CO-OPing MLS USA-Mexico Re-match.

To promote a friendly soccer competition between the USA and Mexico, and to fill Houston’s new 69,500 seat Reliant Stadium, CO-OP, a New York-based advertising agency, created a cross-cultural campaign, in both English and Spanish, for the long anticipated Re-match between the two teams. For Major League Soccer (MLS) (New York, NY), CO-OP created two :30s and two :15s, supported by a pair of :30 radio spots, and reached both the Texan and Mexican markets when the campaign began airing April 27th on Time Warner Cable and its affiliates, as well as Telemundo in Texas. The radio spots began airing on May 4th.

The USA whipped Mexico in the quarter finals of the 2002 World Cup with a 2-0 win and the rivalry between the two teams has been palpable ever since. It has been almost a year since they played that crucial game. Now CO-OP has set the stage for the long awaited re-match.

Gary Bonilla, CO-OP Partner and Strategic Director, explained, “Our strategy was to construct a message that would successfully sell tickets and simultaneously help build the U.S. Soccer brand. We were able to create a concept, based on very strong nationalistic feelings, that applied to both the Latino and Anglo markets. The idea was to get both audiences fired up. We wanted the Americans to feel this was their game, and for the Mexican fans to feel that this was their revolution. We also wanted each group of fans to feel that we were speaking to them exclusively. Due to the size of the market, all this had to be achieved with one concept. So, we had to find a common place of citizenship – soccer or soccer nation – which is their slogan – was that place.”

“Based on their past successful experiences, I knew CO-OP could deliver the message in a strategic way, to get our objectives delivered to the state of Texas, and the world. As this was the first match-up between the North American soccer superpowers since Mexico’s loss to the USA, there was a lot at stake. Gary’s 15 years of strategic planning in the Latino market was key to crafting the strategy and to developing the concept. CO-OP’s deep practical knowledge of broadcast marketing, as well as their advertising expertise, made our work together a dynamic and very successful experience,” remarked Major League Soccer/SUM Creative Director Richard Levy. “The numbers are there. We will never know if it was the spot that sold out the stadium but Sports Illustrated attributed the success to our campaign and wrote ‘whoever came up the slogan “La Revancha en la Cancha” a.k.a. “Revenge on the Field”, needs to stand up and take credit for a sweet bit of showmanship that American soccer could use more often’. That was us,” Levy continued.

The campaign promoting the May 8th confrontation was a mixture of adrenaline-fueled live-action footage (obtained from Major League Soccer) and vibrant graphic treatments that helped to drive traffic to the game. In short order the stadium was filled to capacity. Dynamic shots of the US team stars in action are seen against compelling copy to set-up an intense showdown between the neighboring countries. This re-match is all about pride. The campaign taunts the Mexican team and fans sparking a must-be-there attitude and a need-to-go-to-the-game to support your national team. Like two prizefighters going head-to-head for a title belt, CO-OP created the same anticipation, tension and excitement with this campaign.

Mexican fans adopted the “la revancha en la cancha” slogan and this USA-Mexico game was as eagerly anticipated as Muhammad Ali’s “rumble in the jungle” or the “thrilla in Manila.” Houston has a large Mexican population and the re-match was the most highly anticipated international event in the city’s history. (The U.S. Men’s National Team and Mexico battled to an intense 0-0 draw.)