Brands lace-up to match the FIFA World Cup fever in India

It’s an event like no other. Almost the entire planet tunes in from their homes, restaurants, bars, streets and theatres to watch the most awaited spectacle, once in four years. The FIFA World Cup is here and it promises to be bigger than ever before. What does this mean to advertisers and broadcasters? How do they harness the immense potential of a rapidly-growing fan base in a country the size of India?

To discuss just this, in a storyboard special, “Marketing Playfield”, Forbes India and Sports18 brought together a list of eminent panellists that include Deepika Warrier, Chief Marketing Officer, Diageo; Sujatha Kumar, Head of Marketing - India & South Asia for Visa; Dilen Gandhi, Regional Marketing Director,Health, Reckitt South Asia; Ajay Kakar, Chief Marketing Officer, Aditya Birla Capital; Shashi Sinha, CEO, IPG Mediabrands and Anil Jayaraj, CEO of Viacom18 Sports.

The once-in-four-years sporting extravaganza
Few sports can claim to have the tag of being truly global. Football perhaps can stake that claim with ease. The game’s popularity has caught on in India too. It’s not just in small pockets of the country like Goa, Kerala, West Bengal, which have traditionally been the football crazy states”, said Ms Warrier. “The FIFA world cup is literally a festival of the beautiful game. And more so after covid, there is almost a heightened sensitivity of consumers out there wanting to maximise every experience”.

Fans want to be part of a global community that partakes in the once-in-four-years extravaganza. After the pandemic, Ms Warrier estimated that there would be a lot of pent up energy waiting to be unleashed after the pandemic offering brands an opportunity to disseminate their marketing messages.

“We're expecting a huge leap between the previous World Cup and this one as the interest level in football among consumers has more than tripled since the last season. A lot of female spectators are getting interested. It's actually becoming a wholesome family experience to watch a match together,” said Ms Kumar.

This enables VISA to offer an end-to-end experience including “packages that cover everything from airfare to experiencing live matches and everything that comes in between till the time you land back”. VISA has also tied up with major chains to screen live matches during the last leg of the competition. Penalty shootout zones at the football venues provide a way for fans to kick the ball about and win prizes, including the exact replica of the football used in the matches.

Not just for the die-hard
What makes the event even more exciting, said Mr Jayaraj is that “even the casual football fans will tune in”. Hence, to woo this section of the audience, the right kind of content needs to be beamed. “For the next 40-odd days, we are going to have a lot of programming which is focused on exciting the casual fan, giving them tidbits about FIFA, how the tournament has evolved, what have been some of the highlights and what to look forward to,” added Mr Jayaraj. The opportunity is particularly huge since the 2022 edition would be the biggest World Cup by a large margin.

A lot of viewers will stream matches online on their smartphones and smart TVs too. “I personally believe the top, maybe 10-15 million homes will watch on streaming, but on connected TV sets. Both broadcast and online will be seamless. So I think it’s going to be a great experience all through,” said Mr Sinha.

Small wonder that advertisers look forward to such an event that offers “engagement at scale”, opined Mr Gandhi while stating that Reckitt has tied up with a host of outfits in its pursuit of being associated with sporting franchises in India, Australia and the UK to name a few.

Indeed the World Cup itself offers “a beautiful Himalayan mountain of an opportunity”, according to Mr Kakar. He also emphasised that a lot more needs to be done to increase the popularity of football in India. “Look at a sport like Kabbadi, which started so late. It suddenly has taken up the fancy of an entire country. I think we have to find more local opportunities to make football a passion, and I won't even call it a religion, but a daily passion, a daily dose for adrenaline, for Indians, as against having to wait once every four years”.

Indeed cricket continues to steal eyeballs. However, football has caught up in recent times according to Mr Jayaraj. “The sort of viewership numbers that one had for the previous FIFA World Cup was bigger than any test match and bigger than most ODIs that India plays. So, in that sense, the transition, I think, which Ajay was alluding to is already under way”.

Moreover, given its format, football also offers a unique chance for brands of all stripes across a variety of industries to connect with the audiences. Unlike cricket, with frequent breaks at the end of each over, football is pure adrenalin in overdrive for those 45 minutes of uninterrupted playtime.

The pre-game, mid-game and post-show highlights should be harnessed creatively to connect with the viewers. “And one of the things that we are doing is we are going to be presenting this in multiple languages, as in English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Bengali, etc. So advertisers can choose specific languages in order to target their particular audiences,” added Mr Jayaraj.

As international football clubs and agencies groom talent within India, the sport’s popularity, fanbase and quality are only set to increase exponentially. The World Cup is a timely springboard and a catalyst that offers marketers an invaluable opportunity to spread their word while the nation goes football-crazy yet again.

The pages slugged ‘Brand Connect’ are equivalent to advertisements and are not written and produced by Forbes India journalists.