Soccer: Bad timing for ads despite market size

LONDON - If there's one event guaranteed to get advertisers drooling, it's the soccer World Cup.

Whether it is beer or underarm spray, the chance to peddle products to the hard-to-reach "lads" market does not get much better. Hundreds of millions of soccer fans worldwide - the majority males - are expected to watch the matches.

But this World Cup will be different.

It is the first time the tournament has been held in two countries and the first time in Asia. That means games will be played in the morning for European viewers and the middle of the night in the Americas - not great for the traditional beer, car, credit and men's product advertisers.

Indeed, those who hoped the World Cup would revive the stagnant advertising industry could be disappointed.

Jon Forsyth, business director at Mindshare (whose accounts include Nike) said he expected overall spending to be lower at this tournament. "But advertisers could yet surprise and come in at the last minute to take advantage of good deals."

Television is likely to lose out most once the World Cup kicks off on May 31, because fans in Europe and the Americas will be either tucked up in bed, stuck at work or watching the games bleary-eyed. Less traditional advertising such as radio and the internet may do better.

But despite the added weight of the worst slump in the industry for as long as many can remember, truly global brands know they cannot miss out on the world's most popular sporting event, even if their local counterparts stay away.

"Soccer delivers an audience like nothing else and that's the key," said Brian Greenwood, chief executive of Prism Europe, the sports marketing arm of advertising giant WPP Group.

"The audience is not only large, it's passionate and committed, which is great for advertisers".

Indeed, global heavyweights such as Coca-Cola , Nike and Gillette have not been put off. Nike, for one, has made what some estimate to be the world's most expensive television advertisement.

Featuring 24 top soccer names, its "Scorpion" campaign stars former Manchester United player Eric Cantona as ring-master of a secret tournament on a battleship off the coast of Japan. The fast-moving, three-a-side game is also being promoted as a sport in itself and Nike is taking its "Scorpion cages" to public parks around the world.

While some ad executives estimate Nike paid £10 million ($32.2 million) for the TV advertising alone, official sponsors have been forking out closer to £20 million ($62.7 million) to have their names emblazoned on every aspect of the finals.

A record 15 global names, including Coca-Cola, adidas and McDonald's, have signed major sponsorship deals - a far cry from the first stadium ads in 1970.

But is it worth the money?

"Personally, I would question the effectiveness of sponsoring the World Cup," said Greenwood.

"It's very crowded with other sponsors, let alone unofficial advertisers, and it's very difficult to carve out a differentiated position."

As Nike pours millions of dollars into its new-found favoured sport, industry experts note the expenditure may not necessarily translate into sales.

Soccer boots are not as appealing as other sports footwear such as basketball, which spawned the sneaker craze.

Some industry experts go so far as to say that soccer is incompatible with advertising. Advertisers get little airplay because there is only one 15-minute break, packed with commentary.

Advertisers wanting to avoid the World Cup altogether are pulling their spending forward - a strategy already reflected in this month's initial spending figures. Others will be targeting soccer widows seeking to escape the tournament.

The internet and radio will benefit from TV's loss, especially in countries such as the United States, which has never really taken to televised coverage of the tournament.

"This World Cup will see a radical change in consumer behaviour," said Ago Di Falco, director of the intelligence unit at media buyer Starcom Motive.

"The internet and evening newspapers are likely to be winners while TV will fare less well."

Fifa, soccer's world governing body, estimates that page views on its official website will at least triple during the tournament from 1.1 billion at the last one.

- REUTERS

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