Visa Unveils Innovative Tournament Activation Program with Interactive Fan Engagements to Connect Everyone to the 2014 FIFA World Cup

06/26/2014

Australia Represented Across Extensive Social Fan Engagement Program

Sydney - Visa, the global leader in payments, and FIFA’s exclusive Financial Services partner for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™, has shared its global FIFA World Cup activation program, which will enhance the sporting experience for millions of fans, clients and partners in 104 countries worldwide, including Australia.

“Our goal is to make it easy, engaging and relevant for everyone, everywhere, to connect to the FIFA World Cup and be part of the collective experience,” said Charlie Scharf, chief executive officer, Visa Inc. “From immersive fan engagement programs to innovative partnerships that help advance the next generation of payment technologies in Brazil, Visa is connecting more people than ever before with this momentous global event.”

Connecting Global Fans Through Unique Social Experiences
As the world turns its attention to the FIFA World Cup, Visa will use more than 60 videos along with interactive tools to engage with viewers, while also customizing content and programs based on individual interests and affinities. New capabilities offered by social media partners, including Facebook and Twitter, will enable Visa to more dynamically target and connect with fans, as tournament events and corresponding conversations unfold.

Available at www.worldcup.visa.com, Visa will allow fans to watch, learn, share and express their FIFA World Cup excitement in their own unique way with:

• Samba of the World – a first time program for Visa, this creative effort enlists the help of 32 global filmmakers, each representing one of the qualifying countries in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Each local artist created a 90-second film, using the same format and music track, to show how their country celebrates the World Cup. Australia’s video was directed by Marc Furmie and is available, along with the other 31 global films, at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbcVgosgfo3rdXeq4pEmx4o8dwd8Am7r8.

• Visa Fanbassadors – a group of 11 culture thought leaders and content creators from football passionate countries like Brazil, Mexico, Japan and the UK, will capture and curate fans’ most defining moments through video and photo content. Representing Australia will be Melbourne-based photographer Ben Clements. Fans can experience and share this content through social channels across Visa’s Facebook page (www.facebook.com/visaAU) and Twitter feed (@visaAU; www.twitter.com/VisaAU).

• Visa Teletransporter – a fun, creative program that allows FIFA World Cup enthusiasts to transport themselves into the center of FIFA-inspired events. Fans simply insert their personal image into a series of videos that can be shared via social networks. Whether it’s enjoying a romantic dinner with former FIFA World Player of the Year and FIFA World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro, juggling a football with three-time FIFA World Player of the Year and FIFA World Cup winner Zinedine Zidane, or scoring that one pivotal tournament goal -- fans can place themselves right at the scene. Throughout the tournament, Visa will release additional videos, drawing on memorable moments to further take fans where they want to be. Available at www.worldcup.visa.com/teletransporter.

• Visa Financial Football – In support of this year’s tournament, Visa launched a new FIFA World Cup-themed educational video game. By harnessing the passion for football and the World Cup, Visa has built a free, online game that helps teach the fundamentals of personal finance to students and adults around the globe. Coupled with a companion classroom curriculum, the game has been translated into more than a dozen languages in 30 countries. Having been played three million times to-date at www.FinancialFootball.com, this financial literacy tool has helped pioneer the field of personal finance gamification.

Connecting World Cup Enthusiasts With Film and Print Featuring Nobel Peace Laureates
Visa is also celebrating the FIFA World Cup through creative film and print advertisements that extend the reach of its new brand positioning, “Everywhere You Want to Be.”

“United in Rivalry” depicts some of the world’s most prominent champions of peace – Nobel Peace Laureates – revealing their true competitive colors as they recall their favorite World Cup memories and discuss their country’s football rivals.

Other recently released commercials include “Restaurant” which stars former French player Zidane, who finds himself accidentally watching the FIFA World Cup in enemy territory at an Italian restaurant and “Unlikely Fans,” which showcases how people from all corners of the world -rugby players, salsa dancers, fishermen, actors, Olympic athletes and physicists – are united in their passion for the game. Australian hurdler and Olympic gold medallist Sally Pearson is featured in “Unlikely Fans.”

Visitors to Brazil Spent $27M on Visa Accounts During FIFA World Cup Opening Weekend
During the four-day opening period of the tournament (June 12 - June 15, 2014), the Visa Everywhere Travel Report for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil found that international visitors spent more than US$27M on their Visa accounts. This represents a 73 percent increase over the same four-day period in 2013.

Travelers from ten countries made up 65 percent of the total spend in Brazil, with four countries -- Australia (+675%), Colombia (+418%), Mexico (+204%) and United Kingdom (+101%) --showing triple-digit increases compared to spend during the same four-day period in 2013. Australian visitors spent a total of $969,000 during the opening period.

Visa has worked with partner organizations and service providers in Brazil to implement and manage the entire payment system infrastructure throughout all FIFA World Cup venues, including deployment of more than 3,000 Visa contactless-enabled point-of-sale terminals and 75 ATMs.

Visa’s FIFA sponsorship links the world’s leading payment brand, and football, the world’s most passionately followed sport, in a unique relationship that builds brand affinity, loyalty and preference for Visa, while enabling greater inclusion and active participation in FIFA World Cup events.

 

Editor’s Note
For additional information, please visit www.worldcup.visa.com or www.visa.com/fifamediakit.

About Visa
Visa is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world’s most advanced processing networks — VisaNet — that is capable of handling more than 47,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products.

Media contact
Teneille Rennick
Visa Australia
[email protected]