Which Brands Scored with FIFA’s Audience on Social?
In the first half of 2015, brands in the Sports Industry received more than 2.6M actions, on average. FIFA, in particular, received a 32% growth in total actions on Facebook in June compared to January 2015. In light of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, which concluded on July 5 th , Shareablee took a closer look at the social audiences who engage with FIFA on Facebook and which brands they also engaged with on the social platform from April 1 to June 30, 2015. ( click to enlarge image )
Retail, Automotive, and Travel Industry
Adidas , a notable sponsor for the FIFA Women’s World Cup, shared the most socially engaged users with FIFA of any retailer, promoting the event using the hashtag #FIFAWWC. Nike , the official sponsor of the U.S. women’s team, was also a top-performing retail brand for FIFA fans on Facebook. EA Sports and Playstation were also popular among FIFA’s social audience, indicating that FIFA fans are also avid video gamers and crave excitement.
In the Automotive Industry, Ferrari was a top-performing brand for FIFA’s social audience, which shows that FIFA fans are aspirational and interested in quality and action. Furthermore, in the Travel Industry, Qatar Airways came out on top, most likely due to the 2022 World Cup, and suggesting that FIFA fans are world travelers.
Sports Brands
Unsurprisingly, many brands and properties that shared social audiences with FIFA were also in the Sports Industry. FC Barcelona , Real Madrid C.F. , and Confederação Brasileira de Futebol were among the professional sports teams that FIFA’s social audience also engaged with on Facebook; while among sports leagues, the Premier League , MLS , NFL , WWE, and the NBA shared engaged users with FIFA.
FIFA’s social audience also engaged with a variety of sports media brands on Facebook during the selected time period. Engaged users were also socially active with BBC Sports, Bleacher Report , FOX Soccer , Televisa Deportes , and Sports Illustrated , which indicates that users often looked to these media brands for the latest news and updates in the sports industry. Additionally, FIFA’s engaged audience frequently interacted with espnW , a brand dedicated to female athletes.
An Opportunity for Brands
The analysis provides an interesting view at the social audiences who engage with FIFA. For example, those who interacted with FIFA also engaged with media properties that cover international news and global affairs. In the Publishing Industry, TIME , Daily Mail , The New York Times , and Business Insider shared the most socially engaged users with FIFA. The cross-engagement study also showed that this audience heavily engaged with government brands, such as NASA and UNICEF . Further, Animal Planet , VH1 , the World Health Organization , Save the Children , and the Human Rights Campaign were among other popular brands with FIFA’s socially engaged audience. By engaging with brands outside of the Sports Industry, we can define a FIFA fan as much more than a sports fanatic, but also worldly, entertainment-savvy, and a humanitarian.
FIFA’s social audience also shows a spectrum of interests, providing a greater opportunity for brands to engage with a wider audience. This analysis shows that FIFA fans have an interest for politics, also engaging with POLITICO , CNN Politics , and politicians such as David Cameron , which were among the top-performers for FIFA’s social audience on Facebook.
This audience analysis shows a wide variety of genres and tastes among FIFA’s social audience From this analysis, we found that FIFA’s social audience craved action and excitement, physically and virtually, but were also altruistic people who are knowledgeable in business and international affairs. Understanding your target audience’s behaviors can help create greater connections through your content, thus resulting in more engagement and brand loyalty.