MEDIA & MARKETING:Our non-participation means spend is much more concentrated on the event itself, writes SIOBHÁN O'CONNELL
THE FIFA World Cup 2010 kicks off tomorrow. Its status as the most popular sporting event in the world is evidenced by the fact that the various big brand official partners and sponsors are each investing an estimated €80 million in the event. Coca-Cola says its campaign for the World Cup will be the largest in the company’s history, as well as its most integrated. The company’s entire platform is built around players’ ebullient goal celebrations. It has produced a short film in the build-up to the World Cup starring England’s Wayne Rooney and comedian James Corden, in which the latter berates the footballer for failing to convincingly celebrate scoring a goal.
Coke also has a 120-country, 17-language deal with YouTube to encourage viewers to film and post their own goal dances, and it has even persuaded Fifa to allow the awarding of a fan-voted trophy for the player with the best goal dance.
But what does this year’s World Cup mean for Irish advertisers given that Ireland is not participating? RTÉ has the exclusive rights in the Republic to broadcast all the matches and has been touting various advertising options. A package that includes a 30-second ad spot in every one of the 56 games is priced at €170,000, while a slot in each of the knock-out games is €84,000.
But with just one day to go to the opening ceremony, there are still spots available. According to Sarah Mahon of media buyer Carat: “Multinationals like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s want to have an ad presence in RTÉ’s coverage because they are official partners. Local advertisers would definitely have bought airtime if Ireland had qualified.”
Only two of Carat’s clients have created specific 2010 World Cup ad campaigns. Lucozade will be running tactic spots around key games to maximise its exposure among young men, while UPC is promoting its high definition (HD) service. Mahon added: “RTÉ does not allow product clashes in any of the ad breaks. Beer brands are the most keen to advertise in this year’s event which means if you are a beer looking to book some late ads, it will be next to impossible to get airtime. But it’s still possible for advertisers from many categories to book World Cup ad slots at this late stage.”
James Heriot, head of TV in Mediacom Dublin, says the fact that Ireland is not participating has meant advertisers’ spend is much more concentrated around the event itself. “The usual suspects are advertising but there would have been a lot more companies jumping on the bandwagon if Ireland had qualified.”
Sky is the only one of Mediacom’s clients to have created a specific campaign for the World Cup. But while in Britain Sky’s message is built around its high definition offering, a more generic branding advertisement will run on RTÉ as RTÉ is not broadcasting the World Cup in HD.
Says Heriot: “It’s a shame and a side issue but I don’t see why RTÉ didn’t take the opportunity to offer HD when it has the capability to do so.”
Steve Baker, trading director of Magna, whose clients include Coca-Cola and Diageo, says that advertisers’ interest has not been dampened by Ireland’s non-participation. “Everyone in Ireland will want to see France lose so the French games will be popular with viewers. There will be extra interest in the English games too. From a purist point of view, the Spain, Argentina and Brazil games will be where advertisers will want to be.”
Through the winter months TV schedules are stuffed with Premier League and Champions League matches. However, Baker says advertisers are not maxed out. “The World Cup will most certainly create an uplift in ad spend that wouldn’t have happened otherwise,” he says.
“There is very little scope for advertisers to get a discount off the ratecard price of the three specific packages RTÉ has put together, since the demand in certain categories such as beer is exceeding supply.”
Carat’s Sarah Mahon has clients who haven’t bought any of RTÉ’s packages but are just buying ads in particular matches. “The World Cup is still invaluable for reaching men aged between 15 and 34 years of age. And those men are harder and harder to reach on TV. Trying to reach them with ads around dramas and movies can be very hit and miss.”
The best marketing wheeze to emerge around the World Cup so far is digital agency Ican’s promotion for Pizza Hut. In games involving France, every time a goal is scored against Thierry Henry’s team, a promotional code will be published on the company’s Facebook page. Fans of the page can then claim a free pizza using the promotional code.
However, Pizza Hut is limiting its offer to 350 free pizzas per goal and to date the Facebook page has nearly 10,000 fans.
Eircom has told ad agencies that Carat and Vizeum are together its “preferred designate bidder” for the combined Eircom and Meteor planning and buying media contract. The business is valued at €15 million. Carat and Vizeum made a combined bid as part of The Aegis Group. This is the first time Eircom and Meteor have bundled their media buying requirements.
