How Brands are Utilising the World Cup

Brands love big events; and they're especially fond of world-renowned sporting events. From team sponsorship and event funding, to running adverts at the games, a sporting event offers high profile exposure for countless brands and products on the market.

So, when it comes to an event like the World Cup, it's easy to see why brands invest millions of pounds in advertising and name-event association. After all, some 3.4 million spectators attended the 2006 World Cup, while an estimated 700 million tuned in for the final via television - which means any brand with exposure at the World Cup is bound to gain notice from a considerable number of people.

Brands of all kinds have long been hopping on the World Cup bandwagon with regard to event sponsorship and funding. From Adidas, Coca-Cola, and Emirates Airlines, to Hyundai and Sony, the industries that have taken an interest in the event are many. However, while involvement with the World Cup has remained important for many brands, the mode of involvement has shifted for some names in recent years. For instance, many brands are now incorporating - and relying on - the internet as part of their exposure strategy.

Building up to this year's event, many brands are generating World Cup "buzz" with various web-based and social networking tools. McDonalds, for example, has launched an online "World Cup Predictor", inviting fans to predict which team will win each game. Coca-Cola, on the other hand, has introduced its "Longest Celebration" competition online - a contest that asks users to upload creative goal celebrations to YouTube.

Beer Company Budweiser has created "Bud House" - an online reality show, which has selected one fan from each of the 32 qualifying countries to live in a house in Cape Town - contestants are eliminated when their team loses. Sony Ericsson, meanwhile, is using Twitter in a contest of their own: the more "tweets" a nation receives, the further they go on the competition.

However, while many brands are changing their mode of exposure for the World Cup, many others have continued to rely on classic means of exposure - like special edition merchandise. Calvin Klein, for example, has launched a colourful spectrum of World Cup-themed underwear for this year's event, while Adidas is renowned for its special-edition merchandise - such as clothing and accessories bearing the names of competing countries - year after year.

So, with this year's sponsors utilising all types of tools, both new and old, to associate their name with the World Cup, it will certainly be interesting to see which tools - and brand names - ultimately prevail.

Adam Singleton writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.