from the focus on the brand of Erling Haaland, the team also published popular content that drew from the country’s Viking heritage – a smart move, considering that this is what many people associate with the country. The players’ jerseys also used a unique font inspired by Nordic runes, and there’s perhaps no better sign of your team’s marketing success than people publishing articles about your jersey font.
Other teams also sought to generate interest by embracing symbols unique to them. Team Mexico and Adidas worked with local artisans to create jerseys that reflected the country’s indigenous communities. Adidas Japan similarly drew attention for a series of popular animated videos that promoted the company’s Team Japan merchandise using anime.
Coloring Outside the Lines
Even outside national teams, other events at the World Cup showed the value of centering communications around recognizable branding. FIFA rules prohibit host sites from using their sponsored names, putting companies with named stadiums at a disadvantage if they wanted to benefit from World Cup exposure. Several organizations got creative in abiding by these rules, however, and were able to turn the forced concealment of their brands into greater attention. Levi’s hid their logo at the stadium in Santa Clara with a tarp that showed the iconic shape of their logo and even made tongue-in-cheek posts about having to cover it. Lumen Technologies produced several humorous videos poking fun at having to remove their branding at Seattle’s stadium, with the first being one of their most popular videos this year.
Between national teams marketing their heritage and companies turning branding guardrails into wins, the World Cup showed the importance of building campaigns around recognizable symbols. Whether it be a unique logo or name, universal color association across a company, or a playful social media campaign, a memorable brand story is a key way companies can stand out in a crowd and be part of the conversation.
Let’s Get Personal: Put People at the Heart of Your Brand
The most successful countries at the World Cup are those driven by unified team effort. This was nowhere more apparent than in the final, where a cohesive, professional Spanish team was victorious over an Argentinian one that relied heavily on a couple of key players.
Even so, this was still very much a World Cup of the stars. Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal and others dominated the media’s attention through the summer. In the U.S., screens were inundated with ads featuring Christian Pulisic. The effect was to show that, even in a sport where victories are shared by the team, won for a nation, and secured through teamwork, people gravitated towards individual personalities and stories.
The same is true of B2B marketing. Companies often focus on their corporate image and assume that employees and their individual stories will not interest their customers. However, as the World Cup demonstrates, regardless of who they are, audiences love a compelling human interest story. Social media posts featuring team members and fun activities like corporate retreats tend to perform well, as people naturally gravitate toward engaging with them. It’s also another great way for smaller companies to stand out. A lean team is naturally easier to feature on social media, and potential customers will feel like they’ll receive a more personal experience from such a company.
Leave a Lasting Impression
The World Cup marks the pinnacle of men’s soccer – but it’s also a great exercise in the power of marketing and branding. Each team embraces the opportunity to stand out from their peers not just on the pitch, but in the eyes of spectators as well. Especially for smaller teams, regardless of how far they make it, resonating with viewers can result in lasting impact. Few people outside Norway thought much of their soccer team prior to this year’s World Cup; now, millions will continue to follow the exploits of Haaland’s team until the 2030 competition.
The same can be said for companies growing their brands. Potential customers will remember a powerful narrative, and a compelling story will make firms stand out among their peers. This World Cup may have ended with the expected teams in the final rounds, but it will be remembered most for the history-making smaller teams that surprised everyone.
Ready to Build a Brand People Remember?
You don’t have to be the biggest brand to be the brand people remember and you don’t need a World Cup-sized marketing budget to make an impact. You need a compelling story, a distinctive brand, and a communications strategy that keeps you visible to the audiences that matter. Trevi Communications helps companies turn what makes them different into integrated PR and marketing programs that build awareness, credibility, and lasting recognition.
Let’s talk about how we can make your brand stand out.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can businesses learn from World Cup marketing?
The 2026 World Cup demonstrates that capturing attention isn’t simply about being the biggest or best-known brand. Organizations can stand out by telling compelling stories, building recognizable identities, creating content consistently, and giving audiences people and ideas they can connect with.
Why is storytelling important in brand marketing?
Storytelling gives audiences a reason to remember and connect with a brand. A compelling origin story, milestone, personality, or point of view can be particularly valuable for smaller companies competing against better-known organizations.
How can a small company build brand awareness?
Small companies can build awareness by developing a distinctive brand story and consistently reinforcing it across PR, social media, website content, video, and other communications channels. A strong idea amplified over time can have more impact than a series of disconnected campaigns.
Why is consistent branding important?
Consistent branding makes a company easier to recognize and remember. Repeated use of distinctive visual elements, messaging, personality, and themes can help audiences quickly associate content with the organization behind it.
Should companies feature employees in their marketing?
Yes, when it makes sense for the brand. Executives, subject-matter experts, and employees can put a human face on a company, demonstrate its expertise and culture, and help audiences develop a more personal connection with the organization.
