With the year full of football events, Benson Chukwueke, Chief Executive Officer, GreenHunters Sports International, looks at why football events continue to be lucrative vehicles for brand advertising and summarises key elements of effective and affordable campaigns in this world Cup year 2022.
Since the invention of television, football events have captured the hearts of millions of fans worldwide. Add social media and live streaming to the mix, and those fans are now engaging with each other, event organisers and broadcasters, and associated brands more than ever. In 2014, coverage of the FIFA World Cup reached a record-breaking 3.2 billion viewers, with almost a third of this figure tuning in for the final..
The build up this year for countries in Africa is not just the World Cup, there's the African cup of nation that will start the spotlight in January. That means you may be a little bit late, if your brand management team haven't yet strategize on how to take advantage of the year long football fever.
FIFA or CAF Official Sponsorship
To partner with FIFA and CAF and obtain the right to run your advertising campaigns with official FIFA or CAF elements is perhaps the best way to go, if you can afford it.
Despite the omicron valiant charge threatening to disrupt this year’s tournaments, coverage on this scale is one of the reasons why football will always be seen as a lucrative global marketing platform for brands. Even those who do decide to pull off football event sponsorship are looking for ways to capitalise on the buzz surrounding such major events like the world Cup and African cup of nations
Take for example sportswear giant Nike, which enjoyed 81% fans engagement and sales as it launched Nigeria national team 2018 world Cup jersey. Yeah, such campaign may put hole in your pocket if you are not yet a multinational brand or already making profit in millions of Dollars.
Perhaps, the more affordable and even more effective way in positioning your brand is through live streaming and social media. Football Blogging will play a vital role in positioning brands this year. So brand managers should consider active blogs, vlogs, macro blogging platforms like Twitter, Instagram, more especially, YouTube, Vine etc.
The benefits Your Brand Can Derive This World Cup Year
1. Positive brand exposure at scale
For brands, the appeal of these events is clear. They receive widespread exposure and provide access to vast audiences across both TV and social media. Twitter reported a staggering 1.2 million tweets per minute in the aftermath of the 2018 World Cup final, bringing the total number of World Cup tweets to 3.6 billion – a level of exposure that no other sporting event has enjoyed to date. The fact that these audiences actively engage with the events they are viewing makes them more amenable to Ad messaging.
Being associated with a prominent, global event such as the World Cup can boost the reputation and status of a brand, and sponsorships or adjacent advertising can be used to increase brand awareness and affinity. Advertisers can use the halo effect to associate their brand with sporting values, such as FIFA’s championship tagline: “For the Game… For the World…”
Sponsoring home teams like the Super Eagles, just as Nigerian Breweries did in 2018 World Cup is also a way of appealing to a specific geographical audience. This year, Premier Lotto (Baba Ijebu) campaign is taking this one step further by combining its sponsorship, in which it is backing the Nigerian national team, with its existing lotto sales promotion which has created opportunities for hundreds of fans to your with Super Eagles in Cameroon during the 2021 Afcon this January.
Reaching audiences across platforms
While linear TV is still first choice for many viewers watching major football events, there is increasing demand for other forms of viewing, such as live video streams, and Video on Demand (VOD). In 2018, online streaming soared; and with greater numbers watching the tournament online than ever before (approximately 280 million), the World Cup was touted as the “biggest multimedia sporting event in history”. This year, ability to view online means that nearly half of the global population (47%) are intending to watch the competition, according to a recent survey.
In a world where the lines between traditional TV and digital video are blurring, brands can take advantage of this wide-reaching, multiplatform approach to engage with audiences. The use of the second screen by many viewers – over three-quarters of us now 'second-screen' – also opens up opportunities for sponsors and advertisers to join in the conversation with this highly engaged audience through live blogging platforms like Twitter.
And, with many viewers using their devices to comment on the sporting action via social media, savvy brands can become part of this commentary, either by promoting social content off the back of TV coverage or aligning themselves with individual players or teams.
Embrace engaging Ad formats
With short viewer attention spans, and multiple brands competing for audiences, advertisers need to cut through the noise and engage consumers. So they are looking to work with blog publishers who can offer unique or innovative advertising opportunities that capture the audience.
Major football events have the key ingredients to foster creative ads like the pull campaign – using celebrity, in the form of high-profile football stars, the excitement of real-time action, and multiple talking points to drive engagement.
Interactive promos are also likely to gain traction, for example featuring high-profile player. using their TV remotes, viewers can actively engage with these video ads, discovering fun facts and further information about the stars involved. With interactive video ads known to have a positive impact on metrics such as brand awareness, message association, and purchase intent, this ad format is a great example of how the combination of football event, broadcaster, publisher and advertiser can work to great effect.
Advertising around major football events presents huge opportunities and will continue to be on brands’ agenda long after the latest World Cup final whistle has been blown. By embracing a multiplatform approach, and adopting innovative and interactive ad formats, brands can put themselves at the top of the podium in the competition for winning over engaged audiences at scale.
