It doesn’t kick off until mid-June, but anticipation is steadily growing for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. It is the biggest event this year and, therefore, one of the biggest sales opportunities. Getting in the right products, heavily marketing them to your customers and communicating the value of the occasion to make sure retail customers carry it through into their stores will help the channel score big this summer.
Essential to getting the World Cup right in-depot is maximising availability, visibility and awareness to interrupt retail, catering and foodservice customers, says Matt Collins, trading controller – convenience, wholesale & foodservice at KP Snacks, which is heavily promoting its ‘Rio McCoy’s Local’ campaign through the wholesale channel.
“We’re going bigger and better with our point-of-sale (PoS) displays, ranging from pub kits in the licensed sector to over 12,000 pre-filled shippers across our convenience stores and impactful pallet displays in cash & carry,” he says.
The supplier started displaying PoS material including aisle flags, shelf stripping and pallet wraps in nearly 100 depots across Bestway, Batleys, Today’s and Landmark from the beginning of the month.
Collins also recommends wholesalers focus on categories and brands that have the best fit with the tournament. “McCoy’s is among the top-selling impulse brands, with a great fit across retail, licensed and catering, and it’s a perfect fit with our 30m UK football fans,” he adds. “McCoy’s had a sales uplift of almost 50% during the 2010 World Cup.”
Dave Turner, Coca-Cola Enterprises trade communications manager, highlights soft drinks as a key area for the sporting event. “Within the impulse sector, soft drinks experienced more sales uplift than any other immediate consumption category during the 2010 World Cup – rising 6.2% during this period,” he says.
He urges wholesalers to start preparing now to ensure they can meet retailers’ needs. “As excitement builds, it’s vital that retailers engage shoppers in the weeks leading up to the World Cup, not just for the four weeks during the tournament,” he says. “The majority of supplier campaigns will be in the market from the beginning of May and we’d recommend wholesalers stock up by this point to ensure retailers are ready to take advantage.”
Better Wholesaling has picked a handful of suppliers making the most of the opportunity to help wholesalers drive sales in the lead up to and during the World Cup.
Budweiser
The beer brand is running its ‘Rise As One’ campaign on behalf of its sponsorship as the official beer of the tournament. It includes national TV spots, outdoor and digital activity, and a promotion on both on- and off-trade packs that gives fans the opportunity to attend the tournament. The brand has also launched new pack formats and a limited edition can.
Glacéau Vitaminwater
The water brand is getting ahead of the game this month by launching an on-pack promotion that gives consumers the chance to win a trip to Brazil to watch a quarter-final match by capturing an ‘everyday colourful moment’ on their cameras. Glacéau Vitaminwater’s owner, Coca-Cola Enterprises, is an official World Cup partner.
Lucozade
Lucozade Sport Brazilian Guava and Lucozade Energy ‘The Brazilian’ Mango & Mandarin joined the market at the start of the year. They tie in not only with the football tournament but also the growth of exotic flavours, which are up 10% year-on-year.
Mars
As an official supporter of the England team, Mars is running an on-pack promotion offering consumers the chance to win one of 500,000 personalised England football shirts. Mars has also launched limited edition yellow, green and blue packs for Peanut M&Ms, backed by an on-pack promotion.
McCoy’s
KP Snacks is kicking off a celebratory summer with its Rio McCoy’s promotion on handy packs, multipacks and price-marked packs of McCoy’s. The promotion, fronted by ‘Pub Landlord’ Al Murray, offers shoppers a once-in-a-lifetime trip to experience the World Cup in the heart of Rio.
WKD
WKD is doing its bit to capture the party spirit. It launched Brazilian limited edition at the end of last year to take advantage of the World Cup. The variant is benefiting from a digital marketing campaign.
