The World Cup is well and truly over, and as memories of those 145 goals, 64 games, a physic octopus and the Bavaria beer girls fade, it’s worth remembering just how widely the game was watched and where the opportunities for brands lie for the next competition in 2014.

Adidas is perceived as the brand that fits the FIFA World Cup sponsorship the best voted by 86% people, followed by Sony with 79% and Visa with 78%.

In terms of buzz, Sony was one of the most talked about brands according to Omnicom Media Group’s (OMG) Snapshot report. Most of the buzz was around Shakira’s ‘Waka Waka’ World Cup anthem from Sony Music while the brand also benefited form its sponsorship in terms of 3D TV sales.

McDonald’s buzz was around its fantasy league football tables while Budweiser managed to receive attention in the form of confusion as to why it was named the official beer of the Cup.

Nike, which was not an official sponsor, benefited massively due to its ‘Write the Future’ ad campaign which received more than 20 million views on YouTube during the competition.

The majority of people feel more positive about the 2010 FIFA World Cup partners after finding out about their sponsorship activity, according to the report.

One week before the start of the World Cup, OMG asked viewers to name the official sponsors and partners: seven of the top ten spontaneously named were the official sponsors or partners. After the World Cup kicked off people were able to name nine of the top ten, mistaking only Nike, which came in sixth place. Crucially, the majority of people feel more positive about the 2010 FIFA World Cup partners after they found out about their sponsorship activity.

Following the vuvuzelas

The report also reveals that 93% of respondents worldwide said they followed at least part of the World cup in the media, and 100% in Argentina and Brazil.

Nearly a month after the 2010 FIFA World Cup kicked off at the beginning of June, interest in the tournament had increased. One quarter of all people following the World Cup were not football fans.

Comparing figures between the first and last week in June shows that people were even more interested in following the tournament once the event was in full swing, according to OMG’s Snapshot report and second World Cup newsletter.

The final, which crowned Spain the winner of the 2010 World Cup, drew the biggest ever US audience for a soccer match, with a total of 24.3 million viewers.

Interest in the World Cup grew in most of the participating nations except Italy, where interest declined by 6% after their national team was knocked out in the group stage. In France interest remained constant despite the disappointment of their footballers’ poor performance.

Demographics

Brazil will host the next World Cup in 2014, which could be why Hispanic fans have enjoyed this year’s World Cup atmosphere the most with 49% soaking up the live atmosphere.

Mexicans are most likely to watch football live with three out of four people attending live matches at least once a year, followed by 63% of people in Spain, 59% of people in Argentina and 58% in Brazil.

In Europe, 53% of Germans and 54% of Italians go to live matches at least once a year.

Tech revolution

OMG’s Football Fancast community – fans and bloggers – spent the World Cup buzzing about whether FIFA should bring in goal-line technology, especially following some of the more controversial referee decisions.

Most of the community believed it was time for FIFA to turn to technology to ensure the game is as fair as possible.

Tuning in

Before the kick off, one-third (33%) of people said they were planning to follow the World Cup in printed newspapers or magazines. However, the real number was 28% during the event, showing that a proportion of these fans moved to online news instead.

In South Africa where over 34% of people followed the tournament on radio. The sound of football was also popular in Spain and Mexico, where 30% followed the games on radio.

To read the full World Cup 2010 newsletter from Omnicom Media Group, click here.

This article first appeared on utalkmarketing.com

Related Articles

1. Beer company employs ambush marketing at World Cup 2010 Companies pay millions upon millions of dollars to advertise their brands at major sports tournaments. This concept was shaken up recently when a story came...
2. World Cup 2010 Social Media Stats "The sponsors also generated 16% higher brand recall on average for their world cup in-game and in-studio elements"...
3. 2010 World Cup will be watched by record number of viewers The 2010 FIFA World Cup will achieve record global viewership, with the total audience figure increasing by at least 5% compared to the 2006 tournament,...
4. World Cup marketing winners Spain emerged bruised, battered but victorious last night (11 July) after 120 minutes of combat against Holland in the World Cup final but which brands...
5. Battle of the soccer brands: Adidas vs Nike While Nike grabbed an early lead with a star-studded ambush commercial, adidas has gained momentum with its domination on the World Cup pitch....