World Cup will not fuel ad resurgence, Ebiquity suggests

Like the tournament itself, winners and losers are expected to emerge in the media landscape around the event, which starts on 11 June.

Contrary to popular belief, UK ad spend during the 2006 World Cup dropped 4.6% year on year, led by radio and TV falling 7.6% and 6.5% respectively.

Many fast-moving consumer goods clients choose not to run campaigns during the cluttered period, when media is sold at a premium.

There is also a certain amount of displacement expected, with many advertisers, including supermarkets and TV manufacturers, expected to run promotions before the event.

During the last World Cup, once the preceding May spend is included in the mix, ad spend dropped 2.5%.

Andy Smith, head of TV at media and marketing analytics firm Ebiquity, said: "Data suggests England's qualification to football tournaments does not necessarily lead to an overall uplift in ad spend.

"Marketing channels that can easily associate with the event will win, but it's likely that clients will reallocate budget from elsewhere within their marketing mix, while others will stop spending to avoid inflated prices on the back of the event."

The embattled press sector is expected to be one of the biggest winners, thanks to flexible turnaround times for mass-reach ads. During World Cup 2006 and Euro 2008, press spend rose between 2% and 5%, fuelled by a 20% lift for national Sunday newspapers.

Neil Jones, director of commercial strategy at News International, said: "We've already tied up a number of World Cup multimedia package deals across our portfolio of titles."

He added: "Interest is expected to ramp up further after the draw on 4 December. The event could start the recovery proper as far as newspapers are concerned."

This article was first published on mediaweek.co.uk