It won't be too long before the 2022 edition of the FIFA World Cup kicks off, which football fans around the world eagerly await every four years. With the first whistle to be blown on November 20th, the tournament will start with the match between the host Qatar and Ecuador. The whole world will watch the efforts of 32 countries endeavouring to be the best in the world. While the audience can't wait to watch the matches from different screens, brands are making plans on how to capture their target audiences through various channels.
Digital Turbine, an international mobile growth platform, conducted World Cup research to understand and analyse the behaviour and preferences of viewers in UAE during the World Cup, as well as how brands can interact with consumers, and the results once again demonstrate the unstoppable power of mobile.
While 61% of the respondents stated that they will watch the World Cup on TV, 49% said they will follow the games on their smartphones. Even though the UAE was unfortunately eliminated from the tournament, the audience is ready to experience the enthusiasm of global football. While 44% of the respondents said that they will follow the tournament from their home, 24% report that they will follow the tournament live from stadiums in Qatar. In addition, 66% of the respondents stated that they watch soccer broadcasts at least a couple of times a month, proving once again that football is one of the most popular sports in the UAE.
The data showed that the applications that are frequently used on mobile devices are different in nature during this period. While 55% of the respondents stated that they spend more time on sports applications during the World Cup and similar tournaments, the majority of users said that they use sports applications before or during the match.
In terms of apps, 28% of the participants stated that they will spend most of their time on sports news apps while watching the World Cup, 24% said they will spend more time on sports mobile game apps, 24% on social media apps and 13% on messaging apps. In addition, an important insight to be drawn from this research is that 80% of users state that it is important to follow the World Cup from more than one device.
During such a large and global tournament, it is more important than ever for brands to capture their target audience. While 62% of the respondents stated that they are likely to look up an ad that aired during the World Cup, 93% stated that they would consider purchasing the product they saw in the advertisement. 34% of them stated that they can buy the product within 2-3 days after seeing the advertisement.
One of the most important issues that brands should pay attention to here is to meet the expectations of users when it comes to advertisements. 53% of respondents said it's important for ads they see during the World Cup to be funny, while 51% think it is important to be emotional/heartwarming.
Overall, the research highlights huge targeting options for advertisers and brands on mobile channels, which could also increase their product sales and/or brand awareness. If the ad is funny and creative, it raises viewers' interest in a product they've seen advertised and brings them closer to purchasing.
