The World Cup represents an unmissable marketing opportunity. Even brands far removed from the sports world can capitalize on this global event. 5 billion people engaged during the 2022 edition, with 93.6 million social media posts and 5.95 billion interactions. It is impossible to deny that this competition drives conversation, both online and IRL, mobilizing unparalleled collective attention.
But to ride this wave of excitement, you need a marketing approach that is both rigorous and creative. Gamification is the perfect solution to this challenge. Interactive experiences plunge fans into the excitement of the World Cup while immersing them in the brand universe.
In this article, we break down how to transform the World Cup’s peak attention into high-performing marketing activations.
Why the World Cup is the perfect engagement peak to activate your audiences
The 2026 World Cup will take place from June 11 to July 19 in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. This edition will be historic: 48 teams will compete, up from 32 previously, with 104 matches held across 16 cities.
The 2022 figures demonstrate the scale of the phenomenon. In France, 24.08 million people watched the final on TF1, an all-time viewership record across all programs and channels. The commercial impact for brands that know how to stand out is also massive. 59% of football fans prefer a sponsor’s product over a rival brand if the price and quality are identical.
The 2026 edition falls in the middle of summer, a strategic period to boost your marketing calendar. Brands can thus boost the engagement of their audience, which often becomes more volatile as the holidays approach, by linking their summer campaigns to the excitement of the World Cup.
The summer period also favors mobile engagement. 80% of fans browse social media or use an app during a match. This second screen experience offers unique opportunities to capture attention in real time with interactive content.
Offering interactive experiences during the World Cup
Interactive experiences transform passive viewers into active participants. Quizzes, predictions, and mini-games create strong engagement moments during a major sporting peak. These gamified mechanics allow brands to build an authentic relationship with their audience.
Let’s look at how the fan journey can be gamified to maximize the impact of every activation, before, during, and after a match!
Before the competition: build anticipation and qualify your audience
Recommended mechanics: Prediction games, football-themed quizzes, “Which player are you?” personality tests, interactive match schedules.
Concrete impacts for the brand: This phase generates qualified first-party data collection before the peak attention of the match itself. Participants share their preferences, favorite teams, and availability. This information enriches the CRM and enables precise segmentation for subsequent activations.
Brands also build interaction habits. A user who engages before the competition will return more easily during and after. This recurrence transforms a one-off activation into a lasting relationship.
During the competition: riding the wave of emotion in real time
Recommended mechanics: Instant win games activated after every match, live half-time quizzes, photo/video challenges with dedicated hashtags, themed mini-games (penalty shootout, dribbling).
Concrete impacts for the brand: Real-time interaction amplifies engagement. The emotions of the match transfer directly to brand activations. An instant win game launched after a winning goal capitalizes on collective euphoria. Conversion accelerates during these emotional peaks. Participants are more likely to sign up, share their contact details, or make a purchase. The excitement of the moment reduces traditional barriers to action.
After key matches: extending the experience and building loyalty
Recommended mechanics: Post-match “Man of the Match” polls, personalized interactive summaries, prediction challenges for the upcoming game, and highlight sharing.
Concrete impacts for the brand: This phase transforms short-term attention into continuous engagement. Post-match polls keep the conversation alive between games. Participants return regularly to share their opinions and view community results. The behavioral data collected also refines participant profiles. Their answers reveal preferences, opinions, and their level of football expertise. These insights fuel advanced personalization strategies.
After the final/Year-round: Capitalizing on memories and preparing for what’s next
Recommended mechanics: Personalized competition wrap-ups, “Best Moments” contests, flash sales on star products, and loyalty programs with bonus points.
Concrete impacts for the brand: This phase also allows you to convert a “hot” audience into loyal customers. Participants who have been through the entire gamified experience develop a brand affinity; the brand can then offer exclusive post-competition perks to reward this loyalty. Gamification also serves to activate this new community, while the global insights gathered throughout the event will fuel the long-term strategy.
Concrete impacts for the brand: This phase transforms short-term attention into continuous engagement. Post-match polls keep the conversation alive between games. Participants return regularly to share their opinions and view community results. The behavioral data collected also refines participant profiles. Their answers reveal preferences, opinions, and their level of football expertise. These insights fuel advanced personalization strategies.
Choosing the right gamification platform to maximize business impact
A marketing campaign for the 2026 World Cup requires a robust technical infrastructure. The gamification platform must combine ease of deployment with activation power to transform excitement into measurable results.
1. Automated post-game activation to maximize conversion
Participants who have just finished playing exhibit peak engagement levels. This “hot” moment must be leveraged immediately. Adictiz allows you to configure automated post-game scenarios: redirecting to a product page, displaying a promotional offer, suggesting a newsletter sign-up, or prompting an app download.
2. Integrated media strategy to maximize reach
Creating an exceptional activation is not enough. It must reach the target audience at exactly the right time. Adictiz Ads offers an integrated media solution that distributes campaigns across major display, social media, and programmatic networks.
Example: Corum L’Épargne leveraged a customizable game to recruit leads and attract qualified traffic while strengthening its database. The campaign, promoted via Adictiz Ads, highlighted the brand’s commitment to sports. Participants spent an average of 4 minutes on the activation, an exceptional attention span in an era of advertising saturation.
3. Native CRM integrations to enrich the database
Every interaction during the Football World Cup generates valuable data. Adictiz integrates natively with leading CRMs (Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, etc.) and marketing tools (Mailchimp, Brevo, Klaviyo, and many others). This automatic synchronization enriches customer profiles in real time.
Example: Olympique de Marseille integrated a scratch card game into its engagement strategy. Objective: To mobilize the fan community around the club’s players, matches, and news. Beyond immediate engagement, this mechanic enriches and qualifies the database year-round. Results: An average of 12,000 engaged leads per game, with 75% becoming opt-ins.
Ready to turn the 2026 World Cup into a growth engine for your brand? Explore our engaging mechanics and unique gamification features to maximize the impact of your upcoming campaigns!
