Why Beats is winning the World Cup
When Sony gifted all 736 World Cup players with headphones, it was with the idea of more than three billion people watching across the world. Instead, players wore the Beats overheads they already own, leading FIFA to ban Beats from the stadium altogether. Which is unfortunate for Sony, since it reportedly spends as much as $50 million on the FIFA partnership each year.
It’s becoming an irksome issue for official sponsors. Rumours circulated that competitors in the Sochi Olympics were asked to hide Apple logos to respect Samsung’s partnership, while beady-eyed internet users pointed out that during Alicia Keys’ reign as a Blackberry spokeswoman, she was tweeting from her iPhone.
In the digital age, the way to grab the attention of those six billion-odd eyeballs is less about how much you spend, and more about how you spend it. “When fans see World Cup athletes wearing Beats in their downtime, it has as much impact as seeing them lace their Adidas [boots] or sip a sponsored beverage," says strategist Ellen Petry Leanse. "Maybe more, actually.” When Neymar stepped off the bus wearing Beats in the Brazil colours, or Suarez hung out with teammates with a pair hung round his neck, the association with the World Cup was far stronger than it ever would’ve been had they been paid to wear them.
And FIFA’s attempts to stamp down Beats’ air time only makes the brand seem cooler. “Coolness is a subjective, positive trait perceived in people, brands, products, and trends that are autonomous in an appropriate way," explains a paper by Caleb Warren and Margaret C. Campbell. In other words, ‘cool’ is about violating rules the people deem unnecessary - like being told which headphones you’re supposed to wear, for example.
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