The ongoing World Cup is expected to see most Social Media mentions of any sporting event. Since June 2013, there have been 19 million social mentions including the phrase “World Cup”! Soccer is the most popular sport in earth and social media is the creamiest option for fan & follower interaction and debate. However, for business houses, it is also the right time to explore this hype to turn the tides in their favour. With proper social media strategy, this world cup fever can help you reach 230 countries! According to FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke, FIFA will earn $4bn (£2.3bn) in revenue from this tournament – ten per cent more than last time. About $1.4bn (£837m) will come from sponsorship deals, the balance from TV rights. Much of that increased investment will go into content and social media. "They will certainly continue to use conventional paid-for media, but owned and earned media are occupying a larger share of the communications mix as brands increasingly become publishers in their own right during major cultural moments," says Martin. The brands are at war! Brands like Nike, pepsi, Adidas all are trying to bank on this social media interaction Tsunami and beat competitors. While brands have long been publishers in one way or another, the latest iteration of brand publishing using social media to engage and magnify the content is really only now coming to maturity. There is even a tenuous strain of thought that suggests the 2014 World Cup could mark the high tide of this approach. Nancy Smith, President and CEO of New York-based marketing consultancy Analytic Partners, says her company has examined billions of dollars of marketing spend and has come to very different conclusions. She said that “Budgets are increasingly stretched and social media are a very good way to extend those dollars. It is clear that owned and earned media are a must. We have found that owned and earned engagement has boosted incremental sales from paid marketing by two to six per cent. The average is about five per cent, although we have seen effects from social media for smaller niche companies as high as four hundred per cent”. The question remains open: Brands are going full throttle on their online channels for this footy frenzy but could the 20th World Cup be the high watermark for social media? To read more, visit the following link:

http://www.prweek.com/article/1297965/20th-world-cup-social-media-strategies-brand-war-rooms