Today is the start of one of the biggest sports events in the world: The FIFA World Cup. 32 countries will fight to be the one lifting the FIFA World Cup Trophy in the air on the 15th of July. This year Russia hosts the stage of the major football event. Unfortunately, the Netherlands haven’t qualified this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it as much as the rest of the world. 😉
The event itself is a major opportunity for brands to go all in with sponsorship deals and such. But do they also take influencer marketing into consideration? Let’s explore the benefits of using influencers for your brand during the World Cup.
Earlier this year we already wrote about how influencers can create buzz around sports events, in that case, it was about the Olympics. There we talked about using influencers to get people to the stadiums in various ways. But there are more opportunities for brands to act upon. Namely, merchandise!
Merchandise
Brands often create custom-made products that fit right in with the World Cup theme, often related to the country where the event is held. Think for example of the infamous Vuvuzela that was introduced during the World Cup in 2010 in South-Africa. This year it’s musical spoons.
Influencers are the perfect solution to create awareness for this merchandise and eventually getting people to the stores to buy products as mentioned before. The big advantage is also that you don’t have to focus on a specific topic because everyone likes to support their country in big events like these. So you can easily select influencers across various verticals to create the biggest impact on multiple channels.
Conclusion
Adidas, one of the official sponsors of the World Cup is already implementing a strategy in which it’s moving away from traditional digital channels (partly due to AdBlockers), and much more focusing on audience attention and engagement. Using influencers to execute that strategy.
So let’s all take Adidas as an example, and implement influencers in your marketing strategy for the bigger sporting events. Join wishes all the best to all participating countries in the World Cup, let’s make it one to remember!
