If you won't let me appear, I'll make not appearing the story
Originally written in Chinese. Translated with AI, reviewed by Gary. Read the Chinese original →
Today I saw a really impressive piece of PR.
It's about the World Cup and Levi's Stadium.
Levi's sponsors a few stadiums in the US, and one of them is Levi's Stadium. But because the World Cup is here and FIFA has its own official sponsors, brands like Levi's that aren't official FIFA sponsors have to have their signage at the stadium covered up.
Normally, that's a loss of exposure for the brand.
You pay to sponsor a stadium, and when the biggest international event comes along, your own name can't be seen.
But Levi's handled it very cleverly this time.
It didn't kick up a fuss or take on FIFA aggressively. Instead, it went along with it and changed its own social media logo to look like it was covered with a white cloth too.
Once it did that, NBC Sports reported on it, and lots of people on social media started talking about it and copying it.
I think this PR was brilliant in three ways.
First, it turned a loss of exposure into earned media.
The logo was covered, which meant less exposure. But because of this move, more people started talking about Levi's.
Second, it proves how strong Levi's brand assets are.
Even with the name covered, that red logo, that shape, that feeling, everyone still knows it's Levi's. A truly strong brand doesn't need to keep spelling out its name for people to recognise it.
Third, it wasn't too aggressive.
It didn't attack FIFA or go head to head. It returned the serve in a smart, humorous way. That sense of proportion really matters.
There's a big lesson here for brands.
Often, PR isn't about forcing yourself into the spotlight. It's about whether you can turn a restriction into a story.
If you won't let me appear, I'll make "not appearing" itself the biggest exposure of all.