TRAFFIC
WORLD CUP 2018:
DISPLAY ADVERTISING
INSIGHTS
The FIFA World Cup 2018 brought unexpected results and proved that it’s not always the big names
that get the wins. The same was true of display advertising and there are some exciting insights to be
gleaned from post-tournament analysis, says Björn Karlström
OVER THE FOUR WEEKS of
the tournament, we collated data on
impressions, click-through rates (CTR)
and mobile usage from all the ads served
via the Bannerflow creative management
platform. The data we gathered provides
some interesting information about how
this event engaged with millions of viewers
and impacted digital advertisers.
At the beginning of the World Cup we
predicted that:
● ● Mobile usage would be much higher
than normal
● ● Unconventional banner sizes would
be the unexpected heroes
● ● The igaming industry would be
crowned champion
In these respects, we weren’t let down.
viewership this was not unexpected; for the
earlier matches we saw more consistent
data but once we reached later games
impressions increased exponentially.
Bet on the little guy
At the beginning of the tournament,
we predicted that the biggest changes in
impression data would occur in mobile
formats. We weren’t disappointed,
with sizes such as 320x50, 320x250
and 320x160 accounting for the largest
spikes. Nevertheless, this type of event
is a good opportunity to try less-popular
formats. Impression data may be higher
for traditional sizes but investing in
unconventional formats, where there is less
competition, will likely reduce your costs
per thousand (CPM).
Impressions soared like Croatia
It’s interesting to look at impression data
throughout the tournament. Although it
was reasonable to expect overall impressions
to rise, as we entered the later stages the
pattern changed significantly. Compare, for
example, the Russia vs Egypt group-stage
game with the tournament final and you see
impression data rose by more than 100%.
For the stages with fewer games but a higher
The odd-one-out had the
better odds
It seems that unconventional sizes not
only reduce CPM but can also increase
CTR as well, with sizes such as 120x300
and 120x240 getting a boost. But it’s
important to factor these events into
your campaign calendar no matter what
format you choose. Across the board,
“For the greatest ROI from your display advertising,
it’s necessary to go beyond standardised banners
and create event-oriented campaigns”
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iGB Affiliate Issue 70 AUG/SEP 2018
CTR rates improved by between 0.12% and
0.13% throughout the tournament period.
For the greatest return on investment from
your display advertising, it’s necessary
to go beyond standardised banners and
create some event-oriented campaigns for
conversion success.
Thinking mobile-first is
for champions
As expected, mobile usage saw a spike
over the tournament period. Second-screen
viewing is typically higher during periods
where viewers watch out of home or while
also watching TV (see Figure 1).
Interestingly, there was a disparity
between weekdays and weekends for
mobile usage. There was an average rise of
8.4% during the week compared with an
overall uplift of 6.4% (see Figure 2).
This is in line with our general
understanding of how fans were watching
during the week, with greater numbers
browsing on their phones while watching
the match at the office.
‘Soccer’ came home
(even if the team never left)
At the beginning of the tournament we
were intrigued to see how countries that
didn’t qualify for the World Cup would fare
in impression data.
After assessing the results, we found that
countries such as the US still witnessed