Homeless World Cup
Melbourne hosted this year's Homeless World Cup, and I was lucky enough to be visiting during the event. The event unites homeless people to represent their country in an international soccer tournament. The Homeless World Cup seeks to end homelessness for the one billion people worldwide who are without this basic human need.
photo by Andrew Kelly/Photoworx
Federation Square, located in the center of Melbourne, hosted 4v4 street soccer matches between 56 countries. The quality of play was great and the international competition made for some extremely intense matches. I witnessed a Portuguese player nearly score on a bicycle kick, impressive footwork from Zimbabwe and England, and penalty shootouts won by the Greeks and Americans. Melbourne is home to a broad range of ethnic groups, so there was singing and flag waving for many different teams. I've never been to the real World Cup (yet), but I'd like to think this was an authentic, small scale version of the original.
photo by Richard Sharman/Photoworx
My Take
I enjoyed this event as both a soccer fan and from a lifestyle marketing perspective. The event planners understood that their audience would attract hardcore soccer fans, so they focused on producing authentic soccer matches. The matches were free to the public, with t-shirts, food, and The Big Issue magazine for sale as fundraising components.
Details are crucial, and they got these (mostly) right.
First, Melbourne's international culture provided the perfect audience, because many of the teams had supporters present. Located in the center of the city, the event was easy to access for everyone: hardcore soccer fans, workers on their lunch break, and tourists wandering through. I especially loved that many of the teams were wearing the same uniforms as their professional counterparts. And because the matches were free, I came back a second day to watch more and buy a t-shirt.
It was a good choice not to interfere with the matches by adding information on homelessness. I anticipated an announcer feeding us "did you know?" facts on the epidemic during half time and warm ups, but surprisingly there were none distracting me from the high level of soccer I was watching. My support for soccer was easily translating into support for the homeless, but I wasn't given any tools or information as to how I could help. I wanted to see a poster or flyer that gave me some quick facts and the best ways to help out. The event left me wanting to know more, but maybe that was the goal. The Homeless World Cup has great information online on how to get involved, and I'm even writing about it to spread the word.
But what about the sponsors?
Nike, UEFA, Vodafone, and many more contributed as sponsors to the event. Fittingly, their names and logos were displayed on the pitch walls and posters, but not much more was done to leverage them as already established, well-known brands. It was important to make sure these sponsors didn't overshadow more important aspects, and the Homeless World Cup probably made the right choice by not going to far with promotions. This helps both the sponsors and the event itself from seeming like sell-outs.
Overall, I personally enjoyed the Homeless World Cup very much. Even though they put on a great show of soccer and sportsmanship, I also hope they achieved their goals in promoting awareness and solving this important problem.
photo by Andrew Kelly/PhotoworxFederation Square, located in the center of Melbourne, hosted 4v4 street soccer matches between 56 countries. The quality of play was great and the international competition made for some extremely intense matches. I witnessed a Portuguese player nearly score on a bicycle kick, impressive footwork from Zimbabwe and England, and penalty shootouts won by the Greeks and Americans. Melbourne is home to a broad range of ethnic groups, so there was singing and flag waving for many different teams. I've never been to the real World Cup (yet), but I'd like to think this was an authentic, small scale version of the original.
photo by Richard Sharman/PhotoworxMy Take
I enjoyed this event as both a soccer fan and from a lifestyle marketing perspective. The event planners understood that their audience would attract hardcore soccer fans, so they focused on producing authentic soccer matches. The matches were free to the public, with t-shirts, food, and The Big Issue magazine for sale as fundraising components.
Details are crucial, and they got these (mostly) right.
First, Melbourne's international culture provided the perfect audience, because many of the teams had supporters present. Located in the center of the city, the event was easy to access for everyone: hardcore soccer fans, workers on their lunch break, and tourists wandering through. I especially loved that many of the teams were wearing the same uniforms as their professional counterparts. And because the matches were free, I came back a second day to watch more and buy a t-shirt.
It was a good choice not to interfere with the matches by adding information on homelessness. I anticipated an announcer feeding us "did you know?" facts on the epidemic during half time and warm ups, but surprisingly there were none distracting me from the high level of soccer I was watching. My support for soccer was easily translating into support for the homeless, but I wasn't given any tools or information as to how I could help. I wanted to see a poster or flyer that gave me some quick facts and the best ways to help out. The event left me wanting to know more, but maybe that was the goal. The Homeless World Cup has great information online on how to get involved, and I'm even writing about it to spread the word.
But what about the sponsors?
Nike, UEFA, Vodafone, and many more contributed as sponsors to the event. Fittingly, their names and logos were displayed on the pitch walls and posters, but not much more was done to leverage them as already established, well-known brands. It was important to make sure these sponsors didn't overshadow more important aspects, and the Homeless World Cup probably made the right choice by not going to far with promotions. This helps both the sponsors and the event itself from seeming like sell-outs.
Overall, I personally enjoyed the Homeless World Cup very much. Even though they put on a great show of soccer and sportsmanship, I also hope they achieved their goals in promoting awareness and solving this important problem.
posted by Michael at
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