Nike and Google creating a branded social network for soccer fans
10th April 2006 by Anders Gronstedt
The Soccer World Cup in Germany this summer will not just be a fight among the world’s top football teams, but between Adidas’ conventional mass-marketing approach and Nike’s new digital, viral marketing strategy. As the official sponsor of the games, Adidas is spending $200 million on an all out mass-marketing blitz. Meanwhile, Nike has partnered with Google in an attempt to create a social network for soccer fans at “Joga.com.” The ambitious project will be rolled out to 140 countries in 14 languages and models the successful MySpace. Soccer fans can set up their own blogs, swap videos, chat, upload pictures, get news, create their own online clubs, get access to exclusive interviews with Nike’s stable of soccer stars, etc. Joga.com is named after the Brazilian phrase “joga bonito”, or “play,” and is available through invitation only. Even if Nike will only reach one percent of the audience of MySpace, they will be in good shape. Consider these staggering statistics about MySpace (reported by Steve Rubel): It is the largest online social networking portal on the web, with 61 + million registered users, it’s the second largest destination on the web, by page views, it splits 50.2% male, 49.8% female, and attracts 220,000 new registrants daily. During the time you read this post, 150 new members signed up on MySpace. You can’t blame Nike for trying to get into this social network space. I’ll be rooting for team U.S., team Sweden and Nike this summer!