For years, marketers have used sponsorship metrics such as reach, impressions and media value to understand performance. Yet one question has remained difficult to answer: what impact does real-world sponsorship exposure have on brands?
New research from Kantar's THX. solution helps provide an answer. Across eight markets, 441 brands and more than 50,000 consumers, exposure to FIFA World Cup 2026 content was associated with stronger brand outcomes. On average, exposed audiences showed a +3.4 percentage point increase in Awareness (Salience), strengthening the mental link between brands and one of the world's most-watched sporting events.
The findings suggest that major cultural moments can do more than generate attention. When measured through passive cross-media exposure, they can also be linked to measurable improvements in Brand Power. As Kantar CEO Paul Zwillenberg recently argued in an Ad Age opinion piece, the brands creating the greatest value from the World Cup are not always those generating the most reach, but those building meaningful connections with fans.
From Exposure to Evidence
The FIFA World Cup is consumed across a fragmented media landscape, with audiences moving between live broadcasts, streaming platforms, social media and shared viewing experiences. Measuring sponsorship exposure accurately has become increasingly difficult, particularly when relying on survey recall alone.
To address this challenge, Kantar used THX.'s passive cross-media measurement approach to identify consumers who were genuinely exposed to World Cup content and compare them with similar non-exposed audiences. Rather than relying solely on claimed behaviour, the study used observed exposure data across channels to understand how real-world exposure was associated with Brand Power outcomes.
The analysis focused on the relationship between exposure and Kantar's Brand Power framework, which measures whether brands are Meaningful, Different and Salient in consumers' minds.
This approach marks an important shift in sponsorship measurement. Rather than focusing solely on visibility metrics, marketers can begin to understand how real-world exposure is associated with changes in Brand Power.
What Happens After Exposure?
The findings point to a clear relationship between World Cup exposure and stronger brand outcomes.
The most important result was also the most straightforward. Across the eight markets included in the study, consumers who were genuinely exposed to World Cup content consistently demonstrated stronger Brand Power than comparable non-exposed audiences. On average, exposure was associated with a +3.4 percentage point increase in Awareness (Salience), strengthening the mental connection between brands and the tournament.
Importantly, the effect extended beyond awareness alone. While sponsorship is often evaluated on visibility metrics, the results suggest that exposure can also influence broader dimensions of Brand Power. In multiple examples, exposed audiences not only recognised brands more readily, but also viewed them as more Meaningful and Different. This matters because Kantar's long-term brand equity research consistently shows that Meaningful Difference is a key driver of future growth.
The scale of the research adds further confidence to these findings. Sponsorship effectiveness can be assessed through observed behaviour rather than inferred from isolated case studies or recall-based surveys. For marketers, this represents an important shift from estimating sponsorship value to measuring sponsorship impact.
The results also suggest that not all brands benefit equally from exposure. Brands with stronger existing connections to football culture, fan rituals and tournament moments appeared better positioned to translate exposure into stronger brand perceptions. Sponsorship creates an opportunity, but cultural relevance helps determine how much value brands ultimately capture from that opportunity.
Perhaps most notably, the impact was not limited to traditional sports-related categories. Positive sponsorship effects were observed across a wide range of sectors, reinforcing the idea that the World Cup functions as more than a sporting event. As one of the world's largest shared cultural moments, it provides a platform through which many different types of brands can strengthen their relationship with consumers.
Taken together, the findings suggest that major cultural moments can do more than generate attention. When brands are meaningfully present in those moments, and when exposure is measured accurately, sponsorship can be linked to measurable improvements in Brand Power.
Turning Exposure into Brand Memory: The Coca-Cola Example
One example from the Netherlands and Belgium illustrates how effective activation can strengthen the impact of sponsorship exposure.
Among exposed audiences, Coca-Cola recorded one of the strongest salience lifts measured in the study, significantly strengthening the association between the brand and the FIFA World Cup. The result highlights an important distinction: sponsorship value is not created by visibility alone. Brands are more likely to benefit when exposure is supported by consistent activation, strong creative execution and a presence in moments that matter to fans.
Coca-Cola's performance reflects a broader pattern seen throughout the research. The brands that appeared to gain most from World Cup exposure were not necessarily those with the greatest visibility, but those that built the strongest mental connection between their brand and the tournament experience.
Measuring What Matters
The FIFA World Cup remains one of the world's most powerful cultural stages for brands. Yet sponsorship effectiveness has traditionally been evaluated through visibility metrics such as reach, impressions and media value. While these measures help quantify exposure, they reveal little about how exposure influences brand perceptions.
The findings from this study suggest that real-world exposure can be linked to measurable improvements in Brand Power. Across eight markets, exposed audiences demonstrated stronger brand outcomes, including an average +3.4 percentage point increase in Awareness (Salience). The results also indicate that the strongest effects are not driven by exposure alone, but by the combination of exposure, cultural relevance and effective activation.
For marketers, this represents an important step forward in sponsorship measurement. By combining passive cross-media exposure data with Brand Power outcomes, it becomes possible to move beyond assumptions and better understand how major cultural moments contribute to long-term brand growth. Instead of asking whether people had the opportunity to see a sponsorship, marketers can increasingly assess whether that exposure strengthened the brand.
Major cultural moments create opportunity. The challenge is turning that opportunity into lasting value. Understanding the impact of exposure is what enables smarter sponsorship decisions.
More on World Cup 2026
- Seizing the World's Biggest Sporting Moment: World Cup 2026 – exploring why the tournament remains one of the most powerful marketing platforms for brands.
- What the World Cup Reveals About Building Enduring Brands – examining how the World Cup creates Meaning, Difference and Salience at a global scale.