#PassTheLove Starts To Score With Consumers…

Last fall Mondelez International and Soccer United Marketing announced a wide ranging partnership across some of the biggest brands in the consumer space, which, the goal (no pun intended), was to bring soccer touch points to almost anyone cruising an aisle in a food store.  The Mondelez brands, which include Oreo and Chips Ahoy cookies, Ritz and Wheat Thins crackers, Trident and Stride gums, and Sour Patch Kids and Cadbury candies, aligned with the U.S, men’s and women’s soccer teams and some of its biggest personalities (Clint Dempsey of the Seattle Sounders, Omar Gonzalez of the Los Angeles Galaxy, and Alex Morgan, an Olympic gold medalist who plays for the Portland Thorns in the National Women’s Soccer League) as well as with MLS clubs and Club Deportivo Guadalajara, and sponsor of all Chivas occasional matches the team plays in the United States. It made  the brands the official snacks of the women’s and men’s United States national soccer teams.

Because of the timing, the rare cross-gender professional athlete partnership,  the outreach on Multi-cultural, and the wide digital components, as well as the traditional spends, the program could be a game changer for soccer.

With World Cup now here, the program is ready to get started much more formally.

A ceremony at NASDAQ  a few weeks ago  was just the latest way the Official Snacks of U.S. Soccer (iconic brands like OREO, Ritz, Trident, Honey Maid and Sour Patch Kids) have rallied attention around soccer. This summer, they kick off a campaign called #PassTheLove, which inspires fans everywhere to share the spirit of soccer as the U.S. prepared for Brazil. It’s the largest multi-brand program for the company to date.

The Coast to coast retail presence now includes 40 million specially marked packs and 17,000 displays. A nationwide, socially powered promotion appearing on more than 40 million custom designed packs inviting consumers to share why they love soccer using #PassTheLove in exchange for the chance to win a “Game of Your Life” soccer experience that captures the excitement of a major competition, or other instant win giveaways.

There is a new mobile game, Free Kick Fury, which is an instant messaging-based online soccer experience which gives users the chance to test their soccer skills with penalty kicks while connecting with an online community. Perhaps the biggest win can come in the multicultural space, where Mondelez will speak directly to a core Hispanic audience who may love soccer bit not follow MLS or the Women’s National team yet. The program will better introduce those stars, as well as the elite players with Hispanic ties, to a casual audience as well, all at retail and in Spanish.

The battle for brand awareness for soccer in the United States has been a long one, with little wins building along the way. Sometimes it’s not massive and flashy but it has been effective, and the World Cup now provides a huge stage for the sport, and hopefully for American soccer. However what’s most important, win or lose, is that soccer continue to leverage its position in the marketplace well after the games in Brazil are done. This partnership with Mondelez, now with tangible results, may be one of the biggest, and brightest touch points for “Brand Soccer” with all levels of consumers going forward. It scores on multiple layers, and will build momentum and awareness for what should be another great bump in the States for “The Beautiful Game.”