World Cup fever: How brands can score big

Next month's World Cup is a huge opportunity for marketers - a global cultural moment that combines massive global reach and strong emotional engagement.

The football extravaganza has proven to be hugely successful for marketers. Brands activating around the tournament have seen a 20-30% increase in brand equity, according to Nielsen, and achieved a 3-5x ROI on sponsorship and marketing investment, according to IEG.

But scoring big in World Cup marketing doesn’t just come down to high-profile out-of-home or display ads. It's about reaching sports fans wherever they are with timely and relevant messaging.

Jay Kingsley-Brooks, global enterprise sales at AI-powered marketing platform StackAdapt explains: “Fans are constantly moving between watching matches, checking scores, travelling, socialising and consuming content across multiple devices.”

This gives brands multiple moments and touchpoints to engage with fans.

“If fans are moving across channels then brands need to do the same. An omnichannel approach allows you to build awareness at scale, stay present during key moments and drive intent," says Kingsley-Brooks.

"Using programmatic you can connect all of these touchpoints - CTV, mobile, digital out-of-home (DOOH), audio and display - into one unified strategy.”

Each touchpoint has a job, and together they create momentum and help brands stay top of consumers' minds. 

For marketers looking to win, the goal is simple: show up with one consistent story across all programmatic channels that map the 360 degree fan experience. One audience, one message, delivered across each moment. 

WATCH STACKADAPT’S SCORE BIG: HIGH-IMPACT ADVERTISING STRATEGIES FOR THE FIFA WORLD CUP WEBINAR TO DISCOVER:

⚽ How the fan experience is shifting - and where brands need to show up

⚽Top tips on how to get ads right across CTV, audio, DOOH, display and native

⚽How StackAdapt can make it easy to buy and launch custom omnichannel World Cup plans.

An unified campaign

To create a cross-channel campaign that feels unified and performs, StackAdapt suggests a simple 3-pronged approach.

1. Align the narrative across DOOH, audio, CTV, display, native, video and mobile apps
2. Guide audiences down the funnel with controlled frequency and sequencing
3. Design creatives that are consistent across channels to build brand recognition + tailor creatives to fit each channel environment

“The World Cup is a global moment where attention, emotion and scale all come together at once. The biggest shift that brands have to navigate is how fans experience it," Kingsley-Brooks asserts.

"They’re no longer in one place or on one screen. That’s where the StackAdapt programmatic platform really comes into play and ensures brands are showing up consistently, contextually and across the entire fan journey."

Listen up! Spotlight on Audio

One channel that shouldn't be ignored in your World Cup campaign is audio. 

Sports fans are listening to content when they’re commuting, travelling, working out, and preparing for the game. 

In fact, sports genre podcast listenership jumps 172% leading up to games and surges 358% following the event, according to Spotify 2026 data, as quoted in Emarketer.

“Fans are not just watching, they’re listening for commentary, analysis and recaps. Audio lets your brand show up in those high attention moments without competing for visual space,” says Morgan Peterson, global enterprise client services at StackAdapt.

StackAdapt works with partners such as Bauer, which can allow brands to tap into both radio and podcast via the Sport Social Network, delivering scaled access to premium sports audiences. Meanwhile, through the platform's Spotify tie-up, brands can target World Cup playlists, such as ‘England Football Songs’.

FOR MORE TOP TIPS ON HOW YOUR BRAND CAN WIN THIS WORLD CUP: