Over the 19th FIFA World Cup, football has bought the world closer together to enjoy player skill, team strategy and supporter passion. During this time, Cimigo has been talking to people in HCMC and Hanoi about what they have seen, heard, felt, bought and consumed. Cimigo interviewed 1,000 Vietnamese about their attitudes to the Football World Cup, their media behaviour and the impact on brands during the tournament.
It doesn’t matter whether you are from Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, almost everyone loves the Football World Cup. Eight in ten men are fans and surprisingly five in ten women are fans. The World Cup is a crazy time, late nights, strange TV habits, much drinking and much cheer. Viewing habits change, reading habits change, brand behaviour changes.
Come morning the dissection of last night’s game and the score predictions start. Interestingly the internet is growing in importance of for sports information; 3 in 10 used the internet to keep up-to-date on the World Cup, reaching 5 in 10 for the younger fans.
Favourite teams were not necessarily the winning team. In fact the winners - Spain - are not widely liked as a team. Favourites for Vietnamese fans were Brazil, Germany and Argentina. It was Brazil and Argentina that most expected to see reach the final. Few had their eye on the Netherlands. Everyone has their favourite players and in both cities, the same three players are admired – Messi, Ronaldo and Kaka.
“As with Spain, few in Vietnam could have predicted the brand winners from the Football World Cup”, comments Tom Skilbeck, Director at Cimigo.
Many brands seek to be associated with the Football World Cup and tap into the extreme emotions and sense of belonging with fans, teams, nations and the world. However official sponsorship does not always guarantee that your brand gets all the buzz and association with the sport, the event and the fans.
Three out of the top five brands associated with the World Cup are not official sponsors. Worse still six out of the top ten brands associated with the World Cup are not official sponsors. “Amongst the top 10 brands creating a buzz and association with the World Cup only 4 are official sponsors” noted Skilbeck.
The brands which have created the most buzz around the Football World Cup are in order; Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Tiger, Sony, Samsung, Heineken, Castrol, Nokia, Adidas and remarkably The Gioi Di Dong. Of these the official sponsors only include; Coca-Cola, Sony, Castrol and Adidas.
Pepsi’s TV advertisement propelled the association of the World Cup with Pepsi to second place. An inspiring TV advertisement that Cimigo testing for effectiveness places 4th out of 150 TV advertisements tested this year. The advertisement used a football star line up including Vietnams most and third favourite players; Messi and Kaka, along with other stars including Henry, Lampard and Drogba. No small investment in celebrity endorsement fees, but in Vietnam most people assume Pepsi to be an official sponsor.
Advertising proved critical. The most associated brands advertised successfully on television. True buzz was generated by exciting ‘live’ events, World Cup related promotions and online contests.
Coca-Cola was the most associated brand with the World Cup. Coca-Cola did a fantastic all round marketing effort including strong TV advertising supported by the World Cup Trophy Event, under the cap promotion and online contests which integrated all their efforts. Clear Men a shampoo brand from Unilever have Ronaldo (Vietnam’s 2nd favourite player) endorse their brand. The brand sought to link their football connection to the World Cup with promotions and events.
It is clear that buzz creation goes well beyond official sponsorship. It requires creativity in advertising and promotions for a strong association. To be talked about requires that the brand seek to bring their passion for the event alive with exciting events, talked about promotions and by engaging consumers online.
P.V
Vietnamese
