World Cup offers potential global marketing bonanza
Published April 22, 2010
The biggest sporting event on the planet, held just once every four years, is due to kick off in South Africa this summer, and even those marketers who aren't able to afford the official rights from the soccer World Cup's governing body could capitalize on the event's publicity.
Experts cited in a recent article at marketing news site Utalk Marketing said that search engine optimization and other digital marketing techniques could be productively used to raise brand awareness without infringing on FIFA's copyrights, which are extensive and aggressively defended by the organization.
Clark Turner, the writer of the Utalk Marketing article, asserts that "major brands have paid 'big bucks' to be associated with the event including Sony, Adidas, Coca-Cola, Emirates and Hyundai. But opportunities still exist for other marketers and brands to get involved."
Major sporting events frequently offer the opportunity for integrated marketing campaigns to reach unprecedented numbers of consumers, using well-crafted combinations of marketing channels and unified messages to maximize exposure and promote marketing efforts to both long-time customers and potential new prospects.