Globant’s sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup 2022 is relevant for Sports Entertainment because the FIFA World Cup is one of the world’s biggest sporting events, and features several sponsorships, partnerships, and collaborations. As a leading digital consultancy with clients that include some of the biggest companies in sports (such as LaLiga and the LA Clippers), Globant’s sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup 2022 demonstrated a successful 360-degree, multi-platform integrated brand experience, exemplified through its innovative strategy, creativity, and execution.

Globant was presented with one of the most impactful opportunities of its 20+ year history as a company: becoming the first Argentinian company to sponsor the FIFA World Cup 2022. We wanted to communicate our sponsorship to journalists, clients, current and potential collaborators, and the general public via an integrated brand experience that exemplified both of our companies’ goals, values, and passion for sports and technology. Our objective was to create a multi-step, multi-platform campaign that celebrated, in an innovative way, Globant’s sponsorship of FIFA and the essential role the event itself plays across countries in creating excitement and bringing people together. We also wanted to raise Globant’s brand awareness and business in key markets.

The FIFA World Cup is one of the most-watched sporting events in the world, and is unique in its ability to bring together people of multiple countries and cultures. Given the depth and breadth of companies FIFA works with and influences, we wanted our campaign to incorporate multiple strategies to reach these many different audiences. The six markets we chose to launch our associated TV spot were the USA, Spain, Mexico, the UK, Brazil, and Argentina. These markets were chosen because we believed they would generate the biggest business and awareness growth, as they are some of the largest markets for IT in the world. We also incorporated our internal audience of employees to build community and awareness from the inside out.

The creative idea for this campaign was to incorporate multiple brand experiences that connected with different audiences in six countries across multiple mediums. This included a TV spot highlighting Globant’s sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup and the power of technology and passion in sports; an internal challenge for Globant employees to win tickets to a World Cup match, an internal “Fan Fest,” and internal watch parties; a contest with Argentine DJ Bizarrap to revise session #52 with Quevedo and transform it into an on-field anthem, in order to meet Bizarrap at a World Cup match; a social media contest for match tickets from Globant’s CEO; and a temporary change of Globant’s logo, displayed during matches, emphasizing its Argentinian roots and honoring Lionel Messi. Combined, the actions were designed to celebrate soccer, amplify Globant’s brand message, and position the company as a leader at the intersection of sports and technology.

All the core actions that made up the integrated brand experience (the TV spot; the internal challenge, “Fan Fest,” and watch parties; the Bizarrap contest to win tickets and meet Bizarrap; Globant CEO Martin Migoya’s social media challenge to win tickets; and Globant’s temporary logo change) were implemented between Globant’s announcement of its sponsorship in October 2022 and the World Cup final match in December 2022. As for scope, the campaign was executed in six key markets – the US, the UK, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, and Brazil. The TV spot alone reached more than 50M people worldwide. Globant’s internal contest was issued to its more than 27,000 employees worldwide and it held 17 watch parties. The contest with Bizarrap was executed in nine countries. Additionally, Martin Migoya’s social media contest was issued to his more than 46K Twitter followers.

Globant met its KPIs for the campaign in just two months (versus the six months it planned for). More than 90 news articles about the sponsorship were garnered in 60+ global publications. The TV spot achieved a reach of 51.7M and 176K clicks. The internal Globant contest was entered by 86 participants, and cumulatively garnered 12,134 likes. Globant’s internal “Fan Fest” for the Cup received 95% engagement. Additionally, the Globant/Bizarrap contest garnered 80% follower growth, 2.9M plays, 10.7K interactions, and coverage in more than 40 international media publications. A similar ticket contest initiated by Globant’s CEO on Twitter garnered 1.7M+ impressions, 502.6K+ interactions, 9.3K+ likes, and 500+ retweets. The logo change was featured in a match watched by 1.5B people. Through the campaign, Globant received a 25% click-through rate and a 10% increase in qualified organic traffic.

The partnership with FIFA took place during the FIFA World Cup, the largest soccer event in the world, which has a cultural impact on the participating countries. Soccer is a passion that brings communities together to watch the matches that cross the television screens. Part of the achievements of this campaign were due precisely to the relevance of the cultural context of the World Cup. In Latin American countries and in Argentina, especially, the teachings around this sport come, in many cases, from the crib, so the celebrations that we promoted from Globant and the winning of the Cup by Argentina amplified the impact on our audience. The fact that Globant was the first Argentinian company to sponsor the World Cup was a milestone that accelerated the campaign processes and transformed the euphoria into a generalized feeling of pride and complicity, in which we all sang for the same victory.