Fifa WC: High-profile sponsorship can be a boon or backfire

Sponsors of the Fifa World Cup and the Olympic Games are accustomed to controversy. During the 2012 London Olympics, Dow Chemical
was plagued by criticism for its association with the 1984 Bhopal tragedy, when a toxic gas leak killed thousands at a Union Carbide plant in India it later acquired.

Protesters have pressed Coca-Cola to step down as a patron of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, after Russia approved an "anti-gay propaganda" law. And McDonald's, long-time sponsor of the World Cup and the Olympics, has come under fire for encouraging unhealthy eating habits by linking its brand to major sporting events.
While companies have a ready arsenal of marketing campaigns to counter such unpleasant publicity, they can also be taken by surprise.
One such rare example was the nationwide protests in Brazil in June during the 2013 Fifa Confederations Cup, a dress rehearsal for the World Cup. Millions of Brazilians - many from the emergent middle class, a desirable market for international brands - criticised public spending for the Fifa events in the midst of under-investment in Brazil's infrastructure, education and health system.
"Companies were taken by surprise and because of that, they had no plan B," says Marcelo Haddad, the president of Rio Negocios, an investment promotion agency for the city of Rio de Janeiro. "It's difficult for companies to deal with these uncertainties, because nobody wants to be involved in something that the Brazilian crowd would be against."
One concern is that although the protests have largely died down, they could kick off again during the World Cup and may even continue to the 2016 Olympics in Rio.
Mr Haddad counsels sponsors of the games to have a "back-up plan" in the event of further riots. "Companies will have to choose whether they want to move forward into high-profile exploitation of their sponsorship in the country, or to keep a low profile and do something among their suppliers or key customers."
Some companies are already taking a more cautious approach. One local sponsor for the 2014 World Cup declined to be interviewed by the Financial Times, because of "a ban on communicating around the World Cup ... due to the context that Brazil is in now", according to a press agency contracted by the company.
However, not everyone is staying quiet. Coca-Cola is hoping to tap into popular sentiment through social programmes including a recycling initiative, creating jobs for young people and a youth sports programme.
Its 2014 World Cup anthem Todo Mundo ("Everyone"), featuring Brazilian techno-pop singer Gaby Amarantos and samba band Monobloco, is another example of its efforts to reach out to middle-class Brazilians.
"Coca-Cola has been in Brazil for more than 70 years and we know the feelings of Brazilians," says Victor Bicca Neto, the Brazil director of government affairs for the company. "We know the moment Brazil is in, we are not blind. [But] our plans are to connect with this."
The tactic appears to be paying off. According to an Ipsos study conducted during the Confederations Cup, Coca-Cola was the most remembered brand to be associated with the games. "That is the result that we are looking for," says Mr Bicca.
According to Mr Bicca, Coca-Cola considers Brazil a key growth market despite its recent economic slowdown. The world's largest soft drinks maker - which grew just 3 per cent in Brazil last year compared with 33 percent in India and 20 per cent in Russia - plans to invest R$14.1 billion (USD 6.2 billion) in the country by 2016, of which R$2.6 billion is due to be spent this year.
Dow Chemical also takes an optimistic view. Nicoletta Piccolrovazzi, technical director of its Olympic operations, says: "We engaged in sponsorship with the Olympic Movement, it's not just Rio 2016, it's a long-term partnership that will span 10 years and we will try to make the most of it."
According to Ms Piccolrovazzi, the company expects to earn USD 1 billion through its 10-year Olympic sponsorship. And there are other benefits.
"We have a much more recognised brand when we associate the diamond [Dow's logo] with the rings," says Sandro Sato, the business development manager for Dow's Olympic operations in Brazil.
"At the same time, we're able to explore new areas through the connections and partnerships that we establish, and we're able to have our products in the right place to be noticed."
Like Coca-Cola, Dow has also engaged in social initiatives to promote its image in Brazil. Its flagship stadium wrap for the 2012 London Olympics was repurposed and donated to the Bola Pra Frente Institute, a Rio-based youth education programme founded by retired Brazilian football player Jorge de Amorim Campos, better known as "Jorginho".
Still, the prominent, 7 million pound stadium wrap has also served as a reminder that increasing brand exposure through sponsorship deals can backfire.
Although the Olympic "clean venue" policy meant that Dow could not carry its logo on the wrap, amid the furore over Bhopal it did not even attempt to put it on the test panels. The protests in Brazil carry a similar warning.