Much has been made about the strong growth of both Mexican football and Liga MX (@LIGABancomerMX), the most viewed football week in, week out in North America. Brands like Wells Fargo (@WellsFargo), Allstate (@Allstate) and Verizon (@verizon) have used Mexican football as a key way to engage with a diverse and passionate Latino audience, not just a Mexican audience, across North America.
However sometimes sponsorship can maybe go a little too far—or maybe it’s a little more than innovative. This past week Chivas (@Chivas), one of the most revered football sides in North America set a new bar which frankly drove some great buzz in social media but maybe went a bit too far.
Now Chivas may not have a sponsor on the front of their shirt like others in the sponsorship-cluttered world of Mexican soccer (though Tecate (@tecate) is on the back, but they found a new level of postgame brand integration that certainly was different.
Following a Sunday home loss in what has been a dismal season, coach Jose Cardozo gave the usual post-match press conference, telling the media the problems that losing clubs have. However the presser was record setting not because of word, but because of product. Almost a dozen products. Cereal, organic cereal, chocolate milk and Coca Cola were placed either side of the microphone, which also had a beer logo on it (Tecate, claro). Then throw in Powerade, Puma, Colavita and another half dozen brands on the wall behind Cardozo, and you have some kind of record for brand integration. Luckily the coach of the 17th place club played along and didn’t go on a sampling binge with the media as he spoke, but maybe that will be next?
Now all was not lost on the moment, as the social space gave Chivas a tremendous bump of recognition on a quiet summer Sunday where no one probably outside of their loyal fans would have noticed. While the club admitted that the product placement was to help bring in added value for its brands, the result was really buzz for partners that was unexpected, and traveled well beyond expectations globally.
Now is this type of bump something that the growing, prosperous league needs more of? Exposure and activation for ROI is great, but replicating what was an unusual circumstance probably isn’t the way the elite of Liga MX will be going.
Still for one week, intentional or not, Chivas was all the talk again, albeit for an unusual reason. A sponsorship record that probably won’t be broken anytime soon, especially for a losing club in any sport.
