2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
This year, the FIFA Women’s World Cup will be taking place in Australia and New Zealand from 20th July to 20th August. It will be the first women’s tournament to have more than one host nation, as well as the first to feature the expanded format of 32 teams (replicating that of the men’s competition).
The United States are defending champions, having won the previous tournament in France in 2019. They’re also the most decorated team in Women’s World Cup history, with four titles from a possible eight since the competition began in 1991.
England, however, are also among the favourites to lift the trophy following their roaring home success at the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 event last summer. We can’t wait to see how things unfold on the pitch down under! 👀
Women’s football on the rise
Anyone remotely interested in football will know that the women’s game has utterly exploded in recent years. The last World Cup in France in 2019 was widely viewed as a major success that put the sport on the map, followed by the Euros in 2022 that swept up the home nation and saw England claim their first ever major tournament title.
For England fans in particular, it was the first major win of any kind since the men’s team last lifted the World Cup trophy in 1966. We’re based in Sheffield – one of the host cities in 2022 – and we can tell you first-hand that the football fever was real!
Here are a few interesting stats:
The Women’s Euro 2022 had a projected global viewership of 365 million – more than double that of 2017 and a 214% increase from 2013.
Research by the Women’s Sport Trust (UK) found that TV audiences doubled from 2021 to 2022 for women’s sports (with football responsible for 72% of this).
In 2021, the English FA announced a landmark £8m-a-year deal with Sky Sports and the BBC for the broadcast rights of the Women’s Super League.
In 2022, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced a new equal pay agreement for the men’s and women’s teams.
The record attendance at a women’s game was set in March 2022, when 91,648 spectators packed in to watch Barcelona beat Wolfsburg at the Camp Nou.
A friendly game between England and USA in October 2022 attracted a TV audience of 3.1 million .
Of course, the women’s game still has a long way to go if it’s ever to match the lofty figures surrounding men’s football. But the upward trend is a very clear one.
The Women’s World Cup – a huge opportunity for brands
Although the men’s tournament remains the biggest sporting spectacle on the planet, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar was mired in controversy. It was seen as a risky event for many brands, and the fact that it was taking place around Christmas posed its own set of challenges for marketers already planning their festive campaigns at that time of year.
With the Women’s World Cup in 2023, we’re back to a summer event (at least in the Northern Hemisphere) and a feel-good factor that seems to be underpinning everything in the women’s game at the moment.
You’ve got a growing sport, a growing audience, and a Sydney Harbour full of untapped engagement potential. We get the impression that this is a positive wave everyone will want to catch.
Women’s World Cup facts
The first Womens’ World Cup took place in China in 1991 (61 years after the first men’s tournament)
The 2023 event will be held across ten venues (six in Australia, four in New Zealand)
The final will take place in Sydney on Sunday 20th August
The USA currently holds the most titles (4)
Brazil’s Marta holds the record for scoring the most World Cup goals (17)
In 2003, the competition was moved from China to USA due to a SARS outbreak
World Cup marketing ideas
Big-budget advertising campaigns to one side, there are many ways in which brands and organisations can align themselves with the world’s most popular sporting event:
Run a prize competition (great when combined with a branded game – more on that below)
Create limited football-themed products or services
Offer discounts to reflect certain results (e.g. for every match your home nation wins – this works particularly well for pub and restaurant promotions )
Encourage user-generated content on social media
Lean into a football theme at trade shows and events
Use gamification to tap into the football fever
This last point is where things can get really fun. Since we’re celebrating people’s love of the beautiful game, why not try providing your audience with a game of your own?
Football-themed games for marketing
Here at Peek & Poke, we build games that help you to create meaningful connections with your audience while delivering on marketing objectives. Designed with player engagement in mind, they’re a great way to keep people coming back and interacting with your brand. Our games are:
Budget-friendly 💜 Easy to set up 🏆 Perfect for a last-minute campaign 🏃♂️
Online games are ideally suited for running a prize competition or giveaway. You can share the game link with your mailing list or social media followers, and use the in-game features to deploy voucher codes, promote products, drive traffic, and re-engage your audience over an extended campaign period.
With our ready-to-go service , you can add your logo and messaging to create your very own game for as little as £695 for a 1-month licence – ideal if you’re new to the world of branded games and fancy dipping your toes in the water during the month-long World Cup tournament.
Here are just some of the games we offer (all with free demos – go ahead and try them out!):
Soccer Skill Shot
Our Soccer Skill Shot game gives your audience a target-practice format to test their skills against the clock. Based on a fun football theme, it’ll make a great addition to a World Cup marketing campaign!
Learn more about how Rhodar used a ready-to-go version of this game, or how DFDS tailored it with a ferry/travel theme in their Quayside Kickabout game. You can also play the demo version below!
Play demo
Football Quizmasters
Newly launched in 2022 – it’s our Football Quizmasters game! ⚽🏆
The perfect addition to any football-themed campaign, this entertaining quiz features a referee host and six football trivia categories to keep players coming back and trying to beat their score!
Play demo
Football Rooftop Runner
VIDEO
The Football Rooftop Runner will have your audience leaping over buildings while collecting coins and trophies and booting balls away as they go. Using an endless runner format, it’ll keep players coming back again and again to try and beat their score!
Play demo
Customised football-themed games to support a World Cup promotion
If you’re looking to add more customisation to your World Cup campaign, you can tailor any of our games to match your branding and ideas. Here are a few examples of what you could do to create football-themed versions of the games:
Mega Pairs
Customise the card designs – think football characters, footballing imagery, or different flags/kits to reflect the countries at the World Cup
Add custom power cards to match your football campaign theme
Learn more about Mega Pairs .
Maze
Have your player collect footballs and avoid red and yellow cards
Use footballs in place of the power-up items
Change the enemy characters to angry referees or coaching staff!
Learn more about Maze .
Match-3
Replace the icons with football-themed designs
Change the layouts, obstacles, and environment to reflect a World Cup campaign
Learn more about Match-3 .
Conga
Change the characters to footballers or football fans
Create custom collectibles or characters to avoid adding to your conga line
Change the environment to a football stadium to have the line weave in and out around the stands
Learn more about Conga .
Quiz
Add extra categories relating to the World Cup or your campaign
Create a whole new set of questions customised for your audience
Change the quiz host and voiceover
Learn more about Quiz .
Bouncer
Replace the cannonballs with mini footballs
Replace the alien characters with targets
Learn more about Bouncer .
World cup ideas for work
If you’re looking for ways to celebrate the World Cup with work colleagues, a good ol’ sweepstake is always a good choice. Draw teams from a hat and watch as your friends suddenly throw their support behind that outsider who will maybe, just maybe , make it all the way to the final!
Other ideas include decorating the workplace with the flags of competing countries, running a five-a-side football tournament, or simply offering flexi-time to allow staff to watch the games of home nations that have made it to the tournament.
As a final thought, remember all those branded games we’ve been talking about? Turns out they’re also a great way to engage staff or have a bit of fun with B2B clients or partners in your industry. Just take a look at these case studies for Greene King and Beazley , who have used games in slightly different ways to engage their audiences.
Have a ball!
We hope we’ve managed to provide you with a little Women’s World Cup marketing inspiration to help you plan your own campaign for 2023! If you’d like to discuss an idea for a football-themed game, feel free to get in touch and we’ll be happy to chat it through with you.
You can also check out these other handy resources from our blog:
Until next time! ⚽
