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World Cup over, did German ad industry benefit?

And with that head butt by Zidane, the World Cup 2006 in Germany ended.

What was the impact on Germany’s advertising industry? Surprisingly very little. A report by Reuters suggests that the World Cup gave the German advertising market little to cheer about.

Apparently, ad spending in Germany is expected to only grow by 1.6 percent, up from 1.2 percent in 2005, some of which can be attributed to football-themed print and outdoor campaigns.

But with most matches being shown on public channels, advertisers were left unable to take advantage of TV coverage. In fact, ZenithOptimedia expects less year-on-year growth in German TV ad spending in 2006 — 1.5 percent — than the year before, when it was 1.8 percent.

Naturally, many sectors in the German economy did, in fact, benefit greatly from the World Cup. You can expect the income of the hospitality, restaurant, transportation and telecommunication industries to have experienced massive leaps in income.

So, apart from the advertising industry, it’s all good news for Germany.

Onto South Africa 2010.

1 comment July 11th, 2006

“Be the first to know”…. with CNN or BBC?

It seems the latest slogan used by the BBC for its Arabic e-newsletters, which it recently launched, has caused problems with CNN.

The BBC Arabic service ran an aggressive Internet advertising campaign, on regional and Arabic websites, promoting the newsletters with the line “Be the first to know.”

If you watch CNN for ten minutes, you’ll see a promotion using that exact line too. It’s on every promo, as an integral part of CNN’s identity.

A press release by the BBC a month ago said that “BBC World Service used the Amman-based design agency, Mint, to produce creative work for the campaign.”

Who decided to use the wording is not clear. But, it’s worth thinking about this matter for a moment.

Does anyone really own such a generic statement, which sums up the goal of every news organization on earth?

Add comment July 11th, 2006