Moving on from the World Cup

Most of us just want to forget the summer’s football horror show, woeful performances by our national team, humiliated by one of our biggest rivals and high profile players not showing their true talent. It was a nightmare.

For some though the FIFA 2010 was excellent, not just for Spain and other underdog countries that outperformed but also the likes of Kia who really benefited from the international exposure. Kia have been punching above their weight for a few years now, they had bigger brands raising their eye brows when they launched the 7 year warranty but they all seem to be following the trend now.

After the World Cup success Kia has decided to continue with football related marketing, it is the new sponsor of ITV's coverage of The FA Cup for the 2010/2011 season.

It is more than just a straight forward campaign with TV ads before and after matches, in an attempt to make the campaign more interactive Kia has invented three characters - Keith, Ian and Andy. Viewers will be able to follow these characters over the course of the season as they travel from game-to-game in the all-new Kia Sportage.

Simon Hethrington the Marketing Director at Kia was at a Sussex Kia  dealership discussing the new marketing campaign, he commented, “We're passionate about football at Kia and are delighted to sponsor coverage of the oldest and most prolific domestic football competition in the world. Kia has seen tremendous growth in recent years and this partnership is another great way for our brand to reach even more people.”

I’m looking forward to seeing the 3 characters in action and hope that we see some giant killing in the FA Cup this year too.