From landing at the Capital Airport to ending his seventh trip to China, Messi set off a “huge wave” of traffic in China in just 6 days.
At 8:00 p.m. on June 15th, the Argentine men’s football team led by Messi made an appearance at the “New Workers’ Stadium” and started a friendly match with the Australian men’s football team. Only 81 seconds into the game, the Argentine team took the lead with a clever break from the inside of Messi’s left foot. Almost at the same time, this topic was on the hot search lists of various platforms.
On the jerseys worn by the Argentine team that night, the names of the players were all in Chinese, which once again deepened the favor of Chinese fans.
Fans carnival, brands and platforms do not want to miss this opportunity to cooperate with top football IP: Although the time is limited, there are already more than 20 sponsors for this football invitational tournament; although Messi’s offline activities have been cancelled, it does not hinder Various online platforms compete for Messi’s huge traffic.
Some people in the industry told the “China Business Daily” reporter that the Argentine national team’s social media operations, fan community operations, and e-commerce system operations have all achieved great success in China. It is one of the most popular foreign national teams. They also attach great importance to the Chinese market and emotional exchanges with Chinese fans.Therefore, whether it is Qatar 2022world cupWinning the championship, or the upcoming invitational tournament, the Argentine men’s football team has attracted much attention.
Sponsors continue to show up
In fact, judging from various actions, the preparations for the friendly match between the Argentine men’s football team and the Australian men’s football team are a bit hasty, but obviously, the influence of Messi and the Argentine men’s football team still attracts domestic companies. The reporter learned that as of now, there are 23 official sponsors of the Football Invitational Tournament. Including Guobin Liquor,JingdongBaisui Mountain, Xiaohongshu, Yili,Dongpeng BeverageCudi coffee and more.
The reporter noticed that Cudi Coffee, Yili and other sponsors are all “old friends” of the Argentine men’s football team.existworld cupDuring the period, the above-mentioned brands were the sponsors of the Argentine football team. Cudi Coffee was just established when it became the sponsoring partner of the Argentine National Football Team in China, and there was no store opened at that time.
At the game site, sponsors are constantly exposed on the sideline billboards. Not only that,JingdongLuan Yushuai, the courier brother, embraced the redJingdongThe courier box, ran to the field, delivered the ball for the football king Messi and waved to cheer, earning enough attention.It is understood that he once won the first place in the non-professional Beijing Marathon, and was called “the fastest courier brother” by netizens.Beijing Winter OlympicsTorchbearer, and won the National May 1st Labor Medal this year.
Although Mengniu did not become a sponsor of this event, there was a Mengniu logo below the scores of the two sides in the CCTV broadcast screen. In addition, it played the slogan “Mengniu, we are all ‘Messi’ tonight”, Arouse the sympathy of the fans.
In addition, there is Lehu. Every time the screen is switched, the “Lehu” LOGO flashes quickly.
In fact, judging from the above situation, whether it is Yili, Mengniu or Cudi Coffee and other brands, the large-scale brand exposure this time is inseparable from long-term persistence.
Zhang Qing, founder of Beijing Keyway Sports Consulting, believes that, first of all, the Argentine team has a world-class superstar Messi, whose personal value has attracted worldwide attention. From the perspective of sponsorship, the star is the most attractive; secondly, The Argentine team itself has historical influence in the minds of Chinese fans. The stories and classic moments of the Argentine team are all inherited. “And with last year’sworld cupThe commercial value of the championship, the Argentine football team and Messi has reached its peak, and cooperation with them, especially during the time period in China, will bring huge commercial value. “Zhang Qing thinks.
On the social platform, there are rumors of the sponsorship price of the “Macy’s China Tour”, and the sponsors are divided into four levels, ranging from 1 million yuan to 10 million yuan. Among them, the top-level partner has 1 seat, which has all kinds of rights and interests from the competition scene to the dinner, and the asking price is 10 million yuan; the first-level official partner has a total of 5 seats, and the asking price is 4 million yuan. According to media reports, this news has also been confirmed by the sponsor responsible for investment promotion.
Sponsors were already exercising their own rights before the start of the game.It is understood that Yan’an Guobin Liquor Industry has launched a “gift for wine purchase” activity, and you can get a gift if you purchase a certain amount of related products;WeiboLaunched an event, participating in the event can draw on-site tickets; Cudi Coffee also held a number of brand and marketing activities such as “Argentine team invites you to drink Cudi for one yuan” and “Drink Cudi, win tickets”; JD.com launched a search “Super Fan Day”, you can participate in free lottery activities such as ball game tickets, game peripherals, etc.
In addition, just as far as tickets are concerned, it can also show the enthusiasm of this event. The ticket prices for this ball game are 580 yuan, 1380 yuan, 2800 yuan, 3200 yuan, 3800 yuan and 4800 yuan respectively.
However, the hard-to-find situation reappeared, and the two rounds of tickets were sold out quickly. The reporter saw on the second-hand platform that the ticket price of 4,800 yuan for the first-floor stand has been sold to 8,000 yuan; two tickets of 2,800 yuan are sold for 11,000 yuan on the second-hand platform.
Platform traffic war
Messi’s commercial value is naturally needless to say. He represented Argentina in the World Cup 5 times, won the Golden Globe Award 7 times, won the European Golden Boot Award 6 times, won the World Footballer 6 times, and is a member of the World Cup champion team.
In October 2022, “Forbes” magazine announced the football player’s 2022 income list, and Messi ranked second with 120 million US dollars. Among them, Messi’s salary and bonus income is 65 million U.S. dollars, and commercial income is 55 million U.S. dollars.
According to Wang Peng, a researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, “Messi’s personal IP is inseparable from his high level of competition, which has been proved by various honors; it is inseparable from his own personality charm, such as humility and team awareness. Strong is a high-quality idol for young people; it is inseparable from the development of the commodity economy, including sporting goods, related peripheral products, and some endorsements, which complement each other to form Messi’s personal IP.”
Although the organizer has repeatedly stated that it has not arranged for the Argentine player Messi and other players from the two participating teams to participate in any public welfare or commercial activities, and all Messi’s activities outside the game, including endorsement brand commercial activities, event welcome dinners and media interviews , have been canceled, but no one wants to miss the opportunity to carve up Messi’s traffic, and the live broadcast platform has stole the limelight.
On June 12, Kuaishou’s official live broadcast account “Kuaishou Live” was officially launched. Although the total duration of Messi’s appearance was only 50 seconds, a large number of fans poured into the live broadcast room, and the highest number of simultaneous online users was nearly 6 million. However, the fans discovered that this was not Messi’s real participation in the live broadcast, but the recorded video of the interview. Then the next day, Kuaishou officially released the complete video of Messi’s interview.
Two days later, Messi officially appeared in the live broadcast room of Taobao anchor Li Xuanzhuo. This time Messi appeared for more than ten minutes and was watched by nearly 2.9 million people. During the live broadcast, the four brands of Hengyuanxiang, Avita, Chaimi and Tantai were all exposed. However, Li Xuanzhuo has repeatedly emphasized that any commercial elements in this live broadcast have nothing to do with Messi.
After the live broadcast, there were voices from the outside world that the MCN organization behind Li XuanzhuoYuan Wang TechnologyBecome the biggest winner of Messi’s trip to China.Yuan Wang TechnologyOfficial website data shows that it has more than 40 star anchors including Wang Zulan, Jia Nailiang, Cecilia Cheung, Huang Shengyi and his wife, and the total number of anchors has reached more than 100. On the other hand, Li Xuanzhuo in Macy’s live broadcast room is the “carrying expert” of alcohol on the Kuaishou platform. After entering the Taobao live broadcast room at the end of May, delivering alcohol is still Li Xuanzhuo’s main business.
It is understood that as soon as the news that Messi will appear in the “Looking at Android” live broadcast room on June 12,Yuan Wang TechnologyIt rose rapidly in late trading, and rose 5.13% to 16.40 yuan per share as of the close. On June 14, its stock price also rose rapidly.
Before the live broadcast, netizens discovered that they could buy tickets for the game in the live broadcast room of Yaowang Technology. Some fans said that the most impressive thing about Messi’s trip to China was “Yao Wang Technology“. “Mei Fen” Su Xing took a photo with Messi wearing a Yaowang technology badge, and even made netizens comment: “You can succeed in chasing stars after joining Yaowang. I will send my resume now!”
A related party revealed that Yaowang Technology, as the first live broadcast e-commerce company, has always been the company with the most star artists in the industry. Su Xing is also communicating with Yaowang about signing a cooperation contract, so he got this opportunity.
Although Messi only appeared in the live broadcast room and did not bring goods, the search volume of the same T-shirt, sachet, sneakers, yerba mate tea and other products skyrocketed, and it once rushed to the hot search on Taobao.
Not only Kuaishou and Taobao are participating in traffic competition, but also Xiaohongshu. As an official sponsor, Xiaohongshu not only launched related activities, such as drawing tickets, but also invited Messi’s teammate, Argentine goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez, to broadcast live.
What’s interesting is that Messi and Argentina did not mention business during their visit to China this time, but what surrounds them, except for the fans, is basically business.
When top sporting events return
Data from Meituan and Dianping show that Beijing’s accommodation industry is heating up significantly as the competition approaches. As of June 9, the number of accommodation reservations in Beijing on the night of June 15 has increased by 10 times compared with the same period last year. Among them, the foreign customers mainly come from Chengdu, Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Guangzhou and other places.
According to the person in charge of Meituan, there are not a few fans who “grab accommodation first and then tickets”: “On May 19, many fans have already booked in advance; on June 5 and June 8, the two ticketing days , Beijing accommodation has ushered in two waves of booking peaks one after another.” On Meituan, on the night of June 15, a hotel in Chaoyang District, BeijingluxuryHotel bookings increased 30 times year-on-year. Among them, the reservations in the Liangmaqiao area are the most popular.
In fact, this is just one of the effects driven by sports events. The good news is that more and more top events are returning to China.
According to public information, on May 12, the 2023 Sudirman Cup World Badminton Mixed Team Championships opened in Suzhou, marking the return of a single top event to China after more than three years. The ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals) Shanghai Masters will also be held at the Qizhong Tennis Center from October 2 to 15 this year. In addition, the Shanghai Circuit has recently been certified as a first-class track by the FIA, and the return of the F1 Chinese Grand Prix next year will be a high probability event. The International Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) also announced in April that it will resume competitions in China in September this year.
The return of more and more top sports events to China will undoubtedly attract a large number of audiences, media attention and investment from sponsors, stimulate the recovery of tourism, hotels, catering, retail and other related industries, and will also drive the development of related industry chains such as event operations. In this regard, the coming of Messi and the Argentine men’s football team to China is a good case.
The most critical point is that the return of sports events will undoubtedly encourage people to participate in sports and sports, and improve the health of the entire society. The hosting of the event has stimulated people’s enthusiasm for sports, encouraged more people to actively participate in sports activities, improved their lifestyles, and improved their quality of life.
At that time, China will also play a more important role on the world sports arena.
(Article source: China Business Network)