T he 2010 World Cup, with its army of fans across the UK, will be a big sales winner for retailers. According to pundits, they should see a significant sales uplift, with shoppers reporting that they will be buying more beer, wine and spirits and snacks to consume during the event.

It will be no surprise to learn that most of these fans will be men aged from 18 to their mid-50s and so the chances are high that some of them will be passing through your forecourt over the World Cup season. This gives you the chance to shoot and score irrespective of whether England brings home the cup or not.

Bep Sandhu, Mars trade relations manager, urges retailers not to miss out on this opportunity to boost sales. She says: "It’s not too early to start getting customers excited about the World Cup. It’s really important that retailers enjoy the theatre in-store and encourage customers to buy into it. A lot of our momentum will start to build from this month, that’s when we’ll really be getting behind it. I would really encourage retailers to become a part of it. Our target market, and also the World Cup market, is predominantly male. And many will be forecourt customers." Sandhu says Mars will have specifically tailored pos material for forecourts along with dumpbins and countertop displays, all aimed at helping build momentum.

Mars is planning plenty of consumer activity around the event, which runs from June 11 to July 11 in South Africa, including special Mars bars featuring the Three Lions crest (only available in England) and TV, radio and press advertising for ’money can’t buy’ prizes. These include a trip to the official England training camp in Austria.

Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is one of the event’s main sponsors the company says it is proud to have been involved in the World Cup since 1950. Selena Taylor, trade communications manager at CCE, adds: "As the excitement of the World Cup tournament draws close, consumers begin to adapt their shopping habits with the anticipation of home nation involvement, particularly those who will watch the game while entertaining family and friends at home. We know that almost 93 million viewers across the world tuned in to watch the World Cup in 2006, with one billion viewers watching the final, so with England qualifying we’re expecting 2010 records to potentially exceed this." The company has been running several promotions in the past few months to generate interest in the World Cup and has plenty more events planned.

This includes Coca-Cola and FIFA creating an award to recognise the tournament’s best goal celebration. Fans will be able to vote for the eventual winner at FIFA.com. For every goal scored and celebrated with a dance, Coca-Cola says it will fund a new community water initiative to bring safe water to a school in Africa. Fans can also film their own goal celebrations and upload them onto the Coke website in return they can win World Cup prizes including match tickets.

Beverage Brands has produced a range of in-store posters which can be used to highlight any promotions retailers may be running. With headlines such as ’1-0 to you!’ and ’Result!’, the company says the eye-catching posters have spaces to outline offers on WKD.

Meanwhile, Beverage Brands says it is investing heavily to ensure the WKD range both the ready-to-drink (RTD) and WKD Core, its apple cider is top of mind for consumers before and during the World Cup. A national TV campaign supporting the brand will air before and throughout the tournament plus there will also be significant digital TV support.

Beverage Brands marketing director Debs Carter adds: "You need a strong line-up to make the most of the World Cup. When it comes to the biggest football tournament there is, forecourt retailers need to ensure they are stocking a wide range of drinks and not just focus on beer. During the 2006 World Cup, sales of RTDs soared by 21% in the first week of the tournament alone. In that same time period, sales of WKD rocketed by 46% versus the previous year (Source: Nielsen Scantrack total GB take home RTD category volume). Switched-on retailers will ensure that they have the best on-shelf squad possible for the forthcoming festival of football.

"To make the most of World Cup-related sales it’s important that retailers offer the right pack formats. WKD 70cl is perfect for sharing with fellow footie fans and 275ml multipacks are ideal for sharing around when a group of friends gets together. This summer, consumers will want to pick up WKD on their way to enjoy matches at friends’ houses or on their way home to watch games, so it’s important the product is sold chilled."

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) says Lucozade Sport, a sponsor of the England national football team and the official sports drink sponsor of ITV’s exclusive 2010 World Cup coverage, is launching new World Cup activity called Fuelling England’s Roar. According to GSK, it is the brand’s biggest ever campaign and includes an on-pack promotion supported by a £15m spend to help drive sales during summer.

The promotion gives shoppers the chance to win a share of one million official England prizes, including classic England shirts, flags and caps. To enter, consumers buy promotional bottles and text in their unique code.

Lucozade Sport brand manager, Matt McKie, says: "As the official sports drink of the England team, our objective is to fuel the players to World Cup success as well as leverage our association with ITV’s coverage of the 2010 World Cup. We are confident that as a result of our emotive and engaging Fuelling England’s Roar campaign, retailers will experience increased consumer demand and a significant uplift in sales across the Lucozade Sport range."

There will also be outdoor advertising featuring Steven Gerrard, a digital campaign with social media and an iPhone application.

Meanwhile, there’s also an opportunity to boost confectionery sales. Jonathan Summerley, purchasing director at Hancocks Cash & Carry, says: "Retailers need to consider the World Cup as a bonus event for 2010. Conveniently, it falls between the usual spring season and Christmas, so can command its own attention entirely. Any event or occasion can be a profit opportunity for retailers if they choose to take advantage and Hancocks would strongly recommend that independent retailers are proactive at every opportunity.

"The World Cup is definitely a great profit opportunity this year, especially as people enjoy the patriotism and excitement while coming out of the shadow of a recession and an extremely chilly winter. I would go so far as to suggest that the World Cup is at least as big an opportunity as Easter.

"As always, success requires careful planning and thought. Many of our customers profited well from the World Cup four years ago and so we are here to help them do it again."

As Father’s Day falls on June 20 this year, Summerley adds that football-related products are likely to be an excellent impulse gift for dads.

Hancocks will be stocking many items to tie in with the World Cup. Its biggest seller from 2006 is returning for extra time. Summerly explains: "Tattoo Gum is a 49p pack containing football-related temporary tattoos and a selection of gum. A massive hit with children, 2006 sales were exceptional for this pocket-money purchase." Hancocks is also adding football-themed products to its pick and mix. There will also be a selection of non-confectionery items to support the World Cup including flags, mugs and bottle openers.

Summerly adds: "In 2006 we sold enormous quantities of flags and general England products. Again the idea is to keep the price point low and accessible to all ages with the familiar £1 price point playing a key role. Retailers could also use some of these items to develop their own displays in store so that they create some theatre and fun."

United Biscuits (UBUK) is launching three promotions targeting football fans this summer. They will run across McCoy’s, KP Nuts and Jaffa Cakes. And UB’s range of sharing drums, which have become synonymous with Christmas, also return for summer.

McCoy’s is launching its ’Are You a Real Fan?’ promotion this month to engage with its target audience of young males. Fans can enter the competition via text or online at www.mccoys.co.uk for a chance to win one of 10 all-expenses paid ’FANtastic’ football trips around the world. Locations include Barcelona, Milan and the World Cup venue, South Africa. Fans can also bag football survival kits every 90 minutes, providing everything they need to enjoy the football this summer. Each contains an inflatable football chair, a snack bowl for sharing McCoy’s, a beer cooler, horn and money off their next purchase of McCoy’s.

McCoy’s is also introducing two football-themed limited-edition flavours chicken winger and sausage striker. Available from this month, they come in 50g handy packs with a rrp of 55p.

Another promotion involves football fans being prompted to celebrate best quality footie moments with KP Nuts. Running from next month, it directs consumers to vote by text or online at www.KPnuts.com for their best quality football moment of all time. Prizes include thousands of football-themed items. Meanwhile, McVitie’s Jaffa Cakes is running a ’Shoot and Win Great Football Prizes’ promotion. It also involves going online to www.ilovejaffacakes.com to enter an instant win competition by shooting a football into a goal. Prizes include Nintendo Wiis and football shirts.

cash in on world cup barbecues

In honour of the World Cup and its 2010 South African home, the National BBQ Association has renamed its 14th National BBQ Week the ’14th National Braai Week’ the word ’Braai’ is the South African term for barbecue.

National Braai Week runs from May 31 to June 6 and the Association says it’s the perfect opportunity for retailers to kick-off their summer al fresco and barbecue food and drink sales. More than eight million barbecues were held during last year’s event week. For 2010, the Association has created some special dishes based on a ’Round the BBQ World Cup tour’ of competing teams’ favourite recipes.

National team wine and beer favourites are also on offer. Forecourts can link the recipes to the appropriate match being played to maximise food and drink sales, for example, the England team recipe is Eggs & Bacon Barbie Breakfast.

All recipes are available on the National BBQ/Braai Week website www.nationalbbqweek.co.uk along with downloadable pos and competitions.