After waiting for four years, the World Cup finally arrived. Not only fans are excited, but also businesses, as the World Cup has become an exciting point for global businesses.

However, the official sponsors of this World Cup in China have significantly decreased, leaving only Lenovo, Hisense, and Mengniu, with a total investment of about 350 million US dollars, a 70% decrease from the previous Qatar World Cup's 1.395 billion US dollars. An exciting point in the industry.

Chinese companies have quietly withdrawn from their position as the world's "largest financial backers" for two consecutive terms.

Sponsorship has decreased and money has been spent less. At first glance, Chinese brands seem to be experiencing a decline.

But if you watch a few live broadcasts, you will find that 'No No No', the Chinese brand's Chinese characters are still prominent on the field fence, and in the VAR referee center, Hisense's display devices are assisting with every crucial judgment. At the opening ceremony, Bubble Mart's LABUBU jumped and lifted the mini Hercules Cup. Chinese companies not only did not miss, but also stood at the center of the World Cup stage in a smarter way.

The way Chinese brands stand in the World Cup is being redefined, from "throwing money" to "organizing events".

01. Sponsorship less than 70%? Don't worry, Chinese elements haven't even left the stage

Let's first look at a set of comparative data.

In the 2018 World Cup in Russia, seven Chinese companies jointly sponsored approximately $835 million, making China the world's largest sponsor for the first time. In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, six companies invested 1.395 billion US dollars to once again reach the top. At that time, the list of sponsors included Wanda, Hisense, Mengniu vivo、 Yadi and BOSS are directly hired.

By 2026, the list will significantly shrink. Vivo withdrew from top tier sponsorship, while Wanda's sponsorship fees were suspended by FIFA due to funding chain issues and ultimately withdrew. There are only three Chinese sponsors left: Lenovo, Hisense, and Mengniu. FIFA has established a four tier sponsorship system, with Lenovo listed as a top "partner" alongside Adidas and Coca Cola; Hisense and Mengniu are listed as third tier "official sponsors" with an investment scale ranging from 65 million to 95 million US dollars.

The reason for the cooling is not difficult to understand. One of the pressures on corporate operations is that photovoltaic company Yingli has been unable to continue investing due to performance after sponsoring two World Cups, while Wanda has fallen into financial crisis due to its real estate business. The second reason is that 70% of this year's events are concentrated in the early morning to early morning hours of China time, and the expected ratings are not high, further weakening the sponsorship willingness of enterprises. In addition, Chinese companies prefer digital marketing that accurately reaches customers when going global. Traditional World Cup advertisements have a broad audience and high costs, and their cost-effectiveness is clearly insufficient.

But having fewer sponsors does not mean having fewer Chinese elements.

On the field, Shenzhen Abison undertook the construction of a central LED funnel screen with an area of over 600 square meters at BC Place Sports Center in Vancouver, Canada. Off the field, Bubble Mart's IP LABUBU became the first Chinese original IP invited in the history of the World Cup, appearing at the opening ceremony and playing the official single MV; Miaokulando became the world's official cheese, and Wuliangye won the official Baijiu co branded partner; Kudi Coffee collaborates with the Argentine national team; Geely Galaxy exclusively sponsors CCTV's "Feast of the Rich". Zhejiang Ginza Luggage has become the exclusive authorized agent for luggage in the China region of the World Cup, while Hangzhou Fude is the official general authorized dealer for goods.

The presence of Chinese enterprises has extended from billboards on the sidelines to every aspect of the judging system, viewing experience, cultural expression, and consumption chain.

02. Hisense Mengniu collaborates to launch barrage ads, blocking ads for the first time

If technology embedding is like a 'still water flowing deep', then the interaction between Hisense and Mengniu's fencing is the most eye-catching 'stormy waves' in this World Cup.

On the morning of June 15th Beijing time, the World Cup Group F match between Sweden and Tunisia is underway. On the side fence, two Chinese brand billboards, one on the left and one on the right, displayed a line of words: "Hisense Mengniu is trustworthy, Mengniu and Hisense are cows.

This is the first time in the nearly 100 year history of the World Cup that two brands have appeared together on the sidelines. Every second of the fence advertisement is real gold and silver. Mengniu and Hisense are willing to share resources with each other to "pass the microphone", with only one explanation behind it: the win-win return is far greater than fighting on their own.

Two brands, sponsoring the World Cup for three consecutive years, are both "runners" in sports marketing. Previously, they had collaborated to release a themed short film titled 'Youth is Only a Few World Cups 2.0'. This time, they turned the fence advertisement into a "joint brand". It's not a clich é of 'strong alliance', but a slogan like a chat.

Netizens' comments are more vivid: 'Like two Chinese people throwing barrages on the World Cup stage.'. One shouted 'it's a cow', while the other immediately responded with 'trustworthy'. The level of coordination between the two billboards far exceeded that of most midfield partners on the field. The topic of # Shanmeng Haishi # has rapidly heated up on social media.

The dissemination power of this linkage cannot be underestimated. On the stage of the World Cup, with an expected global viewership of over 6 billion, Hisense and Mengniu completed a textbook level brand resonance through a zero cost creative interaction.

03. Going global through the World Cup is not a spur of the moment idea

Of course, don't think that the effect of event advertising is just casting a net to catch fish.

The true value of the World Cup lies in its precise leverage to move the global market.

The audience of football spans across five continents, especially in markets such as Africa and Latin America where it has a strong mass base and fervent beliefs. Consumers in these regions are at a critical stage of brand awareness building and consumption upgrading. For Chinese brands aspiring to go global, the 2026 World Cup is a historic window that cannot be missed.

For industry giants such as Mengniu and Hisense, re investing in the World Cup is not a momentary impulse, but a key outcome in their long-term systematic overseas strategy.

Hisense's investment in sports marketing exhibits distinct long-term characteristics. Since becoming the first Chinese top sponsor of the European Championship in 2016, Hisense has continuously increased its investment in top football IP. In 2018, it sponsored the World Cup for the first time and has never stopped since then. This sustained investment serves its strategic vision of having its main focus overseas. In the past decade, Hisense's overseas visibility has increased by over 20%, and its overseas revenue has grown from over 30 billion yuan to over 110 billion yuan by 2025.

But numbers are just results. The real support for this growth is the global sales network, localized distributors, and service system that Hisense has built synchronously in addition to sponsorship. The World Cup opened up the situation, and after ten years of intensive work, the traffic to the event was transformed into real market share. Both are indispensable.

Mengniu's overseas path is more industry-specific. Dairy products face higher cognitive and trust barriers when going global than consumer electronics products - they not only need to win the minds of consumers, but also need to gain the trust of local distributors, retailers, and even regulatory agencies. This means that the investment must be heavy enough and the operation must be deep enough.

Mengniu's overseas layout started from Southeast Asia. Aice, a subsidiary ice cream brand, has deeply rooted itself in the Southeast Asian market with a model of "local production, local sales, and local innovation", and is regarded as a hidden ice cream "champion" in the industry. At the same time, the high-end brand "Tilan Holy Snow" has landed in the North American market, completing trials with pure formulas and real materials, achieving a gradient layout from the market to mature markets.

More importantly, the supply chain comes first. Mengniu has established a milk source and production base network based in Oceania by investing in Australian Burra Foods and organic baby food brand Bellamy's, among others. This not only provides a solid resource hub for going global, but also depicts a global blueprint that gradually radiates to markets such as Latin America and Africa, with Southeast Asia as the operating springboard.

On this basis, Mengniu regards this World Cup as a global brand "total attack". During the competition, Mengniu released four new ice cream products in the North American market - Mengniu pure milk ice cream, instant brownie crisper, green mood light fruit and vegetable ice cream, and ice+cool and refreshing snow mud. After paving the way for the product, Mengniu Ice Cream officially entered mainstream retail channels in 11 American cities, including New York, systematically expanding into the mainstream consumer market in North America.

Looking back at Mengniu's pace of going global, every step was neither too fast nor too slow. They first gained a leading advantage in Southeast Asia with similar cultures, then tested the waters in mature markets, and finally entered the strict standard North American market to expand their territory. The World Cup is an important springboard on this gradual path, not the starting point.

04. Chinese enterprises move from "product going global" to "brand going global"

Over the past thirty years, Chinese companies have leveraged their efficiency advantages to spread "Made in China" on shelves worldwide. But at the consumer level, there are not many Chinese brands that can leave a profound impression.

Mengniu and Hisense are providing a new approach to solving problems, not only to make their products purchased by the world, but also to make their brands recognized by the world; We need to output both product strength and values.

Mengniu's official sponsorship of the World Cup on the global stage is essentially a high-level "global credit endorsement". In the dairy industry, trust is the highest threshold - consumer recognition of a brand often requires a long cognitive cultivation cycle. And top-level events like the World Cup have pushed the brand image to a global perspective through the shortest path, greatly shortening this process.

But credit endorsement is only the first step. What truly determines success or failure is whether the product's strength can withstand this trust. Mengniu, with its excellent quality and brand concept of "health, nutrition, and strength", has gradually established a favorable impression in the hearts of global consumers - brand trust opens up the mind, product strength inherits trust, and the two mutually reinforce each other, forming a positive cycle. This is exactly the ideal "flywheel effect" for brands to go global.

The alliance between Hisense and Mengniu in the World Cup provides another imaginative space. The brand resonance between the two companies in this tournament is not only about leveraging each other and sharing fan circles at the communication level, but also creating a possibility of overseas collaboration at the company's strategic level - from channel construction, supply chain management to local compliance, forming a closer overseas alliance through cooperation. When the power of a single brand is limited, the "clustering" between Chinese brands is no longer just a slogan, but a practical tactical choice.

This may be a microcosm of Chinese brands going global from "individual combat" to "group military combat".

For Chinese companies that already have considerable strength, going global is no longer an option, but a necessary choice to break through the growth ceiling. Global events like the World Cup are the trigger for companies to gather strength and take off.

But whether the trigger can hit the target after being pulled depends on years of accumulation and preparation.

*The image is from the internet and has been hacked and deleted