Before the World Cup kicked off, retired Swedish int'l Zlatan Ibrahimovich "teased" that he would be attending the tournament, which "sparked speculation that he would make his national side," according to John McCarthy of THE DRUM. It turned out official sponsor Visa was "taking him along for the ride" -- a play that appears to have "paid off" in the U.K. Kantar Millward Brown studied 12 of the most prominent World Cup campaigns that have landed in the U.K. so far, and found that of the official sponsors, Visa's work "resonated most with viewers." Kantar Millward Brown's AdExpress tool is the "source of the data." While it found Visa to top the list, England sponsors Mars and Lidl also "ranked high," likely due to the national side making the quarterfinal. Meanwhile, adidas, Nike and Beats by Dre appeared to "under-perform." They scored lower than average for "getting their brand across in the ad" (THE DRUM, 7/5).
NIKE VS. ADIDAS: REUTERS' Noel Randewich reported in a World Cup "brimming with upsets," Nike looks on track to defeat rival adidas in the "closely watched jersey sponsorship battle." The Nike swoosh "decorates the outfits" of Brazil, France and England, the sides in the quarterfinals most favored by betting websites to win the World Cup, plus Croatia. German brand adidas has Belgium, Russia and Sweden in the quarterfinals, with the group of eight rounded out by Uruguay, sponsored by Puma (REUTERS, 7/3).
'IT'S COMING HOME': CAMPAIGN LIVE's Alex Brownsell reported William Hill was accused of "hijacking" England football fans' popular "It's coming home" refrain, after sponsoring the hashtag on Twitter. "ItsComingHome" -- a line which "harks back" to The Lightning Seeds’ 1996 football anthem Three Lions -- was increasingly used by England fans when celebrating the team’s progress to the quarterfinals. According to data from Twitter, #ItsComingHome was tweeted 1.4 million times in the three weeks leading up to England's victory over Colombia. However, fans using the hashtag have also been sharing a football shirt emoji featuring the William Hill logo (CAMPAIGN LIVE, 7/5).
