South Korea has declared a public holiday in honour of their soccer team being the first ever from Asia to meet the semi finals, and we need not go into detail of the mass interest in soccer that has built up in South Korea.

Yet, World Cup Soccer has not been the advertising draw throughout Asia that many expected. In Malaysia and Thailand for instance, estimates that around 25% of households are watching the matches are common. In Thailand, baby elephants dressed in soccer garb kick footballs on widely distributed posters for Chang beer. In Malaysia, a major merchandise revenue based marketing campaign by UK soccer team Manchester United has built awareness of the game in that ex-English colony.

Japan too, as co-host has also been a good market for advertisers, though the Japanese throughout have been more circumspect in their enthusiasm than South Korea.

McCann-Erickson PULSE has released a report that suggests that Asians in general are interested in the World Cup as many would have hoped.

According to New Delhi's Business Standard newspaper, the survey was conducted by editorial coverage of world cup-centered promotions and offers and by qualitative research with target groups.

Kunal Sinha, director of Mcann Erickson Consumer Insights in India reported that the research showed that "...football, apart from being regionally isolated in its appeal, is also a game which is followed by a niche Indian society and, hence, is not a sport followed by the masses..."

He also noted that "...Indians are more aware of the international football scenario rather than their domestic league...

Other extracts:

When the build-up began about a month ago, of the 15 official sponsors of the World Cup 2002, only a handful launched advertising activities targeting India. These included Gillette, MasterCard, McDonalds, JVC and Philips.

Others trying to cash in on the World Cup fever with sundry offers included Bata, Onida, Sony, Standard Chartered, Akai and several others.

The survey also revealed that marketeers had concentrated their efforts in select regions of the country.

For the Chinese, the admission into the tournament was a recognition it they can compete with the ‘modern’ nations of the West.

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