Nielsen is a global leader in media measurement. We have a singular understanding of audiences and the content they care about. We wanted to showcase our deep bench of data-driven media insights during an event that would capture the world’s attention: The 2022 World Cup.
The campaign goal was to raise awareness and interest for Nielsen and Gracenote (a Nielsen company) sports data measurement, prediction and analytics capabilities among our global audience of sports media advertisers and content platforms.
Taking the “show don’t tell” approach, we developed a comprehensive World Cup data hub that featured Nielsen’s sports data that our global enterprise audiences wanted for their business needs, presented in a way they would care about as fans. Thanks to Nielsen’s robust measurement infrastructure, we were able to pull World Cup insights based on fan surveys across 30+ global markets and predictive models built from over one million simulations.
This data hub marked several firsts for Nielsen. The World Cup hub featured interactive data modules, including the Men’s Football World Ranking and bracket predictions, with real-time updates and toggle and hover functions to learn more. This ensured that the hub would remain accurate and relevant throughout the duration of the tournament. This was also the first time two separate Nielsen sports business arms came together for a shared activation. With this campaign, we broke down internal silos to create a comprehensive digital experience that delivered everything our audiences wanted to know in a single, intuitive and beautifully designed space.
The World Cup data hub was live and constantly updated from September to December. To help capture interest early that would be nurtured throughout the campaign, we launched the hub with a gated trends report. To keep insights fresh and tied to the larger World Cup conversation, we developed an editorial calendar with new data modules and articles launching each month. These modules included: Football influencer rankings, bracket predictions, fan insights looking ahead to the 2026 games, and articles that further contextualized the data.
In support of the World Cup campaign, the social team created a comprehensive cross-platform strategy focused on audience engagement and driving users to the World Cup hub. In particular, the World Cup rankings and Gracenote predictions were highlighted in a live conversation on LinkedIn with nearly 10K unique views and saw an average engagement rate of 2.4%.
The hub and report were hugely successful from a PR perspective, with press pickups by major publications across the world. At a conservative estimate, there were in excess of 1,000 articles in over 50 countries which published either the Gracenote predictions release, our greatest World Cup shocks analysis or one of our reactive initiatives during the competition. There was coverage every day from November 17 until December 20 inclusive.
The World Cup Data Hub campaign massively delivered on three key fronts:
AWARENESS
47.8k visits to the World Cup Hub
The data presented in our hub was reported on in over 1,000 articles across 50 countries
Coverage included articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, ESPN, The Guardian, Associated Press, Fox Sports, The Athletic, and Reuters
77% of users landing on the data hub were first-time visitors on Nielsen.com
63% of visitors were from international markets (EMEA, APAC, LATAM)
ENGAGEMENT
The World Cup hub had an average engagement rate of 47.28%.
Visitors spent an average 4:56 minutes on the World Cup hub, more than double Nielsen’s benchmark of 2:11.
INTEREST
The World Cup trends report had an impressive 45% download rate despite majority of visitors being new.
The hub and report generated 7,000 new leads added to our global pipeline.
