How to Plan a Marketing Campaign Without Being 'Crude'

The preparation for the Brazil World Cup was nerve-wracking, but the 171 goals scored not only matched the record set by the 1998 France World Cup, but the dramatic and unpredictable matches thrilled fans. On the evening of July 17, Beijing time, FIFA released the latest world rankings, with Germany topping the list after their victory, followed by Argentina and the Netherlands. Although the top three teams have slightly different playing styles, they are characterized by efficiency and high success rates in interactive passing. In contrast, England, known for its simple, crude long-ball tactics, plummeted to 20th place.

During the Brazil World Cup, brands showcased their marketing prowess, but strikingly similar to the football field, new marketing methods that emphasize interaction and precision became the new favorites among advertisers.

Among the many World Cup marketing cases, the collaboration between vivo and Sohu's mobile internet division serves as a highly valuable reference. Unlike the PC side, which simply pursues click-through rates, the mobile side places greater emphasis on user experience and interaction, especially 'point-to-point' precise interaction, which clearly distinguishes it from other media platforms. After vivo became the chief strategic partner for Sohu's World Cup mobile coverage, the 4.3 version of the Sohu News client, which had been downloaded 185 million times, was almost customized to include a pull-down penalty kick game, based on users' habit of pulling down to read news. This bold and truly interactive attempt is a pioneering work in mobile internet marketing, breaking new ground in both model and method. Every time users pull down the screen, they can try their hand at the game. After the shooting action, a funny comment pops up, alongside the vivo phone image, and the generous prizes further convert user attention into purchasing power. This collaboration was locked into the pull-down position of the headline news, rather than the usual loading page ads, in-feed ads, or end-of-article ad slots.

As of July 15, the pull-down penalty kick game had attracted 35,615,939 participants, with an average of over 1 million daily participants, achieving remarkable results. The interactive game 'Brazil Big Challenge', developed using new HTML5 technology, reached a total PV of 1,526,152. Compared to hard ads, interactive and light-hearted games have lower barriers to entry and higher user engagement. The World Cup games inevitably involve penalty kicks, and with the strong stimulus of 171 goals, users in the immersive atmosphere are willing to spend more time repeatedly shooting, constantly fueling their desire to win prizes, which included vivo Xshot phones and vivo e-mall coupons. Through interactive marketing, consumers can be directly stimulated to purchase, thereby leveraging the World Cup topic to directly open a channel from potential customers to online sales.