the world according to schmogel.

Have you heard? Women’s World Cup is going on in Germany.

Every four years this happens. And every 4 years it is exciting, beautiful and most importantly it’s talked about. It’s not the Superbowl, it’s not LeBron, hell, it’s not even draft week… I am not naive, I get that women’s sports will never get the same level of commitment in media support and ad dollars. But there are pockets in which they should. We see it in the Olympics and I can’t think of a reason we don’t see more activity every 4 years around women’s soccer.

No one should be surprised about the excitement and hype around the women’s world cup. Wambach, Solo and Rapinoe may have replaced Mia, Brandi and Julie but the punchline is still the same- women’s US national team unites soccer fans and welcomes bandwagon fans every 4 years. And in a world of brands trying to connect and have conversations with fans, women’s world cup seems like an easy one.

1999 and 2011 women’s world cup

It’s been a top twitter trend for weeks, the amazing win over Brazil hit the cover of almost every newspaper across the country, 3.89 Million people tuned in to watch the pass from Rapinoe to Wambach, and ESPN has a mobile truck traveling across Germany bringing great live coverage. No one should be surprised that there were standing ovations in baseball diamonds across the country when the final score was announced. No one should be surprised that the game is aired live in times square. You can be a little surprised they won an ESPY (as it was the late entry 2 days before the award show)… but only a little.

The athletes are accessible- they run camps for young players, they stay after and sign autographs, they play in leagues in the US and across Europe, they tweet, and have facebook profile- they do everything short of knocking on your door and introducing themselves. They are fit (they beat Brazil because they were better conditioned), they are humble, they are role models.

The the usual suspects continue to set the bar high and the three that deserve a big thumbs up for the level of commitment are:

1. ESPN- Across ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3 and ESPNw it’s been great. Big Blue is fun and welcoming. Commentary has been superior. Old players from multiple countries providing perspective.

2. NIKE – NIKE has always placed value on women’s sports. they support athletes 365 days a year and have committed energy to a dedicated campaign for this year’s team… Pressure Makes Us. (here, here and here)

3. US Soccer (here, here and here) – social pages, studio 90 videos and getting players involved is a lesson for all brands

With the good comes the bad (or opportunities if you will). A few places that leave room for improvement… Rogaine sponsored the semi-final match. I would love to see the brief that made this an effective investment. And for the brands that are re-purposing ads that kind of relate to women’s soccer… ads they made with US men national players, ads with soccer balls in them… it’s better than running a football ad, but not much. There are categories, industries and product lines that can connect better and create more value for their investment.

So brands, agencies and fans. Stop waiting four years to be reminded how powerful these three weeks can be. Stop second-guessing if there will be enough buzz. Stop doing the bare-minimum to be associated. Create something meaningful for a passionate fan base with a team that captures the hearts of a nation for 3 weeks every four years. It will be worth it. (and there are plenty of ways to extend it beyond those three weeks, but I’ll leave that for another day).

I will now step down from my soapbox and get ready to cheer on the US this Sunday.