The FIFA World Cup 2018 will begin in June, providing a fantastic opportunity for brands to get closer to their audiences. That’s why I have invited Ana Lopez, Marketing and Communications Manager at Adsmovil, to talk about how brands can focus their digital advertising during the World Cup – VK.
Why is the World Cup such an opportunity for brands to “score a goal?” Football, known as soccer in the United States, draws all types of people together. The sport is played in most countries, and it is practically impossible for an event this size not to grab people’s attention—even nonfans.
According to FIFA, 3.2 billion people watched the 2014 World Cup Brazil, 280 million of which watched it on a mobile device. This year, it is estimated more than 3 billion people will watch the matches online.
Although television will continue to be the platform of choice to watch matches (more than 200 countries broadcast this sporting event), mobile devices are positioning themselves as an essential channel for brand advertising campaigns. According to an IAB study from before the 2014 World Cup, 48 percent of the world’s soccer fans planned to use their smartphones to stay informed in real-time. In Mexico, that percentage was higher than the global average (56 percent).
So what opportunities do brands have in terms of mobile advertising strategies? Adsmovil believes it provides an ideal playing field for this type of advertising, in which creative campaigns can be executed even while people watch matches in real-time. We feel the following will have the greatest impact on advertising campaigns:
Apps help us reach consumers when they are in all kinds of settings and moods—such as excited and happy, in the case of matches. For informational apps, the biggest impact lies not in content, but rather in specific messages. This makes them valuable, because you can relate to consumers in a pertinent way without being intrusive.
What is pivotal here is relevance. There is no one strategy you should follow because it varies from one brand to another. Bear in mind also that mobile technology is very different from web technology, so you can create and execute completely different campaigns. Any brand can develop a mobile advertising strategy for the World Cup. The key is to have the right message tailored to mobile platforms’ unique capabilities to get the desired results.