It’s now less than a week until the 2014 World Cup starts in Brazil, as long as the stadiums are ready of course. The excitement you can feel has been building with the pre-WC friendly matches well underway and Panini stickers being swapped at a furious rate.

Last week I took a look at what a few of the brands had been doing in the build up to the world’s second biggest tournament (only the Olympics outdoes it in terms of audience). So this time I’m going to look at what FIFA itself has been doing when it comes to digital.

The primary destinations for fans will be FIFA.com, m.fifa.com (the newly revamped app which has encountered some issues), Facebook and Twitter. No big surprises with the social channels chosen, so no place for the likes of Google+, YouTube or WhatsApp at the moment – concentrating on doing a few well is always better than doing too much just for the sake of it.

The video content is being housed on FIFA.com as they look to keep their quality content on an area they have most control and also links to their sponsors and other digital platforms. This is also true with the Live Blog from Brazil, with a key element being the embedding of tweets and Facebook posts from fans, stakeholders, media and key influencers. Live blogging is something we’ve seen grow massively with the European Tour, Man City, Premier League and many others taking advantage of it.

The big new activation for FIFA is ‘Global Stadium’, a concept we covered here only a few days ago when it was launched.  Their aim is to unite fans from around the world and capture the excitement and spirit of the World Cup. Fans can #JoinIn and are able to;

• Follow the match through the Live Blog and stats
• See social posts from players, coaches and celebrities and interact with their own friend’s posts
• Discuss the game as it happens with a worldwide audience
• Get involved in a variety of exclusive activities such as winning the actual kick-off ball from that game and voting for their Man of the Match

On Facebook and Twitter they have stated that their core content aims fall under 5 sub-headings; Football, Fans, Facilitation, Fun and FIFA. In simple terms, covering everything on the pitch; engaging fans in fun, interactive contests and asking them to share THEIR content; showcasing some of FIFA’s core programmes and initiatives; and facilitating the journey of fans and media, by providing regular, up-to-date, relevant information.

Facebook

FIFA’s first Facebook page was launched in June 2013 to coincide with the FIFA Confederations Cup. Twelve pages are now live, with the FIFA World Cup page now having over 19 million fans worldwide. The content is image driven. Photos, videos, trivia questions, exclusive interviews, fan promotions in the FIFA online store, news on the launch of ticket sales phases, and the promotion of fun fan games, such as
the Online Panini album aim to provide a variety of content.

FIFA’s extensive archive also enables us to take a look back at the stars of the past. Working together with FIFA’s Partners, they are also able to tell the story of unique opportunities provided at every FIFA competition, for example, through the FIFA Youth Programme, for children to get a birds-eye view, by being a player escort or being part of the ball crew.

In April 2014, eight out of the ten fastest-growing sports pages on Facebook belonged to FIFA, and at the beginning of May 2014, FIFA merged its two World Cup Facebook pages – one historic; one focused on Brazil 2014, to create one central World Cup hub.

Twitter

FIFA’s presence on Twitter went live in mid-2010. There are accounts for FIFA (@fifacom) and @FIFAWorldCup in six languages, for the FIFA President and the FIFA Secretary General, as well as accounts for the FIFA Media Department (@FIFAMedia) and women’s football (@FIFAWWC).

The platform provides a personal and direct communication channel with fans, media, stakeholders and key influencers. Hashtags are used for FIFA’s tournaments to create discussion topics, regular interactive daily polls/Q&As are posted
to ask fans for their views on the ‘key topics of the day’ and wherever possible, breaking news is posted to ensure FIFA’s authentic message is relayed in real-time.

Overall, there are more than seven million followers across FIFA’s accounts. The platform was used for the official man of the match vote during FIFA Confederations Cup 2013 and will once again be utilised for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, in an innovative activation together with Anheuser-Busch & Twitter. Fans will also be able to cast their Man of the Match vote on Twitter, across FIFA’s six @fifacom and six
@fifaworldcup language accounts, while votes will also be counted from FIFA.com too.

Hashtags

FIFA Digital will be using the following hashtags in six languages: #WorldCup, #Joinin, #GlobalStadium while each match will have its own hashtag too.

Monitoring

In order to measure effectiveness and better tailor content to our fans, FIFA utilises a variety of reporting/monitoring tools for real-time analytics. We will also be working together with social media platforms to provide key data, both as part of our daily content, but also to Media through the daily news briefings at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. FIFA Digital will also produce a series of Infographics at key stages of the competition, to provide key digital highlights.