“IAFF”
New York Times style cartoon strip paying homage to Simon Brodkin “Lee Nelson” infamously showering FIFA’s then-president, Sep Blatter, in fake dollar bills
As Director of Marketing and Media for FORTYTWO CO LLC, I had the freedom to build out our company’s brand identity as expansively as I wanted. Since in the FOOTYTWO Capsule we were selling knit soccer jerseys, I researched everything I could about the world of FIFA and found some very interesting source material, such as the public shaming stunt that Simon Brodkin pulled at the 2015 FIFA conference. That is the reference for the NYTimes cartoon I made above.
We wanted to see just how high-definition we could make our customers’ experience when shopping with us. We marketed our brand as an alternate universe that satirized real-world events, and drip-fed our customers easter-egg references to increase brand loyalty. This was paramount as a young company with no pre-existing consumer trust: who would buy from a small company over a big one, unless the smaller one was putting in maximum effort to offer something unique? It was my job to see to it that our marketing campaigns communicated exactly that to our base.
We made fake magazines, lore zines, stickers, custom boxes, and cartoons and included them in each order, at no extra cost to our customers. This was all in pursuit of building a dense, fictional narrative to make our products that-much-more high reward. I spearheaded the creation and curation of this narrative, and saw immediate positive feedback from customers who were excited to see a brand so dedicated to intricate world-building. My goal as Director of Marketing and Media was to garner company-consumer reciprocal loyalty, and in the 14 months that I was active in that role, I really believe I achieved that to a large degree.
I took every opportunity to plant an easter-egg: reshuffling the word FIFA to create IAFF, which stands for International Association of Fixed Football, referencing infamous moments such as the Suarez Bites and the Zidane Headbutt in promotional materials, and even writing an entire fake newspaper about the match outcomes of the fictional future “2042 World Cup” which we based our narrative around.
“CUP BUSINESS”
digital designs for 4x6” stickers
Time lapse of one of the stickers on procreate
We ordered 6000pc of my sticker designs that were included as free memorabilia in every order that my team and I sold for our FOOTYTWO Capsule drop.
Time lapse of another one of the stickers on procreate
This add-on was just another one of the many that I designed as part of our extensive and high-reward marketing strategy, which prioritized consumer experience over profit.