(7 June 2006 2:00 pm)

MUMBAI: The football World Cup has yet to kick off in Germany but the battle off the field is well and truly underway. Throughout the key territories in Europe, marketing campaigns are generating association with the event and its clear from TNSSport’s World Cup Monitor that this activity is having the desired effect.

Already the likes of Coca-Cola, Budweiser and Mastercard are strongly associated with the event across Europe. In the UK, over 50 per cent of football watchers linked Coca-cola with the World Cup, in Germany this reached over 70 per cent, 7 out of 10 watchers.

Results from the Monitor show over 70 per cent of adults in Italy and Spain are interested in the World Cup, peaking at 80 per cent in the host nation Germany. This level of equity is unique as the event attracts a “new” set of fans to football who follow the national team.

TNSSport MD Richard Ames says, “Whichever way you look at it, the World Cup is a remarkable event engaging consumers across the globe. After the final we will be running a second wave of the monitor in Europe and there is little doubt that the partners will make significant gains.”

TNSSport provides information to over 300 rights holders and sponsors worldwide. Uniquely, TNSSPORT provide sports media analysis and market research to enable a complete understanding of the value and impact of sport.