J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth predicted the FIFA World Cup, which starts tomorrow, will benefit Twitter's ad sales "as a result of its 'real-time highlights' video partnership with Fox Sports," according to Tae Kim of CNBC.com. This comes as J.P. Morgan "raised its price target" for the social media platform's shares, "citing improving conversations with advertisers." Anmuth: "Twitter is uniquely positioned as the real-time broadcast and communications network, making it complementary to all other forms of media, including TV. Twitter is also well positioned to benefit from the large shift in dollars toward mobile and native" (CNBC.com, 6/12). MARKETWATCH's Emily Bary notes under its deal with Fox Sports, Twitter will "upload video footage of all goals scored 'within seconds' and produce both pre-game shows and clips with player interviews." MKM Partners analyst Rob Sanderson last week noted the '14 World Cup in Brazil "likely" brought in about $24M in incremental Q2 revenue for Twitter, and this year's tourney "could be an 'even bigger deal' this year, as consensus estimates seem to be calling for an incremental" $30M boost. Sanderson also pointed out that Twitter is "now generating nearly half its revenue from international markets, compared with just a third" in '14 (MARKETWATCH.com, 6/13).
WHOLE NEW WORLD: FAST COMPANY's Jeff Beer noted Twitter Head of Brand Strategy Alex Josephson "warns against any marketer waiting for their own perfect World Cup moment." Josephson: "Some brands can serendipitously react to a moment in real-time and get a bunch of earned media, but the reality is you can't allow that to be your strategy. You need to know why you're investing money and time into the World Cup as a brand. What are you trying to achieve? What we're trying to work with brands on is figuring out what their consumers are expecting." Twitter noted the number of soccer videos shared on its site is "up 140%" year over year. Twitter during the '14 World Cup from Brazil only had a "native video platform for about six months, and brands weren't very active yet." Now there are "more than a billion video views of content published by brands on Twitter every day." One thing Josephson "anticipates is more brands playing amid fan behavior of using Twitter as their second screen and getting creative with synchronization." Josephson: "Look at Tide's work during the Super Bowl as a prime example of that, and what we're likely to see more of during the World Cup" (FASTCOMPANY.com, 6/12).
FOOD FIGHT: ADWEEK's Lindsay Rittenhouse noted Twitter last week, "armed with a food truck, games and a spin-to-win prize wheel," visited various media agencies in N.Y. to "garner support for its live video specifically around sports, as tweets about the NBA Finals and FIFA World Cup were trending" (ADWEEK.com, 6/12).
