The FIFA World Cup is the biggest football event there is, which makes it a fantastic commercial opportunity for businesses and brands who want to take advantage of the tournament’s global appeal and wide reach. Not only do brands clamber to become official sponsors of the event- this year sponsors include Coca Cola, adidas, Emirates, Sony and Hyundai- but other businesses not directly involved with FIFA tailor their marketing towards the World Cup as well.
One of the most popular ways to get involved with the World Cup is to create interactive football-based games. This gives customers something fun to do and also gets into the spirit of the tournament. McDonalds is one such example- they are currently supporting a FIFA World Cup Fantasy game on their web site, where players can create their dream team and then manage them to success.
Ladbrokes have also developed an interactive creative based on the World Cup- part game, part quiz. The Big Penalty Quiz tests participants’ knowledge of famous World Cup penalty shoot-outs, but it’s fun to take part in as well, because players must guess ‘Miss’ ‘Goal’ or ‘Save’ and then they get to see their answer played out. The game features 8 bit graphics in keeping with current trends for all things retro and brings to mind old school arcade and Nintendo games.
It’s not just games that football fans can interact with- companies have tuned into fans’ needs to be well informed about the World Cup, whether they want to use the information to make bets or just to have detailed conversations with their mates about the tournament.
Finance giant Bloomberg are known for their accurate business forecasting and they’ve now turned their expertise to predicting World Cup outcomes. Their 2014 Predictions and Results are updated constantly after each match and so users can be sure the information is up to date. They’re presented the information is a clear manner using colour and illustration, so that users can really engage with the site.
Rasenball have also worked on a way of presenting information in an engaging manner- their Interactive Match Visualisation allows users to spin a globe and select countries they want to know more about, then they will be presented with information about the country’s team, players, results and matches. It’s an interesting way to stay well-informed on how each team is doing in the World Cup.
