You would think that despite the freezing May weather we could all look forward to a quiet summer punctuated by wet barbeques and Wimbledon disappointed. However you would be wrong.
No, a very busy summer is just round the corner, or June 11th to be precise and the clues are there already. Just like the first sight of a Cadburys Creme Egg means that Christmas is over, the first England flag, hat, clapper, baby grow, any piece of tat that can take branding, means that the World Cup is on its way.
So just when you thought you could sit back and watch your normal shows without volcano updates or party political broadcasts changing the schedule, a summer of football will once again change all that. I for one cannot wait.
This year, according to one projection from Nielsen, over half the globe will be watching the events from South Africa. That massive audience means a very busy summer for any business that can spin a link to the World Cup. The British Retail Consortium estimated that the last World Cup benefitted UK retailers to the tune of £1bn and 4 years on with the recession fresh in the mind that uplift is sorely needed.
The ads are starting to appear on our televisions ranging vastly in quality with my personal favourite definitely being the Sony TV trade in ad. Many brands have been planning for this for a long time to maximise the World Cup effect. Walkers have created 15 new flavours for people to vote on and don’t think they just rushed this through, this is years of planning coming to fruition.
The World Cup has 6 official sponsors including two you’ll probably have not heard of Budweiser, Castrol, Continental Tyres, McDonald’s, MTN Wireless and Satyam. They have spent many many millions just on the sponsorship and that is without any additional spend on advertising and creation of support materials. They are matched by six other official FIFA sponsors, but they are just twelve in a world wide rush to cash in on a world watching 32 teams play football.
The World Cup is now a massive business creating billions of additional spend around the world. Google “world cup ad spend” and you can read stories from across the globe ranging from the effect on lager sales in Holland to a predicted 20% increase in ad spend in Guatemala.
I for one will be glued to the TV watching every game possible. However if you are not a fan unfortunately you will not be able to escape this years World Cup, it will be everywhere in the next couple of weeks. So please sit back and think of the positive effect on the economy, it will soon be Christmas.
Tim Youngman is head of digital marketing for Archant
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