Should you be advertising during the World Cup?

The World Cup is well underway and like previous World Cup seasons, advertising and marketing schemes from big brands are garnering attention.Puma however, has decided to start its promotional push only after the season is over.Puma’s chief executive officer, Bjorn Gulden told Adage that the media is crowded with car companies and credit cards that have bigger budgets during the World Cup season and if it does promotional activities then, it will die quickly.So instead of launching its ads during the World Cup as planned by Nike and Adidas, Puma will launch its "Forever Faster" campaign during the back-to-school season in August and September.With a flux of seasonal advertising, do marketers need a new strategy, or will the tactic lose its impact?Media manager of Dutch Lady, Tai Chip Hui told Marketing that seasonal advertising will help to increase consideration among its target audiences when the company does advertisements in seasons that are relevant to the product.Unilever's head of marketing, Susanne Arfelt believes that seasonal advertising is still a great opportunity to drive a need for brands if it is targeted and consistent.Arfelt however, is not in favor of one off seasonal support strategies but prefers long term commitment and investments. For example, having sponsoring Manchester United, Unilever will not be sponsoring the World Cup.With many companies leveraging on the World Cup to advertise their brands, Tai feels that advertising during the season is only worth it if the company runs its ads in high frequency or has different content from its competitors.Arfelt echoed Tai’s sentiment, saying that it is never a good idea to enter with small budgets in a heavily contested space.She says, “This is one of the reasons why we are very selective when supporting big seasonal games. If we do it, we do it well. “