This global sporting event enables data-driven advertising to offer new opportunities for marketers
Jakarta, 21 September 2022 – Two out of three Indonesians – approximately 180 million people – are planning to watch and follow the FIFA World Cup™ this year, according to new research conducted by global advertising leader The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD) and YouGov.
In today’s golden age of content, viewed on multiple screens, the world’s biggest football tournament is changing the game for sports fans in Indonesia. In fact, one in three Indonesians intent to use an over-the-top (OTT) streaming platform to watch the event according to the new study. This indicates how the behaviours of sports fans has evolved, thanks to the fast-growing OTT and connected TV (CTV) channels on the open internet.
Opportunity to reach highly engaged sports audience during the peak buying season
This year’s global football event will attract approximately 24 million more Indonesian viewers, as compared to 2018. This 9 percent increase in anticipated viewership represents an opportunity for marketers. According to the study, nearly eight in 10 (78 percent) of Indonesians are football fans, and these self-declared football fans are highly engaged as they follow football news and events once a week or more.
Running between November 21 and December 18, the global football tournament will coincide with the traditional year-end shopping season for Indonesians. This provides a unique opportunity for brands to ride on the enthusiasm of football fans during one of Indonesia’s peak buying seasons.
“This year’s World Cup goes beyond being an iconic sports spectacular. It provides brands a milestone moment to connect with a highly engaged audience,” said Purnomo Kristanto, General Manager, The Trade Desk. “The study underscores the golden opportunity marketers have to create synergies between the yearly shopping season and the world’s biggest football tournament to maximise the impact of their marketing campaigns.”
Streaming is an essential sports channel for Indonesians, especially younger fans
The rapid advance of digital TV and rising popularity of OTT streaming will likely drive the anticipated exponential viewership. As Indonesians turn to OTT as their mainstream form of entertainment, so have sport fans. Nine in 10 Indonesians consider OTT as an important channel for sports, while one in three Indonesians are planning to use OTT streaming for this year’s football event.
The study affirms that younger sports fans are driving the shift to OTT. Nearly 40 percent of those under 44 years old will use OTT streaming to follow this year’s games, compared to around 20 percent of Indonesians over the age of 44. The data demonstrates that streaming platforms have enabled marketers to gain unprecedented access to a fan base that is youthful and more digitally savvy than ever before.
Omnichannel strategy is key to engaging sports fans
The new data shows that fans typically engage with sports content across multiple channels on the open internet, from OTT and CTV to websites and mobile apps. Streaming and reading sports news were cited as the two most important channels for sports fans. Furthermore, followers of the World Cup are also more likely to visit sports websites and apps (33 percent), compared to the general internet population (26 percent).
“It is crucial for brands to activate omnichannel strategies to fully engage sports fans in the lead up to the World Cup and throughout the 28-day tournament,” said Purnomo. “Marketers can effectively reach consumers across multiple devices and platforms on the open internet via OTT, CTV and sports websites and apps by incorporating a data-driven approach to their marketing strategies.”
When it comes to device usage, sports fans typically use multiple devices when interacting with sports content. Even though TV is still the preferred channel for watching sports (64 percent), more than half (55 percent) of Indonesians watch sports events on more than one device. Amongst Indonesian sports fans, this figure jumps to 61 percent, indicating that the majority of sports fans are constantly engaging with multiple devices. They check scores for other games (78 percent) and look up information online while watching the games (72 percent).
Methodology
The survey was conducted online by YouGov based on a survey of approximately 13,000 adults across the U.S., Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific. It included a nationally representative sample of 1,099 Indonesian adults, from July 2022. All data was weighted by age and gender to reflect the latest Indonesian population estimates.