On July 4th Beijing time, at the Miami Hard Rock Stadium, in the 111th minute of extra time, the scoreboard was still 2-2.

The players of Cape Verde team have been running for nearly two hours, with Messi leading the defending champions Argentina in front of them. This West African island nation with a population of only over 500000 is the smallest and least populous team in the history of World Cup knockout matches. Almost no one thought there would be suspense in this game before the match.

But the game did not follow the expected script. Cape Verde fell behind twice and equalized twice. The final goal that ended the game was an own goal - in the 111th minute, an Argentine corner kick caused a Cape Verdean player to own an own goal. 3: 2. The defending champion advanced narrowly. At the final whistle, Cape Verde players were filled with tears and hugged tightly. Their World Cup journey has come to an end, but the story of being unbeaten in four regular matches and forcing the defending champions into extra time has been written into World Cup history.

A detail of this game was repeatedly mentioned after the game: Cape Verde forward Willie Semedo was wearing Chinese brand Li Ning football shoes on his feet. This is also the first pair of Chinese original football shoes to appear on the World Cup stage.

Chinese companies occupy 3 seats in the official sponsor list of this World Cup, a decrease of 1 from the previous edition. According to statistics from Huachuang Securities, the three companies have invested a total of over 500 million US dollars, a decrease of 64% compared to the previous session. But in the face of this year's "most expensive and profitable" World Cup, the presence of Chinese brands not only stays on the official sponsor list, but also enters the game in a more diverse manner: from betting on teams, signing star players, to co branded merchandise, and launching instant retail; Looking at the world, major consumer brands are also customizing gameplay to adapt to the Chinese consumer scene around the World Cup.

Play with the World Cup in various ways

Among the 16 global sponsors of this World Cup, Chinese companies account for 3 seats, namely Hisense, Mengniu, and Lenovo. Behind the reduction in quantity, more brands choose to "save the country through curves".

Compared to the 2022 Qatar World Cup, the biggest change in this tournament is that the number of participating teams has increased from 32 to 48, with a total of 104 matches played, and for the first time, a 1/16 final has been added in the knockout stage. The rules for advancing have also become more complex: the top two teams from 12 groups and the third place teams from the 8 best performing groups will jointly advance to the top 32.

The expansion of the World Cup has provided more opportunities for teams from countries and regions to participate, as well as more opportunities for consumer brands to participate.

Nike has not purchased official sponsorship seats for the World Cup for multiple consecutive years. During this World Cup, Nike sponsored 12 national teams, signed 12 top football stars, and released a brand short film called 'Let the Script Be Voided', attempting to build a 'football universe' from the field to the streets. Nike's explanation for this is: "For Nike Football, football not only happens on official stadiums, but also in the daily expressions of athletes, national teams, cities, streets, stores, and young people

Luzhou Laojiao's National Cellar 1573 chose to win the double official authorization of Argentina and Portugal national football teams, becoming the only Baijiu product authorized by two top national teams at the same time in 2026. Luzhou Laojiao believes that this World Cup is a "twilight of the gods" and is highly likely to be the farewell battle between Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. "The traffic of the tournament is general, but the emotions carried by the team and the stars are specific and strongly resonant." Luzhou Laojiao believes that instead of betting on the tournament itself, it is better to bet on the emotions that cannot be replicated in this era.

In addition, Luckin Coffee has secured sponsorship for the Spanish and Portuguese teams in the China region. Kudi Coffee holds a dual identity as a global sponsor of the Argentine team and an authorized retailer of World Cup products. Pop Mart's IP "Labubu" made its debut at the World Cup opening ceremony and official theme song MV, becoming the first Chinese original IP invited in the history of the World Cup. On the eve of the World Cup, Wang Laoji officially announced Norwegian football star Erling Haaland as the global spokesperson for his international brand WALOVI, and the song "Haaland's Song" in the advertisement became a social topic.

Consumption Has Changed

The biggest difference for Chinese audiences in this World Cup is that the competition time has been moved from late night to early morning.

According to Meituan flash purchase data, "squatting at home" is the mainstream "second scene" during the core viewing period of the group stage, with residential communities accounting for 65% of orders, and hotels and office buildings ranking second and third. In addition, the enthusiasm for football consumption in new first tier cities has surpassed that of first tier cities: Shenzhen ranks first, Chengdu surpasses Beijing and Shanghai to rank second, and Changsha ranks eighth.

Kudi Coffee discovered the time difference bonus from "watching time". As a global sponsor of the Argentine national team, Koudi Coffee launched the Pampas Blue series of joint drinks in 2022. During this World Cup, the Argentine team will receive 10000 cups of Pampas Blue series drinks for every game, and an additional 10000 cups for every goal scored by the team. Coffee has transformed from a "refreshing tool" to a "ball watching device".

According to Meituan's flash purchase data, beer has surpassed carbonated beverages during the 2022 Qatar World Cup to become the hottest item of this year's World Cup, and craft beer has risen to 15th place in the ranking. In addition, ice cream/ice cream ranks 8th, and edible ice ranks 11th, making "ice sensation consumption" a new trend.

As the only beer brewing company to sponsor the World Cup for 40 consecutive years, Budweiser Group has found that whenever a game begins, bars and restaurants become places where fans share their love - friends cheer and celebrate together, and even strangers share passion and emotion. Beer is an important part of these celebratory moments.

Budweiser believes that beer essentially belongs to social and emotional consumption, with the core being the connection between people and scenes. Therefore, Budweiser has taken many new actions for this World Cup, such as launching World Cup themed activities for the first time in snack stores such as Snack Youming and Wanxianglai, reaching a wider range of young consumer groups; Launching the "Fresh Beer Direct Delivery" service in Wenzhou, with direct delivery from breweries and same day delivery; Cooperate with platforms such as Meituan to achieve "15 minute cold beer delivery", covering late night viewing scenes, as well as meeting the demand for non-alcoholic beer daytime meals, and expanding new time periods such as breakfast; Choose and collaborate with Joyful Events in home settings; In the shopping scene, collaborate with Adidas to create joint spaces, football trend hot stores, etc.

The design of consumer products is also responding to changes in consumer scenarios. Wuliangye stated that in the future, Chinese consumers will pay more for "pleasing themselves", and "sports marketing that can provide dopamine may be one of the important marketing communication methods in the future". Wuliangye has launched 18 products based on the different needs and consumption scenarios of its fan base: including Wuliangye Dalishen Cup Wine priced at 20260 yuan/bottle, as well as popular craft wines priced at 28 yuan/bottle, Mars Era Juice Wine, and Dragon Tiger Health Wine. There is also a World Cup co branded product based on the core single product, the eighth generation Wuliangye.

The price of the 100ml Luzhou Laojiao small liquor is 158 yuan, and the bottle body is designed with the shape of two team jerseys as the core. Luzhou Laojiao believes that this design has the attribute of social sharing, which is easy to achieve sharing and breaking circles among fan communities and young consumers. In terms of product matching, Luzhou Laojiao has launched a 500ml regular set for gift giving and high-end collection scenes, and a 100ml small wine set for watching games, gatherings, and fan support scenes, hoping to form a product matrix that covers different consumer levels and scene needs.

The significance of the World Cup for brands

The World Cup has boosted brand sales, but different brands have gained far more from it than just the numbers on paper.

Adidas Global CEO Gulden stated on the earnings conference call that it is expected that this World Cup will bring about 1 billion euros in sales to the brand.

Wuliangye mentioned two data points in the interview: firstly, in the Wuliangye World Cup championship blind box, the highest premium for the Uruguayan version reached 28000 yuan, becoming the official joint product with the highest premium for this World Cup. On June 14th, the blind box auction organized by JD.com attracted over 80000 people to watch, setting a record for the number of people watching JD's liquor review auction, which is 40 times the number of people watching the daily Wuliangye brand product auction. Second, the event of Wuliangye's Hercules Cup wine giving to Dong Lu attracted the attention of the fan circle. Dong Lu's Tiktok number was broadcast 18.75 million times, interacted 340000 times and entered the store 175000 times in three days; The video account has been played 1 million times.

Budweiser stated that current offline channels are generally facing challenges of stock competition and homogenization. Sponsoring top IPs such as the World Cup can help channels communicate with consumers in advance. When consumers have a solid recognition of Budweiser's high quality, sales in the ecosystem such as terminal stores will also increase.

Kudi stated that the dimensions of brand marketing include short-term customer traffic, sales, and social media volume growth. "From a long-term perspective, brand awareness and favorability are also important dimensions.

Luzhou Laojiao also stated that it values the brand's recognition and emotional identification among the fan community and young people more. This cooperation "hopes to make more young groups and fan groups who were relatively unfamiliar with Baijiu have a better understanding of the brand".

Cape Verde player Willie Semedo's most prominent honor was only winning the Cyprus Premier League championship, but now he has become famous in one of the world's most intense football matches. Li Ning's "unpopular bet" has also made Li Ning Fengrui football shoes the first pair of Chinese made original football shoes to make it to the world's top football stadium.

For the future, multiple consumer brands have stated that they will continue to engage in sports marketing. Compared to the popularity of their IP, they value whether their brand values are consistent and whether there is space for deep co creation and emotional resonance.

(Author Zheng Yuxin)