The opening match of the '14 FIFA World Cup in Brazil is 11 months away, "but Twitter is already mobilizing to sell lucrative ad packages pegged to it," according to Cotton Delo of AD AGE. Documents show that Twitter will be "conducting a blind auction overseen by PricewaterhouseCoopers to sell promoted trends later this month." It is the "first time Twitter has set up an auction specifically for a tentpole event and an indication of how it will sell scarce inventory connected to events like the Olympics, the Oscars or the Super Bowl in the future." Promoted trends are "the only ad unit that must be bought out for an entire market for a day for a flat fee." The last reported price to "claim a daily promoted trend in the U.S. was $200,000." But the four available World Cup packages are "designed to have global reach, meaning that the winner will own the day's promoted trends in 50 countries." The estimated value of that worldwide buy "by the time next summer comes around is $600,000." The winner of the auction "will pay the value of the second-highest bid plus $1." The combined reserve price of the four packages comprising 16 promoted trends is $8.16M, "which essentially represents the minimum Twitter will accept." The auction for the "gold" package is set to take place on July 25, while the auctions for the "silver" and "bronze" packages are slated for July 30 (ADAGE.com, 7/10).
