About Hitwise
Hitwise is the leader in online competitive intelligence. Contact Hitwise to maximize your online marketing programs.
Hitwise Intelligence - Heather Hopkins - UK
Analyst Weblog
« Expedia Online Marketing Success | BT buys Dabs.com for Online Sales Growth »
FIFA World Cup Opportunities for Retailers
April 26, 2006
With the World Cup in Germany fast approaching, we have already seen interest heating up online. While the official partners of the 2006 FIFA World Cup were selected months ago, there is still time for online marketers to benefit from the lift the event will have in online activity.
The World Cup is reportedly the most viewed and followed sporting event. FIFA estimated a cumulative audience at 28.8 billion for the 2002 games. This year many of those viewers will be watching replays, discussing games in chat rooms and blogs, and connecting with other fans online.
I looked at the downstream visits from several World Cup sites and there is a clear affinity between these sites and sporting goods brands, retail, travel, news and media, and sport betting websites.
Yahoo!, as a sponsor of the World Cup, hosts fifaworldcup.yahoo.com the official 2006 World Cup site and to date has attracted the most UK visits among World Cup related sites, ranking 25th amongst Sports - Football sites based on share of UK visits in March. MSN and Google, while not sponsors, have also launched sites in preparation for the World Cup.
Travel websites have already seen a flurry of activity online as the lucky few who secured tickets booked flights and hotel rooms. However, travel websites can expect another surge in activity in June and July. During this year's Winter Olympics we saw an increase in interest in travel information for Turin. The share of UK internet searches for "turin" peaked the week ending 25th February 2006, up 9 times compared with the same week in 2005. With the World Cup matches scheduled to take place in 12 German cities, there will no doubt be mounting interest in German tourism and flights to Germany.
Sports retailers are already benefiting from the high profile promotions that Adidas, an official sponsor, and Nike Football are doing in the lead up to the World Cup. Nike Football's viral ad campaign has continued to draw attention with the latest video aired both online and on television featuring Ronaldinho playing football as a child and as an adult. In a recent blog post I included analysis illustrating a the strong correlation between searches for "nike football" and "ronaldinho". Retailers selling Adidas and Nike Football boots can expect increased interest in both brands.
Retailers looking to attract visits through internet searches related to the World Cup should ensure that they know how consumers are searching to maximise ROI of the campaign. For example, www.kitbag.com was receiving 21.77% of visits from searches for “new england kit” shortly after the kit was released (four weeks ending 25th March 2006). The term "new england kit" received a higher volume of searches than "england kit", a term for which Kit Bag is experiencing more competition from fellow retailers.
With a strong desire for commentary, analysis and stats, blogs will no doubt be popular during this year's World Cup. A World Cup blog has already cropped up (www.worldcupblog.org) and is attracting a steady following. Firms seeking to capture online attention during the matches should consider offering commentary on the games. The result will not only be to engage your customers and attract visits to your site, but can also contribute to your SEO strategy.
While support is strong for England's team we will need to follow the money to see whether punters believe the team can win. Victory for England will herald a month of celebrations -- and victory for advertisers and sponsors.
Posted by Heather Hopkins at 11:57 AM
| 
(3)
| 
(0)
TrackBack
TrackBack URL:
http://weblogs.hitwise.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/187.
Comments
Thanks for the mention Heather (even though we did not ask! :) ). Our blog actually has about 34 blogs within it...one for each team and a few other topics related like a store where we compete with the above mentioned Kitbag.
I agree with Heather on her thoughts. We are not the only WCBlog for sure...there are loads of others blogs and websites cropping up everyday and the competition for visitors is intense. What makes you unique and why should your visitor care? Questions I ask myself everyday. Cheers and should be an excellent tournament. Can't wait for the action to begin.
Posted by Sean Keener | April 26, 2006 11:33 AM
i think wright phillips and ledley king should be in the england sqaud without question, replacin stuart Downing and Owen Haegreaves.
Posted by scot shaw | May 21, 2006 01:37 AM
There are a few other World Cup blogs out there already. Why not check out www.worldcupwatch.co.uk.
Posted by TheJuice | April 26, 2006 09:53 AM