With online advertising investment reaching an all-time high, it is important that brands tailor their digital strategy this year to better address their customers' needs.

Ramadan is the most sacred month of the year for Muslims, and is a period during which Muslims fast every day from dawn to sunset.  It is also a period during which consumers spend more money on regular household items such as food, drinks, and groceries. According to the 2016/2017 YouGov research, 53% of customers in the UAE, KSA & Egypt were reported to have increased their overall spending during the month of Ramadan. The industries benefitting the most include FMCG, Entertainment, and Travel & Tourism.

Traditionally brands would push TV advertising heavily during Ramadan, but the evolution of online advertising has disrupted this pattern. Consumer behaviour shifts during Ramadan with a significant increase in time spent online. With online advertising investment reaching an all-time high, it is important that brands tailor their digital strategy this year to better address their customers' needs. 

Below are a few tips from Naguib Toihiri, Head of Marketing at RBBi on how brands can run impactful campaigns. This includes: 

1- Empathizing with users by localising content

Arabic is the 4th most used language online and it’s one of the 10 most searched languages globally. When it comes to e-commerce, users prefer purchasing in their native languages. Unfortunately, Arabic represents less than 1% of the content published online, creating a gap with the user’s expectations.

Brands must localise their content by using formal Arabic or choose the appropriate dialect.

One way to localise content is to ensure high-quality translation from native speakers that fits the cultural context of Arabic users. For example, the word “tomato” can be localised in four different versions for the UAE (طماطم), Lebanon (بندورة), Egypt (أوطة) and Morocco (مطيشة).

With more than 173 million Arabic users online, brands can have a competitive advantage in the region by localising their content. 

2- Increasing visibility by optimising a website for mobile use

Mobile devices have a very high penetration rate across the Gulf States. 77% of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states’ population are mobile users.

According to Google, during the month of Ramadan mobile searches account to approximately 5% more than the average mobile search conducted across other months. This means ensuring websites are mobile friendly is even more important in this region. 

One way to optimise websites for mobile is to improve the page load time by reducing the size of the website images. A mobile-friendly website offers a better user experience and will allow users to engage more with the content.

3- Maximising user engagement through quality video content

Consumers watch a wide range of content during Ramadan, especially around entertainment, food and lifestyle.

Moreover, working hours are shorter during Ramadan, so users spend more time online watching videos. YouTube studies in Saudi Arabia report an increase in viewership during Ramadan (by 6% in daily watch time), while TV experiences an overall drop (by -37% in daily watch time).

Ramadan represents a real opportunity for marketers to engage with their customers in the region. 

One way to optimise video content online is to provide quality content that engages a user. Instead of placing increased focus on brand promotion, it is important that more focus is placed on providing relevant information that adds value (e.g. recipes, culinary skills and cooking tips for FMCGs).

The use of rich content such as video is an opportunity for brands to improve engagement during the holy month of Ramadan.

The UK is a "Nation of binge watchers" (Ofcom, 2017), while the US is now "Stream Nation" (Deloitte, 2018).

So, what can advertisers and marketers learn from these compulsive binge-watching habits brought to us by the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu?

"Everything Bad is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture is Making Us Smarter", the landmark book by Steven Johnson, argues that computer games and complex multi-part TV storylines are good for us. It proves that popular culture is becoming more sophisticated in both concept and structure and proposes that people's brains are evolving to cope with it. And that kids can cope with more complexity than older people. The book says that this also applies to the development of movie scripts over time: Star Wars has 10 main characters, but Lord of the Rings has nearly 30 that you need to follow.

Interwoven storylines between episodes and characters are a feature of many TV dramas in the last few years; The Handmaid's Tale and Black Mirror offer a slight projection into the future which is tantalising, horrifying and compelling – all at the same time. The West Wing started it all in 1999 – almost incomprehensible technical political dialogue which goes at a slightly faster pace than the viewer. It's gripping.

So what characteristics are transferable for marketers trying to produce compelling communications?

The implications for media planning and creating greater depth and intrigue via multi channels is significant. For example, our research shows that retargeting can benefit brands, if used intelligently to sequence stories for their audiences.

Our AdReaction study in 2017 showed that Gen Z like to have to have control and some interaction in communications from brands and are receptive to branded content. Teenagers and children spend their time on computer games which require mental and manual dexterity – as well as multitasking (talking to their friends on multiplayer games). This is surely the next step for binge producers – programmes which include interactivity, role play and control – all the things that Gen Z seek out.

Here are the 5 rules which we think can be carried over to content development:

Tell more stories. Only 2 out of 5 ads are based on a narrative.

Use storytelling to create emotion which engages, and don't shy away from drama and cliff hangers

Leverage channel selection to provide greater depth to the engagement and tell stories from multiple perspectives

Make the brand the hero not only in the story itself, but also in terms of the business vision

Find ways to make your audience part of the story or at least spark old "water cooler" moments

Arguably, complexity is counter to the point of most types of advertising messages. But those brands that can tell stories can really take advantage of lessons from TV and gaming. And every brand can pick up on some of the simpler rules.

Written by Jane Ostler,Global Head of Media, Kantar's Insights Division & Ann Green Managing Partner, Creative Development, Kantar Millward Brown

Brands must reassess customer acquisition as they shift to mobile

Mobile advertising will account for 30.5% of global advertising expenditure in 2020, up from 19.2% in 2017, according to Zenith’s Advertising Expenditure Forecasts, published today. Expenditure on mobile advertising will total US$187bn in 2020, more than twice the US$88bn spent on desktop advertising, and just US$5bn behind the US$192bn spent on television advertising. At the current rate of growth mobile advertising will comfortably overtake television in 2021.

As internet users switch from desktop to mobile devices – and new users go straight to mobile – online advertising is making the same switch. Advertising on mobile devices is rising at a meteoric rate, and is taking market share from all most other media. Mobile adspend grew 35% in 2017, and we expect it to grow at an average rate of 21% a year to 2020.

However, brands that are shifting budgets to mobile advertising may be affecting their ability to win new customers and expand their market share. Zenith’s Touchpoints ROI Tracker research* shows that traditional mass media are more effective at driving recall among new or light buyers, therefore having a strong understanding of acquisition channels and retention channels is key.

According to Touchpoints ROI Tracker, television ads are most effective at driving recall among potential customers, while mobile ads are least effective. Potential customers are 53% as likely to recall television ads as existing customers, but for mobile ads this falls to 41%. Targeting mobile ads at existing customers can certainly help brands achieve short-term performance targets, especially because mobile is increasingly tying together the whole consumer journey. However, mobile is currently less effective at creating long-term awareness among potential customers than traditional media, so brands with a heavy mobile presence should consider investing more in traditional mass media to compensate for this.

Demand in China drives rapid cinema growth

Most of the traditional media are still growing despite the inexorable rise of mobile advertising, but generally at very low rates. We forecast television and radio to grow by 1% a year between 2017 and 2020, while out-of-home advertising grows by 3% a year. Cinema, however, is growing at 16% a year, thanks to investment in new screens, successful movie franchises, and better international marketing. The main driver, though, is surging demand in China, where ticket sales increased 22% in 2017. China overtook the US to become the world’s biggest cinema advertising market in 2017, worth US$1.2bn, and by 2020 we expect it to reach US$2.8bn.

Print advertising continues to shrink together with circulations: between 2017 and 2020 we forecast newspaper adspend to shrink by an average of 5% a year, while magazine adspend shrinks by 6%. This refers only to advertising within print titles, though – publishers’ online revenues are counted within the desktop and mobile internet totals, so their overall performance is not as bad as the print figures suggest. Research organisations in some markets – such as the Advertising Association/WARC in the UK – provide combined print and digital ad revenue figures for publishers, generally showing that the digital revenues soften but do not reverse the decline in print.

Global adspend growth remains steady

We forecast global advertising expenditure to grow 4.5% this year. That’s fractionally behind the 4.6% growth we forecast in March, but that’s primarily because we have upped our figures for 2017, providing a tougher comparison. We now estimate that global adspend grew 4.2% in 2017, compared to our previous estimate of 4.0%. We forecast 4.2% growth for 2019 and 4.3% growth for 2020, so growth will remain comfortably within the 4%-5% range it has stayed within since 2011.

Asia Pacific fuels global expansion

Asia Pacific is by far the biggest contributor to global adspend growth. Between 2017 and 2020 it will contribute 43% of all the new ad dollars added to the market – US$32.1bn out of the US$75.1bn total. Six of the ten markets that will contribute the most to global growth are in Asia Pacific: China (which by itself will account for 22% of global growth), India (which will contribute 5%), Indonesia (4%), Japan (3%), the Philippines (3%) and South Korea (2%). We forecast that Asia Pacific will account for 33.8% of global adspend in 2020, up from 32.6% in 2017.

North America, currently the largest advertising region, is falling behind in growth. We expect it to contribute 27% of new ad dollars between 2017 and 2020, while its share of global adspend slips from 37.1% to 36.0%.

“Dynamic markets in Asia Pacific are leading the way in global adspend growth, growing at 5%-6% a year,” said Jonathan Barnard, Zenith’s Head of Forecasting and Director of Global Intelligence. “By the middle of the next decade it will be the biggest advertising region in the world.”

“The mobile device in our pockets is becoming the gateway to our media world, but its brand-building capabilities are still in question – simply applying old practices to new technology may not translate to brand growth,” said Vittorio Bonori, Zenith’s Global Brand President. “Having a clear understanding of how the entire ecosystem of paid, owned and earned media works together to drive return on investment is vital.”

*Touchpoints ROI Tracker is Publicis Media’s brand contact measurement and planning tool, based on more than 1,000,000 consumer interviews since 2004.

Saudi Telecom Company’s (STC) “Unveil Saudi” campaign by J. Walter Thompson Saudi Arabia has won WARC’s Special, Long-Term Idea award, and Gold, for its content strategy that demonstrated achievement of brand business goals. The WARC Awards scheme is a global search for next-generation marketing effectiveness.  The Special Long-Term Idea Award in particular, recognises content strategy that has delivered sustained success for a brand, and is awarded only once in the year.

The “Unveil Saudi” campaign  was launched to reinforce STC’s supremacy in network coverage across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Using a team of photographers to capture never-before-seen content in the country, stories from remote lowland villages to mist covered mountain tops;  traditional artforms to showcasing modern Saudi art;  magnificent rock carved tombs to colourful local markets; were uploaded whilst on location to the “Unveil Saudi” platform. The content was leveraged across social media, out of home advertising and TVCs to promote STC’s story. The “Unveil Saudi” platform’s success led to Saudi ministries using the content to highlight the nation’s assets, and perception of network strength increased by 17%.

Commenting on the WARC global award, Ahmed AlSahhaf, General Manager, Consumer Marketing Communication at STC said, “Everyone in Saudi expect brands to perform well online, particularly the youth. To demonstrate STC’s ability to deliver on this, we tapped into the need for authentic experiences relevant to peoples’ perspectives. Each eye-catching photo or video unveiled Saudi in a whole new way, through a diverse range of images capturing the beauty, culture and history of the country. The campaign has set an entirely new benchmark in the Kingdom for live demonstration of a network’s power and re-shaped the way people can look at Saudi Arabia.”

There has never been a more dynamic and challenging time to be a marketer. Since the advent of the internet, fueled by available high-speed access and ignited by the proliferation of powerful new devices, marketers have more access to consumers than ever before. We’re awash in data and should be living in a nirvana of actionable insights.

The reality, however, seems disconnected from this promise. Over the last 18 months, some of the largest and most influential advertisers in the world have spoken up about their concerns with digital advertising, calling the supply chain “broken” and pointing to high incidence of fraud and lack of brand safety. Subscription video on demand (SVOD) services are affecting the reach of traditional marketing mediums like TV and radio. The launch of GDPR in the European Union and related privacy challenges have added complexity to the collection and management of consumer data. Combine these with changing consumer preferences and zero-based budgeting and it’s clear that the job of the CMO has become a more delicate and dangerous catwalk.

The Nielsen CMO Report 2018, the first of an annual series of CMO reports with a focus on global brand advertising, taught me a lot about how brand advertisers are navigating today’s marketing environment. The report makes it clear that we are in the midst of a slow but inevitable change—an evolution, not a revolution. Marketers in the U.S. are leaning into the data, tools and capabilities available today. And while they don’t always deliver as hoped, their willingness to invest and experiment—while incorporating the tried and true—continues.

When asked to rank the perceived importance and effectiveness of digital media channels, marketers placed search and social channels at the top of the list. Television continues to hold its own as the highest ranked traditional media channel across perceived importance and effectiveness measures. That said, radio continues to lead all channels in terms of weekly reach in the U.S., and a full 45% of respondents thought radio to be an effective channel.

Digital ad spend has eclipsed traditional channels, and we expect that to continue. When forecasting their spend in the next 12 months, 82% of respondents expect to increase their digital media spend as a percentage of their total advertising budget. By comparison, only 30% of respondents plan to invest more in traditional media channels in the near term.

CMOs also reflected on a critical piece of the marketing mix, trade spend (e.g., in-store discounts, coupons, special offers, etc.). They voiced a desire for a unified approach to trade and media strategy in order to correctly allocate spend ratios. That said, there was no unanimity in planned trade investment going forward: 44% of respondents expect no change over the next 12 months, while 34% say they will increase and 22% say they will decrease their investment in trade promotions.

In terms of outcomes measurement, only one in four marketers reported high levels of confidence in their ability to measure the ROI of their media spend (digital and traditional) or their trade spend.  Not surprisingly, 79% expect to increase their investment in marketing analytics and attribution in the next 12 months.

Marketers reported being most concerned with improving media efficiency by limiting advertising waste across the digital ecosystem. The top three capabilities they chose to make this happen were: reach and frequency measurement (82% rated it the most important capability); ad viewability (73%); and data management platforms (62%).

There is good news here for media agencies, as 43% of respondents reported plans to increase spending with their agencies over the next 12 months. This is likely due to their confidence in the agencies’ ability to deliver a strong return on investment, as reported by 84% of respondents.

Finally, the report illustrates some of the progress that marketers have made around omnichannel marketing, which we define as being media agnostic and oriented around customer needs. Respondents reported improvements in aligning their media channel strategy with their primary campaign objectives. The most highly rated campaign objective was customer acquisition, which was associated with mid- and low-funnel strategies that favored digital media channels like search. In second-place was brand building, which was associated with top-funnel strategies, which favored traditional media channels like TV and radio.

Marketers and their agencies are clearly adapting to changing consumer media habits by taking a more strategic approach to their marketing mix, but challenges remain organizationally, technologically and in regards to consistent ROI measurement.

As one marketer said, “the industry trend is definitely moving quickly and irreversibly towards social media, digital, and personalization with an absolute requirement for data and analytics to understand the impact of money spent on media.”

Written by Brett House, VP Product Marketing and Strategy,Nielsen

We’re beginning to expand shopping beyond Feed to Instagram Stories. Instagram isn’t just a place of inspiration, it’s also a place of action, and we know that inspiration can come from anywhere. On Instagram Stories, when you see a sticker with a shopping bag icon tap on it to see more details about that product.

From Adidas and Aritzia to Louis Vuitton, people have been able to shop from their favorite brands around the world, and now you can shop these businesses in Instagram Stories.

Shoppers on Instagram are savvy. They visit Instagram looking for the latest trends and styles. With 300M using Instagram Stories everyday, people are increasingly finding new products from brands they love. In a recent survey, Instagrammers said they often watch stories to stay in the-know with brands they’re interested in, get an insider view of products they like, and find out about new products that are relevant to them.

Brands have always been early adopters of stories, they create some of the most viewed and engaging content on the platform. Now, you can shop from select brands in Instagram Stories with more coming soon.

A unique data tool focused on key figures of the automotive and mobility markets worldwide

Automotive and mobility markets get their own exclusive expert tool on statista.com, which aggregates up-to-date automotive and connected car market key figures as well as forecasts and makes them available as interactive statistics 

New car sales, connected cars, and infotainment services – the modern mobility market is becoming ever more complex, which consequently increases the need for reliable data and facts. Since this May, Statista provides manufacturers, suppliers, consultants and everyone else within the mobility business with the new Mobility Market Outlook (MMO), a powerful interactive data tool which offers a detailed, easy-to-use overview of the international passenger car and connected car markets. Extensive market insights, forecasts, and market indicators let users independently and with just a few clicks analyze, for instance, the development of a given car segment in Europe. To make this possible and supply every user with comparable and reliable data, Statista is combining its two strengths: extensive data research and mathematical modeling.  

In total the Mobility Market Outlook covers twelve passenger car classes from over 80 manufacturers in 27 countries as well as connected cars in three categories and 50 countries. Interactive statistics give users insights into in-depth analyses by brand, car class, and country as well as intuitive access to the most important key figures. The available information for every analysis includes revenue, volume sales, price per unit, and market indicators. The MMO offers both historical data and forecasts up to 2021. Moreover, all data is updated at least once a year. In addition, in-depth market reports on individual car classes, the connected car market, and eMobility give a quick overview of the different markets and their trends. They are, furthermore, just like the data from the MMO, available for instant download. 

The automotive market, which was previously included in the Statista Consumer Market Outlook, thereby receives its own market tool along with several connected car categories, which will feature additional countries and new categories like mobility services as well as new data points (e.g. fuel types) in the future. It is the ideal tool for conducting competitive analyses, market sizing, and business planning. Statista thus completes its range of market-specific tools, which now includes the Mobility, Consumer, and Digital Market Outlook. 

“The global mobility sector today is more dynamic than ever. In addition, digitization is paving the way for entirely new products, features, and business models,” says Nicolas Loose, Head of Market Research of Statista Strategic Market Insights. “We are glad to be part of this development with reliable up-to-date data on our platform and by providing industry professionals and everyone else with an intuitive and efficient tool, which is the best destination both for quick data searches and extensive analyses on the automotive and mobility sectors.”  

Award-winning agency reaffirms its commitment to Egypt one week after its global re-founding 

Regional creative powerhouse Memac Ogilvy yesterday unveiled its new Cairo office as part of a major restructure in Egypt. 

The award-winning, global agency has moved house to Maadi, next to Technology City. The change comes as part of Memac Ogilvy’s ongoing commitment to modernizing its services in Egypt, and follows the company’s worldwide re-founding, announced last week. 

Both Regional and global leaders were present at the unveiling event, as well as a list of valued clients, suppliers and staff. Ogilvy’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer for EMEA, Paul O‘ Donnell, Memac Ogilvy Chairman, Edmond Moutran, Chief Executive Officer for MENA, Patou Nuytemans, and Regional Director of PR & Influence and Acting Managing Director of Egypt, Saada Hammad all attended. The event fell off the back of a significant regional management meeting in Cairo, which also included Memac Ogilvy’s broader leadership team.

“Egypt has long been an important market for us, and we’re proud of the influential history we have here, from the launch of the New Suez Canal, to the Egypt Post, to Cairo’s Ministry of Finance,” said Mr. Moutran, Memac Ogilvy Chairman. “Today, the nation is going through significant growth measures, which is vastly important from a social, economic, and cultural perspective. This is an era we are committed to playing a key role in. Our 20 year history in the country allowed us to recognize the opportunities that exist, and we intend on contributing through our talented resources, services, and operations,” he added. 

Last week, Worldwide Ogilvy CEO, John Seifert, announced the agency’s re-founding after 70 years of award-winning operations. The company reinvented its approach through a new client-centric, integrated structure that centralizes its offerings. The changes were reflected through a refreshed logo and website, as part of a transformation known as Next Chapter. 

Egypt has been identified as a key market for rolling out Next Chapter, given the market opportunities, and Memac Ogilvy’s rich history of influential work in the country. It will bring its new Operating System and restructure to its Cairo team, as well as announce a number of exciting new hires from Egypt’s unique and extensive talent pool.

Saada Hammad, current Acting Managing Director for Memac Ogilvy in Egypt, said, “I’m constantly surprised by the incredible talent and passion in the Egyptian market, helping to carry forward the nation’s economic growth ambitions. We believe the country has the skills to help us further innovate our services, and successfully roll-out Ogilvy’s Next Chapter strategy, putting clients at the heart of our business, and making brands matter.”

It’s business as usual from the new offices for Memac Ogilvy, as it continues operations of more than two decades in Egypt alone. One of the company’s long-term characteristics has been its ability to modernize and adapt to current market trends, and bring its clients with it. Egypt’s transformation is one of its most exciting projects of potential to date, and the new approach, structure and office put it in the ideal position to realize such opportunities. 

● More than eight in 10 Britshers (86%) plan to watch the World Cup - but just a third (31%) of those surveyed think the English team will be the next world champions

● Ninety-four percent of British football fans will watch the competition on TV and preferably with other people (68%). Pubs or other public locations are also popular spots to watch the games (39%)

● Six out of 10 fans declare that they will watch more TV during the World Cup than usual, compared to just under half (46%) who will spend more time reading online news

When it comes to watching football’s biggest tournament, TV still chalks up the most points. Ninety-four percent of British football fans will watch the 2018 Football World Cup on television from June 14, compared to less than a third (29%) who will stream the matches live on a desktop or laptop. The research, published today by growth marketing company DCMN, also reveals that fans will significantly increase their TV viewing during the tournament, with six out of 10 predicting they will watch more TV over the next month.

The international study, conducted in May 2018, surveyed more than 5000 people in the UK, France, Germany, US and South Africa to gauge differences in their viewing habits in the lead up to the tournament. It reveals that the country with the highest interest in the competition is outgoing champions Germany (91% will watch at least some of the matches), closely followed by the United Kingdom (86%). 

TV Remains the Number One Medium for Football Fans

When it comes to watching the competition, TV is the medium of choice for British football fans (94%). Smaller screens are much less common: less than one third will watch the game on a computer (29%) and around a quarter on a smartphone or tablet (26%). 

More interesting is the predicted change in viewing habits over the course of the World Cup. Almost two-thirds of fans (60%) predict they will watch TV more than usual, including 10% who will watch the medium though they usually do not. Furthermore, around a third (34%) will watch more pay TV services and around the same amount (33%) expect to stream video online more frequently.

Also of note is how the games will affect our social media use. About a third (38%) expect to post more frequently over the course of the tournament, while 44% say they will use social channels the same amount as usual. Social media also does not seem to be the most popular outlet for expressing emotions about the tournament, with only a quarter (24%) expected to express their joy (or frustration) on their social accounts.

Some Good News for Brands (and Sponsors)

While only a quarter of fans (26%) think advertising during the World Cup makes a brand more attractive, the event has a significant branding effect. UK respondents named Coca Cola (26%) and Adidas (20%) - both official partners of the event - as the brands they associate most with the World Cup. Interestingly, almost as many fans (19%) link Nike with the event as they do Adidas, even though the company is not an official sponsor.

Anja Kettern, Global Head of Insights at DCMN, commented: “These results show that, when it comes to major events such as the Football World Cup, television still lands at the top of the ladder for both viewers and advertisers. It also shows the significant brand building effect of being present on TV during this time, as two-thirds of respondents were able to name a brand that they associate with football’s biggest event.”

How and Where we Watch Shapes Our Game Experience

In addition to changes in media consumption, the survey also asked about other habits during the World Cup. In general, nothing quite beats celebrating the football tournament in good company: 68% will invite others over to watch the games at home and 30% will watch at a friend’s place. Pubs are also a drawcard, with 39% planning to watch some games there. On the other hand, less than a quarter (22%) will follow the updates on social media.

Among those choosing not to watch the World Cup, their alternative activity may come as a surprise: 50% plan to spend their time reading instead while roughly the same amount (53%) will surf the internet. And generally the Brits don’t have the healthiest of viewing habits: nearly half (44%) will cheer on their team while drinking lots of beer and around a third (33%) expect to eat lots of junk food during the games, while just 4% plan to do sports rather than watching the the tournament itself.

Regardless of whether you call it football or soccer, it’s a sport with massive global appeal and fan interest.

In fact, more than 40% of people 16 or older in major population centers around the world consider themselves interested or very interested in following football, more so than any other sport.

As nations compete for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Nielsen Sports research shows the popularity of football is growing in the U.S., India and China.

While interest in the sport of football (soccer) is lower in the U.S. than most countries, it stands at 32%, up from 28% from four years prior. Youth participation, an increase in the Hispanic population, the growth of Major League Soccer and the popularity of the FIFA video game have all contributed to the “soccer surge” in recent years in the U.S.

Where is the sport most popular? Across countries with football fans, the United Arab Emirates tops the list as 80% of the country’s population are fans, followed by Thailand, Chile and Cristiano Ronaldo’s home country of Portugal.

Of course, football has a tremendous following in Europe, with 131 million fans in the big five European markets (Spain, Italy, Germany, U.K. and France.) And more than half (52%) of people in Russia, the 2018 FIFA World Cup host country, are interested in the sport.

Around the world, football is a sport that transcends gender. Nielsen SportsDNA global research shows football is the most popular sport among women globally and a recent study shows 70% of women find the men’s FIFA World Cup “very appealing” and 58% of women find the women’s FIFA World Cup “very appealing.”