Move over hand sports, here comes soccer!

Americans love fast things- NASCAR, running backs, and EZ Mac- all ingrained in the American psyche. So it’s understandable why soccer hasn’t enjoyed the popularity other sports have. Frankly, the mention of soccer usually makes the traditional U.S. sports fan cringe. Times are changing though, and soccer’s momentum is slowly gaining…and advertisers are taking notice.

With the World Cup fast approaching, ad campaigns showing soccer are targeting more than just mini-van driving soccer moms. The male young adult demo, usually dominated by football and basketball ads, is also being reached by soccer. AXE shower gel, among others, has most noticeably embraced this notion with its “Beautiful Game” television ads and website contest.

The increased attention towards soccer can be attributed to a few things, namely an increase in television viewership for pro soccer events. According to majorleaguesoccertalk.com, Major League Soccer has seen a 15% increase in viewership on ESPN2 this season and a 60% increase in viewership on Fox Soccer Channel. Matches involving David Beckham averaged over 400,000 viewers on the network.

The ever-expanding Latino population (and their buying power) is another reason soccer is seeing the light of day. In the latest annual report on minority buying power by the Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business, Latino buying power is due to surpass $860 billion in 2007 and exceed $1.2 trillion in five years. At this rate, Latino buying power will be the largest multicultural market by 2012.

What ever your opinion of the “beautiful game,” recognizing the increasing advertising power soccer possesses is something marketers will need to recognize in the near future. As T.V. ratings keep going up- and with no end of Latin influence in sight, soccer is going nowhere...fast.

The Social Media Bandwagon

Do you remember life before Facebook? Life before you could share your thoughts and pictures with the rest of the world?

The social media revolution, while good for keeping up on what your favorite celebrity is having for lunch or for stalking a ex-girlfriend, is also having a profound affect on important issues in our lives. Australia’s Griffith University has made Twitter a required class for journalism students, citing an increase in demand from employers for new hires who are well-versed in social media. Still yet, dissemination of info on Twitter and the Internet helped drive the momentum of the recent green revolution in Iran.

So what’s this mean for you?

It’s time to start taking Twitter and other interactive media seriously, especially if you’re looking to get into PR or business.

From reputation management to branding, social media is getting its sticky fingers into all aspects of the business honey jar. Social media is being used to increase brand awareness, influence a consumer’s decision-making process, and to help position companies as leaders in their respective industries.

For PR people, knowing what the public is saying in the blogosphere about your company or client is something that needs to be dealt with head on. Social media is a word-of-mouth campaign on crack, where the message is traveling through numerous media in a matter of minutes.

Where ever your focus, knowing how to properly utilize social media will give you a leg-up on the competition. So get on LinkedIn, open that Twitter account, write a blog, and start sharing (preferably not the picture of you taking that keg stand like a champ.)

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