"I want this celebration on @easportsfifa– Mario Balotelli
He wants, he plans, he gets.
Balotelli is no stranger to tabloids and football player related news. On the surface, it may seem he’s just a compulsive attention seeker but his most recent goal against St. Etienne puts that notion to dust.
Though in 2012 after scoring a goal in the Euro 2012 semi-final he said, “I don’t celebrate goals, I’m just doing my job”, he did just that by streaming his celebration live on Instagram profile, racking up millions of views in just few hours.
His act seemed spontaneous and unplanned, just a quick grab at a conveniently available phone to stream himself and team mates whooping along with their supporters. However, his caption on the post shows it was indeed well-planned.
Here’s where we bring back that tidbit that says it takes genius to create simplicity effortlessly. Few content are truly spontaneous. What you see as real-time, winged streaming of moment is most often planned in advance.
The more unplanned it seems, the better planning and execution done. Take the case of Michael Johnson’s gold running shoes by Nike in 1992. The attention the shoes got was worth millions in advert cost and all it took was a a man confident in his preparedness to win the race, a brand taking a gamble on that confidence and a product that drew attention to the brand.
Content is a gamble, but the risk of losing is reduced by strategic planning, positioning and execution. Fracesco Totti did same at his 40th Derby Della Capitale appearance. He said “I gave my phone to Guido Nanni. I asked him to take it with him when he went out to the pitch.”
When planned and executed perfectly, seemingly spontaneous content will unfold bearing multiple gifts; virality, money and leverage. Balotelli used the leverage his viral video got to request what he wants. It’s a signal of “I’m worth working with” and it would have been surprising if EA Sports does not agree to have the goal celebration on their platform.
This is a route brands should take more often to market themselves; a relatable, stock-feel free and sincere moments executed with the help of influencers, both micro and macro. A successful ad or campaign is no longer in the visual quality, it’s in the impact and numbers both online and offline.
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