Experts said that the World Cup in Brazil "could see record-breaking digital and social media activity -- something that will play to the advantage of global marketers," according to Wong Siew Ying of CHANNEL NEWS ASIA. McDonald's -- an official sponsor of this year's World Cup -- "is stepping up marketing efforts in the digital space." It "will be turning its fry box into a virtual football pitch as part of its global World Cup promotion." The design of its medium and large fry boxes has been changed to feature 12 original street artworks. McDonald's Singapore Senior Dir of Marketing Yvonne Low said, "With the millennium generation, social media and new technology, this is something we are going into." McDonald's will also be screening all the World Cup matches "live" at 41 of its 24-hour outlets in Singapore. Visa "also benefited from its partnership with FIFA." Back in '10, spending by int'l visitors on Visa-branded cards hit $176M in South Africa, an increase of 65%. In Singapore, Visa ran a World Cup promotion to drive greater use of VISA Paywave -- "a mode of contactless payment." Experts said that "such tie-ups build brand awareness and the growth of social media will make sports sponsorships more entertaining and engaging." Ogilvy & Mather (Singapore) COO Giri Jadhav said, "With all the media explosion, I can say it is more value for money for the advertisers. In today's terms, it is estimated to have gone up by around 130 percent" (CHANNEL NEWS ASIA, 5/27).
