Disney VP: Develop ‘Authentic’ Campaigns for the World Cup

According to marketing research firm WARC, the FIFA World Cup 2026 is set to generate an additional US$10.5bn in global ad spend for the second half of the year – with some brands launching wide-reaching, multi-million dollar campaigns. 

This includes Adidas’s ‘Backyard Legends’ campaign, which features Timothée Chalamet, Lionel Messi, Bad Bunny, Lamine Yamal, Jude Bellingham, Trinity Rodman, Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham and Alessandro Del Piero, and is believed to have cost the company around US$66m to make. 

However, companies that are looking to create successful advertisements alongside the FIFA World Cup 2026 need to ensure that it feels authentic to their brand, says Anabelle Canwell, Vice President of Partnerships at Disney Advertising. 

“Customers are really savvy,” she told LinkedIn News. “They don’t want to be advertised to. They want brands to be part of things that they connect with and be part of the conversation. They want brands to show up in a way that’s relevant and authentic.”

For a brand to be authentic in its advertising, Anabelle says companies should “stay true to that North Star”. 

“They have to have a reason to be part of that conversation, and it needs to be authentic,” she continued. 

Celebrating heritage

“We all love storytelling,” Anabelle says. “We’re all sitting down and watching content because we are emotionally connected.”

Modelo has aimed to tap into this connection through its ‘Best Seat in the House’ campaign, which is designed to celebrate fans “who know the best seat isn’t always in the stadium, but wherever your people, fútbol and Modelo come together,” according to the company. 

TV commercials for the campaign will air throughout the summer before, during and after matches, across all 104 Spanish-language games.

Alongside this, the campaign will also include limited time packaging and partnerships with football players Edson Álvarez, Raúl Jiménez, Diego Luna, David Ospina and Raphinha. 

But this campaign hasn’t been created purely for the FIFA World Cup 2026 – it falls within Modelo’s ‘Cerveza for Fútbol’ strategy, a multi-year platform to highlight the passion and heritage of football fans.

Logan Jensen, Vice President of Brand Marketing at Modelo, says of the campaign: “For 30 years, Modelo has been synonymous with fútbol, and fans agree – over 70% of fans associate Modelo more than any other beer brand with the beautiful game.

“But this goes beyond marketing; it reflects our genuine appreciation for the sport and the communities that live and breathe it.”

Connection through sport

Heineken is also looking to make an “emotional connection” through its FIFA World Cup 2026 advertising by connecting its campaign to employee wellbeing. 

The brewer has launched its ‘Heineken Fan Volunteers’ campaign to bring awareness to its Volunteer Time Off policy (VTO), which it says is rarely used by staff. 

With this campaign, Heineken is encouraging employees to take VTO when matches are on – allowing football fans to connect and volunteer while watching matches together. 

“We're making it easy for fans to utilise Volunteer Time Off, a benefit they likely already have in their favour, so they can potentially watch matches aired during working hours together, give back to their communities and connect with other fans over a Heineken,” says Alison Payne, Chief Marketing Officer of Heineken USA of the campaign. 

The campaign was launched as part of Heineken's Fans Have More Friends platform, which is designed to connect brand partnerships to encourage connections between fans – representing the company’s broader strategy of using sports sponsorships to bring people together.