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Soccer means everything to football fans; they are glued to their TV sets and internet. It is a 5th addition to the 4 seasons. This is Gala time for all FIFA fans! Food, beverages and Football become the three basic necessities, if you’re a devotee.

However, it’s not just the fans who wait eagerly for the World Cup but also the BRANDS who swoop down on FIFA to leverage their products. From the smallest player to the big names, every brand wants a piece of the FIFA visibility pie. Participation in FIFA related events, quizzes and contests becomes an irresistible prospect for all FIFA fans, there’s so much on offer! They are great at leveraging everything about the event, everything that is happening in and around football.

Long before the FIFA 2010 edition made its debut on 11th of June, many big brands had already started to formulate their brand promotions based on it. It’s an event that comes only once in four years, an event which celebrates the joy of world’s favourite sport. Beginning with Coke, the longest standing partner of FIFA since 1974, Coke incorporated the FIFA theme into its global brand communication. ‘Coke Opens Happiness’ was blended with the finest and happiest celebration moments from the world cup.

The company didn’t stop at promoting itself but it also persuaded a call to action. It engaged the audience in its campaign through the “Celebrating the Goal” contest. Here in this contest Coke gave football fans chance to win FIFA Match tickets. The contest was about displaying your celebration style for a goal scored by you. Simplicity of the contest got this campaign extremely high recognition and hoards of people took part in it.

Another big brand to canvas FIFA theme in its promotion was Sony Ericsson. The Japanese-Swedish company in collaboration with Cherrypicks developed an interactive football theme based game wherein the players had to hit the ball with their head and advance to further level. The winners of the header game won exciting FIFA goodies.

Both the companies gained extensive exposure on conventional as well as digital media. The campaigns ranged from online applications to contests on Facebook, Twitter and Orkut etc. in addition to regular communication.

With all the international brands charging in, how could an Indian brand with International standards lag behind? So GoJiyo also jumped on the band wagon. They’ve constructed a giant Jabulani with head phones inside the virtual world for all the FIFA fans in GoJiyo. The football has been made clickable; a click lets users listen to the official FIFA Album. This should be an interesting experience for all the Shakira fans; the virtual world also claims that you can dance to the tunes of waka waka right inside the virtual world. A new concept – let’s see how it is received by the users.

From the international brands to Indian brands, FIFA has been a theme of utmost interest. And each one has incorporated this into their marketing strategy and brand communications to the fullest. Brands spare no expense to capitalize on this “Fifaism”. The competition heats up with all brands harping on the FIFA mantra and attracting more and more consumers.

Is this what they call “THE FIFA FEVER?

Wanna fly around without any inhibitions? Then GoJiyo lets you fly like an bird and roam free. If you would like to know more, check out GoJiyo the hottest, most talked about place this season.

The offensively struggling Kansas City Chiefs have finally found a way to win-play a team with a more stagnant offense than their own. The Chiefs gave Todd Haley his first win as a NFL head coach on Sunday with a—6 win over the Washington Redskins. Kansas City won despite not scoring a touchdown, compiling their– points via 4 Ryan Succop field goals and a game ending safety. Kansas City is now 1-5 on the NFL season, while the Redskins slumped to 2-4.

To successfully bet on NFL football you occasionally have to put aside W/L records and look at the underlying statistics. Those who did that found reason to take Kansas City as +6′ road underdogs and were rewarded with the outright victory. Kansas City is now 2-4 against the NFL pointspread and has covered two straight while Washington is a dismal 1-5 versus the money. The 20 combined points went well UNDER the posted total of 36′.

After the contest, Haley sounded more relieved than excited about finally putting a “W” on the board:

“We made it pretty difficult, right down to the end. We’ve pushed through a very difficult period. We needed to get some positive reinforcement with a win.”

Kansas City QB Matt Cassel also won for the first time since coming over from New England in the off season. His postgame comments were more upbeat:

“There’s been a lot of change, but this has definitely been special. We rose to the occasion. We made some big plays. We put ourselves in a position to score points.”

Embattled Redskins’ coach Jim Zorn was stripped of his offensive play calling duties by team management after the contest. In one of his last decisions in that role, he pulled starter Jason Campbell at halftime and went with Todd Collins. He explained his move as follows:

“I felt the need to create a spark on our football team offensively and went with Todd. I think the guys responded well. We kept our spark, at times, and then we refizzled.”

The Redskins have managed to win only two of their first six games despite being the only team in NFL history to play their first six games of the season against winless opponents. They’ll get another chance to silence their doubters next Monday night as they host the Philadelphia Eagles. They’ll have a bye the next week and return to action on November 8th against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome. Kansas City will try to string together back to back wins as they host the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

Ross Everett is a freelance sports writer who has written on sports betting and how to successfully bet on NFL football. He has appeared as a guest on TV and radio talking about boxing, hockey and NFL pointspreads. He lives in Las Vegas with three Jack Russell Terriers and a lynx.

The Green Bay Packers didn’t do a good job protecting their quarterback last Sunday, but against the lowly Detroit Lions it didn’t really matter. Packers’ QB Aaron Rodgers was sacked five times, but Green Bay used a big first half offensive outburst to coast to a 26-0 NFL victory over the Detroit Lions. Rodgers threw two first half touchdown passes which was complimented by four Mason Crosby field goals as Green Bay improved to 3-2 on the season. The Lions slumped to 1-5 with the loss.

NFL football betting enthusiasts who backed the Packers as -14 home dogs easily cashed their tickets with Green Bay’s third pointspread cover in five games. Detroit slipped to 2-4 against the spread. The 26 points scored went UNDER the posted total of 48′.

In the victory, Packers’ receiver Donald Driver passed Sterling Sharpe for first place on the franchise reception list. Sharpe finished his career with 596 receptions, Driver now has 602. After the game, he talked about the accomplishment:

“It couldn’t it come in a better place — at home in front of the fans I’ve played in front of for so many years. It feels good. Now I just have to wait on Sterling to call me and congratulate me.”

Despite the convincing victory, cornerback Tramon Williams wasn’t happy with the relatively narrow margin:

“It feels like a 50 to zero game, but we didn’t quite get there. I felt we should’ve put more points on the board.”

For the Lions, their quarterback woes continued. Matthew Stafford is already out indefinitely with an injured knee, and against Green Bay backup Daunte Cullpepper injured his hamstring in the third quarter and was replaced by the Lions’ third string quarterback Drew Stanton. Cullpepper is now listed as ‘questionable’ on the official NFL injury report. After the game, he talked about Detroit’s lack of offense:

“It’s very disappointing, very frustrating. It’s embarrassing to me not to be able to move it on the field and get points on the board. We’ve got to figure out a way to do that, simple as that.”

The Packers will play on the road this Sunday, heading to Cleveland to face the Browns. The game is currently off the board as linemakers try to get a handle on the personnel impact of the Browns’ struggle with a flu bug making its way through the locker room. Green Bay will host the Minnesota Vikings the following Sunday followed by a trip to Tampa Bay on November 8. Detroit has a bye this weekend and will return to action as they host the St. Louis Rams on November 1.

Ross Everett is a consulting handicapper for Sports-1 Sportsbook as well as a freelance writer specializing in MMA, boxing and how to bet on NFL football. He is a respected authority on Internet sports betting, fine dining and fencing. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with three Jack Russell Terriers and a pet wallaby.