Every four years, the world stops for the World Cup. Billions of people tune in. Brands pour hundreds of millions of dollars into sponsorships, and campaigns stretch across every time zone.
But here’s what most people miss: the brands getting attention on screens, commanding space in print, stopping thumbs on scrolling feeds, dominating billboards and rising to the top of AI and Google rankings are not winning simply because they have the largest budgets. Like sports, the team with the highest payroll doesn’t always win.
The best strategy does.
Adidas builds campaigns around athletes and communities. Coca-Cola turns emotion into shareable moments. Visa uses partnerships and experiences to stay connected to important moments. They know their role and position. And they never put a player on the field without a plan.
Yet too often, other companies and associations rush onto the field without a plan to score, let alone win.
“The World Cup is a reminder that good marketing isn’t about showing up everywhere just because you can,” says CMA Vice President Kelsey Tweedly. “The brands that stand out know who they are and what they want people to remember. Every sponsorship, campaign and message has a job to do, and all of it works together toward the same goal.”
That kind of thinking isn’t reserved for brands with nine-figure sponsorship deals. It applies to any organization trying to reach the right audience, whether that’s a regional business, a national trade association or anything in between.
It starts with knowing your lineup.
A soccer team fields 11 players. Every position matters. One of the most common formations is the 4-3-3: four defenders, three midfielders, three attackers and a goalkeeper all working together. Marketing works the same way. Every role matters, too.
Just like a soccer team, a strong marketing strategy depends on the right mix of roles working together. Here’s how each position translates to the way organizations build awareness, engagement and growth.
Goalkeeper: Brand Identity & Association Standards
Every team needs someone protecting the net. Your brand identity does the same thing. Your logo, voice, visual standards and messaging all create consistency. Most importantly, they all protect how people recognize and trust your organization.
For associations, this also extends to governance frameworks and organizational standards that keep branding consistent across chapters, committees and communications.
Left Back: Paid Advertising & Audience Growth
Paid advertising helps move your message quickly to the right audience with precision and scale.
Like a fullback pushing up the field, paid campaigns create opportunities and help move momentum forward.
Center Back (2): Website & SEO
These are your anchors. They aren’t flashy positions, but they’re the ones people notice when they break down.
A well-built website and a strong search presence are the structural backbone of your marketing. If your site is slow, outdated or impossible to find, everything else suffers. No one is buying, signing up or asking to learn more. They’re not showing up. If they do, they’re clicking out.
It’s like watching a wide-open shot sail over the crossbar. Instant frustration.
Right Back: Membership Development & Retention
For associations, membership development recruits, retains and engages the people who keep the organization growing.
Like a fullback supporting both sides of the field, membership development balances outreach with retention.
Defensive Midfielder: Analytics
This is the player reading the entire field. Analytics sits at the center of everything, helping teams understand what’s happening, where opportunities exist and what adjustments need to be made next.
Without this role, teams rely on assumptions instead of insights. Data shows what’s working, what isn’t and where to move the ball next.
Central Midfielder: Email Marketing & Member Communications
Email is still one of the highest-ROI channels in marketing, and member communications are the heartbeat of many associations. These players keep audiences informed, engaged and connected through content, updates and ongoing touchpoints.
“Email is where relationships are built over time,” Tweedly says. “It’s one of the best ways to keep the conversation going and keep your audience engaged.”
Attacking Midfielder: Project Management & Account Leadership
The project management team, commonly the account managers and association executives, keeps the entire team moving. It connects timelines, priorities and team members so campaigns don’t stall before reaching the back of the net.
Like a midfielder controlling possession, this role keeps everything organized and moving in the right direction: toward the right goal.
Left Wing: Creative, Content & Thought Leadership
Creative and content bring your brand to life. They shape the voice, visuals and stories audiences remember. They turn your product, service or expertise into something people actually connect with.
That takes more than a lucky bounce.
For associations, thought leadership can be one of your strongest assets. It keeps members engaged, strengthens sponsor value and reinforces why people stay connected to your organization.
These positions thrive on consistency and originality. Generic content fades into the background. Distinctive content creates opportunities and puts your team in position to score.
Right Wing: Social Media
Fast-moving and always active, social media pushes your message into conversations where your audience already spends a lot of time and, for many audiences, the most time.
Social media builds engagement and keeps your organization visible between larger campaigns and moments. It also establishes credibility, allows you to share expertise and keeps your audiences connected. For companies, it strengthens their brand presence and keeps prospects engaged. For associations, it builds community and reinforces member value.
Like a winger delivering the ball into the box, social media creates opportunities for the rest of the team to finish.
Striker: Events
All the buildup means nothing without a finish.
Events are where your clients and members stop scrolling, show up and fully engage. They’re the moments that turn momentum into something real.
Whether it’s a webinar, conference, workshop, networking event or live experience, events give people a reason to come together face to face in ways other channels just can’t offer. And the best events don’t end when people walk out the door. Like a striker finding the back of the net, they create the special moments people remember and spark conversations that continue long after the final whistle. These are your finishers.
They’re the players expected to turn opportunities into immediate results.
Is Your Lineup Ready?
The World Cup doesn’t reward teams for having the biggest names on paper. It rewards teams that know how to play together.
The same applies to marketing and association management. You can invest in websites, content, social media, advertising and events, but if the pieces aren’t working together, you’re leaving opportunities on the field.
You need the right lineup to win. And a strategy that delivers when you need it most.
Ready to build both together? Chat with CMA to see how to put the right team and plan on the field.