1、Focus on the FootballAnalysis of the worlds most social football gameNothing without the fansFtbol.Soccer.Football.Whatever you call it,every 4 years the world goes crazy for one major tournament.Uniting fans from across the globe,as they root for their team to win.For brands,it opens up new opportu

2、nities.Play it right,and they can get closer to this fanatical audience,and score bigs wins for their business.In this report,we take a deep dive into the football audience,to understand its drivers,and demonstrate how brands can profit by connecting with the fans.Talkwalker is not a sponsor of the

3、championship and this report only analyzes social media coverage of the event(as one of the biggest worldwide sporting events)in comparison with its past editions.2Introduction23MethodologyAnalysis was made using Talkwalkers Consumer Intelligence Platform,monitoring the use of a range of tournament-

4、related keywords and hashtags across various social media channels.To compare the 2018 and 2022 tournaments,analysis was done from the opening match to the final(14/06/18 to 15/07/18,20/11/22 to 18/12/22 respectively).Talkwalker Blue Silk AI was used to help pull additional insights(through features

5、 like image recognition and sentiment analysis)and to accelerate time-to-insight.34 42018 vs 2022A lot can change in 4 yearsA lot has changed since 2018.A pandemic and a rising cost of living crisis,has changed how fans are living their lives.By analyzing the two tournaments,we get a better understa

6、nding of how this audience has developed over time,and how its new habits could impact the impact of the big game.562018202234.2 million mentions153.2 million mentions94.5 million engagement1.1 billion engagementMost mentioned teams1.France(12 million)2.England(4.5 million)3.Argentina(3.3 million)Mo

7、st mentioned teams1.Argentina(40.4 million)2.France(13.3 million)3.Portugal(12.8 million)Most mentioned players1.Lionel Messi(889,000)2.Cristiano Ronaldo(780,000)3.Kylian Mbapp(507,000)Most mentioned players1.Lionel Messi(32.1 million)2.Cristiano Ronaldo(10.1 million)3.Kylian Mbapp(8.5 million)Most

8、mentioned brand Coca-Cola(1.6 million)Most mentioned brand Coca-Cola(1.2 million)7Top stories 2018Kylian Mbapps rise to superstardom was the talk of the tournament as he helped France to their second title.Englands reinvigorating run to the semi-final had football fans around the world singing“Its C

9、oming Home.”Host nation Russia went on a surprise Cinderellarun to the quarter finals after knocking Spain out in the last-16 shootout match.Top stories 2022Japan amazed everyone on the field and off,leaving its changing room spotless post-match.A surprise win from Morocco got everyone talking acros

10、s the world.Argentina drove the most conversations as the eventual winners.7Comparison of tournament mentions,2018 vs.20222022 Tournament analysis89Conversation drivers 2022Conversation Clusters of topics discussed in relation to the tournament,November to December 2022.Conversation Clusters are Tal

11、kwalkers topic-mapping feature,used to identify the key conversation drivers around the tournament.9 9Conversation drivers 2022Jungkook sings at the opening ceremonyBTS always drives a lot of social traffic.Having BTS Jungkook sing at the opening ceremony created as many conversations as youd expect

12、.10Match surprises and successesMoroccos journey to the quarter-finals,Japans win against Germany,Argentinas success.Fans loved to discuss the surprises the tournament created.Iranian protestThe Iranian teams silent protest,to raise awareness of the situation in their home country,sent social media

13、shockwaves across the web.1011Podcast mentions1111Using Talkwalkers Speech Analytics,we found:An additional 6,200 discussions about the tournament.Most mentions came from non-sports related podcasts,highlighting how significant the game is even for those less-fanatical fans.Mentions of the tournamen

14、t identified in podcasts,November to December 2022.12Mentions by region1212Looking at the global mentions of the tournament:We can see that its a truly global game,enrapturing the world for four weeks.Even countries that werent represented,such as India and Indonesia,were actively involved in the re

15、lated online conversation.Mentions of the tournament,split by region,November to December 2022.13The G.O.A.T.There was much fan discussion of the G.O.A.T.(greatest of all time)throughout the tournament,with Lionel Messi dominating the conversation(74.6%).Cristiano Ronaldo is second with 16.1%.Brands

16、 should monitor,as Cristiano Ronaldo is currently Instagrams highest earner(and potentially most influential).But with rumors of his potential retirement,brands should know who else fans are loving.Players associated with the phrase G.O.A.T.November to December 2022.14Brand spotlight14Quarter-final

17、team analysis151515A look at how well the 8 quarter-final teams performed online during the tournament,and which official tournament partner or sponsor the team was most associated with.15NetherlandsArgentinaCroatiaBrazil1.4M mentions40.4M mentions2M mentions10M mentions34.7M engagement647.3M engage

18、ment52M engagement225.4M engagementMost mentioned playerMemphis DepayMost mentioned playerLionel MessiMost mentioned playerLuka ModriMost mentioned playerNeymarMost mentioned brand-BudweiserMost mentioned brand-adidasMost mentioned brand-BudweiserMost mentioned brand-Budweiser161616Quarter-final tea

19、m analysis16EnglandFranceMoroccoPortugal3.8M mentions13.3M mentions2.9M mentions12.8M mentions115.6M engagement254.4M engagement78.8M engagement212.1M engagementMost mentioned playerHarry KaneMost mentioned playerKylian MbappMost mentioned playerHakim ZiyechMost mentioned playerCristiano RonaldoMost

20、 mentioned brand-BudweiserMost mentioned brand-adidasMost mentioned brand-BudweiserMost mentioned brand-adidas17Sentiment analysisTalkwalkers sentiment analysis,helped identify the positive mentions of the tournament sponsors and partners.The benefit of sponsoring the winning team is demonstrated he

21、re,as adidas received a significant number of positive brand mentions in the final.As a new 2022 partner,Algorand also saw some early positive wins for its brand.Positive brands mentions during the tournament,November to December 2022.18Most discussed broadcastData was pulled from Social Content Rat

22、ings:Everyone was tracking Argentinasrun to their third star with their semi-final match and final match drawing the most discussion.Telemundos coverage far outpaced engagement versus FOXs coverage.Despite not being the biggest kit sponsor of the tournament(Nike sponsors 14 kits vs.adidas 12),adidas

23、 still gained the most brand mentions.The tournament itself is a great awareness booster for the brand.The average number of adidas mentions per week were 16.1%higher during the tournament.19Kit analysisUnexpected brand wins20Even though there was a last minute ban of beer in the stadiums,Budweiser

24、had a few wins.It announced that the winning country would get the beer that was stocked up for the tournament-tweet generated 24K engagements.The player of the tournament award was also sponsored by Budweiser,which helped the brand build+80%net sentiment(125K mentions).Spotify is living the Dream(e

25、rs)Spotify generated a whopping+95%net sentiment with 128K brand mentions connected to the tournament.Jungkooks“Dreamers”became the most popular official tournament song ever,and went on to be streamed 4.8 million times when it debuted on Spotify.Budweiser raises a glass202021Fans being fans2122Kit

26、analysisFabrizio RomanoAs one of the most trusted football journalists in the world,Fabrizio Romano is the industry expert,especially in the transfer market.He had created more tweets about the tournament than FIFA,generating 17M engagements-4.5X more than that of Elon Musk.Ghanim Al-MuftahAs a Qata

27、ri YouTuber and official ambassador for the tournament,Ghanim Al-Muftah drove significant awareness for the games.He headlined the opening ceremony alongside Morgan Freeman,with Ghanims behind the scenes YouTube video being watching over 800,000 times.Top influencersFabrizio RomanoElon MuskGhanim Al

28、-MuftahAndy Murrayksi23The finalMentions of the tournament as they happened during the final,18 December 2022Following the final results as they happened,the first spike in conversation was down to Mbapps two back-to-back goals in the 80th and 81st minutes.The second spike continued celebrating Mbap

29、ps success,as he cemented his hat trick.And the biggest spike of the game,concluded the tournament,as fans celebrated Argentinas win.24The winners2424Mentions of Argentina went crazy,with 9.7 million mentions in just 2 days.The majority of these were positive,as fans across the world celebrated the

30、success of the team.Locker room funThe most engaging posts came from ESPN FC,as it shared behind the scenes video from the Argentinian locker room.Just 2 posts gained over 1.65 million engagements and 13.3 million views.And who provided the celebratory refreshments?Budweiser of course.Another win fo

31、r the brand.Argentina goes viral25Hyundai jumped onto the buzz around Argentina,with a final Felicidades Argentina post on Instagram.This one post nailed the growing sentiment of the audience,and garnered 564,000 views for the brand.Aldi does guerilla marketingUK retailer Aldi kicked of its Christma

32、s campaign in early November,but this time it had a football twist.Featuring fan favorite#KevinTheCarrot,Aldi recreated the famous Nike ad from the 1998 edition of the tournament.With+71%net sentiment on social media,the ad had 5K+engagements on Twitter,and 2.5M YouTube views.Showing even non-sponso

33、rs can deliver football success.Hyundai cheers the winnersThe final brand wins26Conclusion2626Why sports marketing mattersWhen it comes to global sports events like this,there will always be a risk.Not everyone will be a fan.Yet there are opportunities for any brand.Look for the connections between

34、your consumers and the event,and make the most of that moment.This will enable you to be more relevant and build those all important connections.Remember,you dont have to be a fan yourself,but your support should be genuine one way or the other.Follow your audience sentiment,and if that means opposi

35、ng an event,that is still a conversation you can be a part of.The goal is to know your audience,inside and out,and take data-driven actions where possible.Get a Free DemoThe#1 Consumer Intelligence companyThe world is changing.Consumers are more demanding,more urgent,and more unpredictable than ever

36、,and brands are struggling to keep up.Talkwalkers leading Consumer Intelligence Platform helps you stay ahead by turning internal and external data into consumer insights that grow your brand.Over 2,500 global brands trust Talkwalker,and our international team of experts,to guide them in making the most of every opportunity in this fast-paced world and accelerate their brand growth.