World Cup 2019: France, Visa, and the USWNT
Four years after the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) scored four goals in the first 16 minutes in a final that featured a record-tying seven goals, the World Cup is back! The stage for this year’s tournament is France, and the best international women’s teams are back, vying for an opportunity to claim international glory. We wanted to take a look at some of the brands receiving almost immeasurable exposure (thank goodness for a tool like Blinkfire).
VISA Player of the Match
One of the most featured brands throughout the World Cup is VISA. With numerous World Cup activations, a notable VISA placement is the “Player of the Match” (the post below is of Italy’s Barbara Bonansea). Teams are also taking advantage 0f a player’s stellar performance by making sure to post on their owned and operated accounts following a Player of the Match announcement — so we’re seeing VISA exposure coming from not only the World Cup handles but the participating teams as well. And, if you’re a soccer fan, you probably remember the 2018 World Cup’s #ManOfTheMatch as in partnership with Budweiser, with the likes of Messi and DeBruyne winning the award.
USWNT and Training Partners
Looking at teams’ engagement numbers, the US women paired their dominating start on the pitch with an impressive social performance. Reviewing Instagram and Twitter numbers, the USWNT are averaging about 24,500 engagements per post on Instagram and 2,800 engagements per post on Twitter from June 7 – June 18, an eleven day period since the start of the World Cup. In comparison, the eventual Stanley Cup Champion St. Louis Blues earned an average of 10,500 engagements per post on Instagram and 650 engagements per post on Twitter during the first eleven days of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, meaning the USWNT average engagement per post on Instagram is more than 2x per post while Twitter’s is more than 4x per post.
Now the real question is whether the USWNT is leveraging their tremendous engagement numbers by providing exposure for their brand partners. Well, of course. Since international teams are not allowed to sell a front-of-jersey partnership for games, a spot on the training kit becomes extremely valuable. Here’s a strategic shot capturing Ali Krieger and Jessica McDonald in their training kits (with exposure for both Nike and Volkswagen) that generated over 45,000 engagements.
As a team participating in the World Cup’s “world” stage, there are opportunities to generate massive value for their partners. Four years ago, teams weren’t necessarily aware of the game-changing value that could be driven on social. As the world of media continually adjusts, will teams be able to do the same in an effort to increase value generated for their partners? Only time will tell!
No Comment