Does World Cup 2014 score for Singapore businesses?

World Cup has attracted billions of viewers worldwide; even for a non-soccer fanatic like me, checking out the games’ highlights and the results has somehow become a “daily ritual” for me during this period of time.

Some of our favourite football players score goals during the games. But does World Cup score for Singapore businesses?

Let us look into these 3 individual business categories:

Food & Beverage

Pubs and restaurant bars that offer diners free live streaming of the FIFA World Cup are likely to see a rise in sales. Sales for country-inspired pubs and restaurant bars (Germans, Japanese, etc.) are more likely to increase especially during the dates where their countries are competing. Booze sales will definitely go up too! (Remember to drive safely home or take a cab.)

The 24-hour McDonald’s fastfood outlets will also see an increasing rate of late night walk-in customers especially when the final match approaches. Even for some of the bakery shops and restaurants in Singapore, their creative football buns and cakes as well as their World Cup-inspired food menus may likely boost their sales too.

Retailers

Sports merchandise retailers are more likely to see a rise in sales. Soccer fans may wish to buy the latest type of jerseys and soccer boots products their soccer heroes are wearing during the matches. Walking around the shopping malls, we can also see some fashion apparel retailers coming up with creative World Cup-inspired fashionwear to add some spice to the World Cup fever.

Electronics retailers also join in the bandwagon by introducing World Cup promotional discounts especially on their television sets. One of the biggest winners is definitely our Telco-cable giants which are most likely to see an increase in channel subscriptions during the World Cup season.

However, in my opinion, not all the retailers can succeed by leveraging on the World Cup season. Consumers today may less likely to be motivated by mass promotional advertisements. Consumers will only buy if there is a need for them or if they like the particular products or services.

Hence, brands that only focus on giving away promotional discounts are less likely to gain from the World Cup fever. This is because everywhere and every time whether there is World Cup or not, consumers are always bombarded by sales promotions and advertisements. So, it is nothing new for them.

Brands that can go the extra mile in creating World Cup-inspired products and services may do better than their counterparts that only do mass promotional advertisements.

On the other hand, retail sales may have also slowed down a little due to June school holiday season; when there is relatively more adult consumers traveling abroad with their children. Hence, for some businesses, leveraging on World Cup does not guarantee an increase in sales.

Commercial & Other Types of Business in General

It has been reported that there is a fairly slow movement occurring in the trading activity of our stock market, and the World Cup is partly to be ‘blamed’ for it. If you happened to have soccer fanatic colleagues, you may or may not be able to see them in offices especially when the World Cup final approaches.

During the World Cup period, the number of sick leaves may also start to rise especially in Singapore and most parts of Asia. This is because watching this year's World Cup in our country has to be during the odd hours after midnight. And this requires lots of energy, many cans of Red Bull, and ginseng tablets!

Perhaps only the soccer-crazed bosses or superiors can understand the 'plight' their soccer fanatic employees have gone through during this World Cup season and also the reasons why these employees are taking MCs during this time.

For people who do not have bosses like that, please brace yourself! For companies that have loads of football fanatic employees, they may have to expect a little slow movement in sales and productivity during the World Cup season.

In a nutshell

Some businesses may win while some businesses may not win during this World Cup season. Business is just like football, there are winners and there are also losers. Most importantly of all is to play the games with passion, enthusiasm, and the drive to achieve goals!