Advertising, football attracts public (and investor) attention

The table has been set for football fans, as well as broadcasters and investors. And if one keeps faith with the research project 'Beyond Visual Attention' promoted by Omnicom Media Group (through its Annalect division) in collaboration with Ainem (Associazione Italiana Neuro Marketing), Ipsos and K2, between championship and European cups with Champions League in an extra-large version the banquet on the football-advertising axis should be guaranteed.

One in three Italians say they are influenced by football testimonials in their choice of purchases (35%) and by advertising placed in football contexts (34%). This is the main result, presented a few days ago, of the latest release of the Beyond Visual Attention research by Omnicom Media Group and Lega Serie A "Quando la comunicazione fa goal", demonstrating how the enjoyment of football through different media can influence the consumption choices and engagement of spectators. These results are even more significant with the start of the Champions League, which in the first day saw, among the Italian teams, Juventus (victorious over Psv) and AC Milan (who instead gave way to Liverpool).

Football as a powerful advertising vehicle, capable of influencing consumer choices, is thus confirmed in the research figures, which also show how investment in the sport proves particularly effective for brands themselves. One can look, in this regard, at the significant growth in Kpi (Key Performance Indicators) for brands that invest. Thus, one will see an average increase of 2% in 'awareness' and 2.4% in both 'consideration' and 'impression' for those allocating advertising budgets to football.

All this within a framework in which television remains the main medium for the enjoyment of football, with an overwhelming 82%. However, new media are gaining ground (and very quickly): 61% of fans also follow matches through social media, 44% use sports websites and podcasts, still little used (10%), are advancing..

Thanks to technology developed by Ipsos, it was possible to measure visual attention directly in the homes of Italians during the viewing of matches and extra content, such as talk shows and in-depth programmes. Those that were judged to be more engaging managed to generate higher visual attention not only for the game or talk show moments, but also for the commercial breaks: in fact, if one examines an exciting match, the visual attention (percentage of time looking at the match) to the content is 69% and that to the commercial is 57%. If, on the other hand, the match is less engaging, the attention to the content remains high (62%), but that towards the commercial drops to 32%.