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Visa introduces Fifa WC Facebook app

Indiantelevision.com Team

(15 May 2010 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Credit card major Visa which is a partner of soccer's governing body Fifa has announced the launch of the Visa Match Planner, a social media application that allows users to create Fifa World Cup viewing schedules to share with friends via social networking channels such as Facebook.

The Visa Match Planner is the latest extension of Visa’s first-ever global Fifa-themed marketing campaign, Go Fans, which also includes print, television and out-of-home advertising, host market merchant activation programs and usage promotions.

The new application will be available in English, Japanese, Spanish and Portuguese, and will be customised for each of the 32 qualified countries. In addition to building a customised Fifa World Cup match viewing schedule, the application also lets users organise match viewing parties, chat with friends, track scores and standings, and obtain exclusive offers from merchants such as the Fifa official store on Fifa.com.

Visa CMO Antonio Lucio says, "Football fans are undeniably passionate about the Fifa World Cup and the teams they follow and social media provides a unique platform to help them express their views and connect with friends from around the world.

"Through social media extensions of the Go Fans campaign, like the Visa Match Planner, Visa is able to strengthen our connection to the Fifa World Cup and enhance every fan’s World Cup experience with engaging content"

First debuted in Latin America in 2009 and later introduced globally in February 2010, the Go Fans campaign celebrates the common love that all fans have for football with creative executions, featuring the colors of the national flags of each of the 32 qualified countries, symbolising the expression of each fan’s true colors and love of country. The campaign reinforces the ways that Visa enables fans to express their true colors in support of their teams by offering an easier way to pay, their Visa card.

Go Fans was developed to connect with football fans worldwide to drive preference for and usage of Visa products, promote Visa’s association with the 2010 FIFA World Cup South AfricaTM and reinforce the ways in which Visa enhances the fan’s FIFA World CupTM experience.

The company claims that today, more than 90 markets throughout the world are activating Visa Fifa-themed marketing programmes with more than 500 financial institutions and merchants via advertising, customized promotions and the development of marketing collateral (POS, signage and direct mail).