By Sydney Donovan, EGC’s Director of PR Not every brand can be an official FIFA sponsor. And not every fan can get into a match (especially considering some of the ticket prices!). What everyone does have is an opinion. And where better to share those opinions than on Reddit? From soccer subreddits to city-specific communities like ‘r/KansasCity’ and ‘r/Boston,’ all are flooded with chatter around the World Cup. Alyssa Meyers wrote a great piece for Marketing Brew, where she dove deeply on how Reddit’s in-house creative agency is coaching brands through the tournament. Reddit’s creatives are encouraging advertisers to adopt a “listening first…talking second” approach, and to treat themselves less like advertisers and more like guests at a dinner party; a lesson in a strong Reddit strategy beyond this cultural moment. A Few Ways This is Playing Out… DoorDash leaned into the fact that soccer fans barely look away from the pitch for 90+ minutes. So, instead of one big campaign, they built dozens of small, contextual ads tied to in-game moments: a drink order after a goal or a comfort plant after a loss, among others. Coors Light went a different direction. This brand built an interactive Reddit experience around its “Coooors Call” campaign, letting fans pull a virtual tap handle to build the longest Coors chant (sound effects included). As of July 8, this interactive experience racked up more than 1.7 million contributions. Neither campaign is trying to out-produce a TV spot, but rather an authentic way to engage the communities without distracting from the conversation or platform. How prSuade Sees It… This is earned attention in its purest form! Smart brands did the observing before they did the talking. These brands then showed up in a way that felt like they owned the space instead of as if they’d rented it. And it’s not a Reddit lesson; it’s ‘a tale-as-old-as-time’ PR lesson.
