Social media’s the real winner in World Cup campaign

LONDON — With the World Cup kick-off in Brazil just days away, broadcasters are making final preparations for the quadrennial, global television sports jamboree. But in an increasingly mobile and social world, the marketing battle is going digital.

Traditional media sectors, including TV and radio, are predicted to enjoy their usual advertising revenue bounce. However, the real winner, if not yet in overall revenue then certainly in terms of where marketing resources and effort are being directed, is social media such as Twitter, YouTube and Facebook.

Sportswear company adidas has launched its biggest campaign to support its sponsorship of the World Cup and, tellingly, has opted to spend more on digital marketing than TV ads.

For the 2010 World Cup, only 20 per cent of marketing spend was digital.

“It’s not about a need to do ‘the big TV ad’,” said Mr Tom Ramsden, global brand marketing director for adidas football. “This will undoubtedly be the most social World Cup ever and probably the most social event in history.”

The importance, and power, of a social media strategy is underlined by Twitter, which said there have already been more posts about the World Cup before a ball has been kicked in Brazil than for the entire tournament in 2010.

“The 2010 World Cup was the largest period of sustained activity for any event in Twitter’s history,” said Mr Lewis Wiltshire, head of Twitter’s global World Cup effort. “In early March, we had already passed the total number of tweets generated around that tournament, so Brazil is huge.”

Naturally, sponsors are eager to piggyback on the newfound power of their stars on Twitter. Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo, part of Nike’s World Cup push, is the world’s most popular sportsman on Twitter with 26.5 million followers. When he tweeted Nike’s second World Cup ad, released on its YouTube page, it caused a surge in views that topped 70 million in days. The company eventually turned to TV to run a shorter version of the ad.

Like all major sponsors, adidas has launched a global TV campaign, fronted by Argentina’s Lionel Messi, but the tag line of “all in” aims to push consumers to engage on social media platforms including Twitter. “Social media allows us to tell more stories than a 30- or 60-second TV spot may typically afford,” said Mr Ramsden. The Guardian