Publicis Media’s Torres: World Cup Is a Winner for Brands

At a time when marketers are challenged to cut through the clutter, sports -- and the World Cup in particular -- are valuable because fans watch or listen live, and the games produce high-levels of emotion and engagement.  As Lisa Torres, President of Publicis Media’s multicultural practice explained, “It’s visceral -- people really pay attention.”  Torres spoke to MediaVillage about what makes the World Cup so effective for cross-cultural marketing; how digital, mobile and social media are changing the game, and the best ways brands can stay connected after the trophies are awarded.

Alli Romano:  What makes sports, and the World Cup in particular, so valuable?  How can they be used most effectively? 

Lisa Torres (pictured below):  In my opinion, the No. 1 attribute is live viewership and the “attentiveness factor” you get with it.  You just don’t get the same type of engagement with any other program or media, and the World Cup is a prime example.  In terms of effective marketing, the global nature of the World Cup is what makes it such a great and relevant place to speak to multicultural consumers.  Based on who’s playing, you have a very good sense of who will be watching, and the breadth and volume of viewership makes it a great opportunity as well.  Because the World Cup is only played every four years, it’s really hard to find another sport or event that offers the same level of engagement and generalinterest.  The fandom is real.  People in Mexico City celebrated so hard after the victory over Germany that they literally set off earthquake sensors.  What other event do you know of where fans celebrate that hard? This kind of passion and coming together to celebrate the sport is what the World Cup is all about.

Romano:  When targeting multi-cultural audiences, how do marketers need to tailor their creative for different audience segments?

Torres:  It’s important for me to caveat that each’s brands approach to multicultural strategy and creative is a totally unique case and should be approached as such, but there are many research studies that indicate that creating culturally relevant creative in any language works better than generic or “one size fits all” creative.

For example, if you are going to do a soccer ad and you want to reach Latinos, you have to make sure you do it right.  You need to enlist someone who’s an expert on both your audience and the sport.  A ">