Intention
For the Fifa World Cup 2022, global sponsors knew they were stepping into the biggest communication moment in sport – and set their ambitions accordingly.
Fifa tasked PACE, for the second tournament in a row, with building and running a dedicated performance marketing approach for sponsor campaigns across the full World Cup ecosystem.
We had four clear objectives:
- Translate high-level sponsorship strategies into digital campaigns that actually perform, not just “show up”.
- Turn Fifa’s channels (social, app, FIFA+) into engines for reach, engagement, and conversions for 16 different sponsors.
- Build a framework that could handle dozens of campaigns in parallel, adjusting to live tournament dynamics.
- Deliver sponsor impact at a scale that matches the tournament – the World Cup as their “Super Bowl week” and beyond.
All of this while moments like Messi’s fifth Budweiser Player of the Match trophy were playing out in real time, with sponsors expecting their branding to ride alongside football history.
Idea
To meet these objectives, we built a modular performance marketing system for sponsors: start from each sponsor’s strategy, translate it into clear KPIs, and design tailored, multi-layered campaign concepts that could flex in real time. Every campaign combined:
- A core branded storytelling idea, matched to the sponsor’s role.
- A custom KPI mix (reach, views, engagement, app downloads, conversions).
- A portfolio of sub-campaigns feeding those KPIs from different angles.
In terms of the execution, we designed and ran 30+ campaigns for 16 sponsors, each with its own KPI blueprint. We also used historic performance data (from 2018) and live tournament data to define publishing scenarios across social, app, FIFA+ and more.
Combined formats such as:
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- Highly targeted app download/conversion campaigns.
- Brand-building long-form storytelling on FIFA+.
- Gamified quiz experiences for World Cup experts.
- Branded match highlight series hitting social within minutes of key moments.
Powered everything with near-live dashboards, so we could quickly see which campaigns needed support, which over-performed, and which platforms were best for each sponsor’s KPIs.
Impact
The system delivered sponsor impact at true World Cup scale:
- 30+ campaigns activated for 16 sponsors.
- 2.5 billion sponsor campaign impressions.
- 800 million branded content video views.
- 300 million branded content interactions.
For context: the entire Super Bowl week in 2022 generated 1.8 billion impressions and 618 million video views across all NFL content (sponsored and non-sponsored). Our programme delivered more than a full Super Bowl week’s organic value – for Fifa’s sponsors alone.
Our approach delivered against the client’s objectives – and set a benchmark:
- Sponsors got measurable value, not just logo exposure, with campaigns engineered to their specific objectives.
- Fifa’s channels became a performance engine, with live data guiding optimisation instead of gut feel.
- We proved that sponsor activations can be both brand-building and performance-driven at the same time – from Budweiser’s Player of the Match moments to conversion-focused app campaigns.
In the same way Messi completed his World Cup story in Lusail, this mandate completed a cycle for PACE: from one-off sponsor ideas to a repeatable performance framework that can scale across future tournaments.
Find out more about PACE here.