How to 'kick out' a new game in the quadrennial rigid emotional field where liquor companies gather for the World Cup
48 teams, 104 games, a commercial battle without gunpowder outside the arena has already begun. Baijiu enterprises entered the World Cup sponsorship system for the first time, occupying the "C" position of the 2026 US Canada Mexico World Cup. In sharp contrast, beer's marketing for the World Cup has cooled down this year. As one of the important venues providing a "second consumption scenario", many bars during the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico only decorated their layouts with materials and did not launch targeted activities or products. In fact, facing such a quadrennial "rigid emotional field", liquor companies are exploring more consumption scenarios and demands under the World Cup economy. Nowadays, although the World Cup can still boost alcohol consumption, the way of making money seems to have quietly changed.
Baijiu "Served"
Baijiu enterprises have never participated in this world's top event as deeply as this World Cup, and this depth is reflected in the "World Cup debut" of Baijiu brand at the 2026 US Canada Mexico World Cup.
It is understood that Wuliangye has reached cooperation with FIFA as an "official co branded product partner" for the first time, becoming the only Chinese Baijiu brand signed with FIFA in the 2026 US Canada Mexico World Cup. During this period, Wuliangye successively launched 7 joint products, including the "8th Generation Wuliangye US Canada Mexico World Cup Official Co branded Product", and adopted the gameplay of "Champion Blind Box".
In the secondary market, the highest purchase price for Uruguay's hidden goods has been raised to 11800 yuan per bottle. In the official joint series between Wuliangye and FIFA 2026, the highest bid for the Wuliangye Hercules Cup wine, "Legend 2026", was 35800 yuan, while another item, "Wuliangye US Canada Mexico World Cup Joint Wine Hidden Edition", was sold for 44700 yuan after intense bidding, with over 80000 viewers.
Not only Wuliangye, during the 2026 US Canada Mexico World Cup, National Cellar 1573 became an official Baijiu product authorized by the national teams of Argentina and Portugal. It is reported that the 500ml formal (52 degree) bottle incorporates the classic colors of Argentina's "sky blue and white" and Portugal's "red and green", presenting a lineup of star players led by Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo; The 100ml small wine bottle (38 degrees) is inspired by the jerseys of two teams.
Xiao Zhuqing, an expert in liquor marketing, pointed out that Baijiu is currently facing multiple pressures such as high inventory, price inversion, and shrinking consumption scenarios. The World Cup is a global rigid emotional field once every four years with more than 5 billion participants, which can drive sales and activate channel confidence.
Baijiu enterprises pay so much money to arrange the World Cup, and what they aim at is the expansion of consumption scene and the promotion of internationalization.
At present, the market for traditional business banquets and gifts is shrinking, and Baijiu urgently needs to find new consumption scenarios. The World Cup provides a quadrennial 'global rigid emotional field'. According to statistics from Xiaohongshu, the volume of football related content on the platform continues to rise, with World Cup related search volume increasing more than 18 times compared to before the game. The total exposure of World Cup and football related content has reached 2.7 billion times. In addition, as the world's top event, the World Cup will help Baijiu break through the cultural barriers between the East and the West, and upgrade from a simple "selling at sea" to a "cultural export" business card.
Industry insiders pointed out that Baijiu enterprises, relying on the World Cup Super IP to carry out brand cooperation, in essence, is to activate product dynamic marketing with top-level events as the carrier, accurately stimulate terminal consumption through customized products, help channels to achieve dynamic marketing in the off-season, at the same time, with the help of the global attention of the World Cup, improve brand reputation, and achieve a deep transformation from event popularity to brand identity.
Beer cools down
In sharp contrast to the high-profile entry of Baijiu enterprises, the marketing participation of easy open end beer brand during the 2026 US Canada Mexico World Cup will be significantly reduced.
As the official beer sponsor of the FIFA World Cup for 40 years, Budweiser Beer has launched multiple limited edition products and global marketing campaigns around the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. According to public reports, Budweiser beer will launch three core limited edition products during this World Cup, including 11 World Cup 40th anniversary commemorative cans, 1-liter Champion Cup Honor Edition, and Budweiser Black Gold World Cup Limited Edition. In addition to Budweiser beer, Tsingtao Brewery has revealed at an investor event that the company has launched products with event elements related to the World Cup and will carry out a series of consumer promotion activities around the event in various regions.
Although beer companies were quiet during the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, four years ago was a different story. According to public reports, during the 2022 Qatar World Cup, Qingdao Beer held a "28 day football carnival season" event, Yanjing Beer launched a "passionate love, with you by your side" marketing campaign, and beer companies such as Budweiser and Qingdao also launched special packaging products for the World Cup.
Behind the collective efforts of beer companies to "reduce the fever" of World Cup marketing, the viewing time is the most direct reason. It is reported that about 70% of the matches for the 2026 US Canada Mexico World Cup will be concentrated between 2am and 10am Beijing time, which seriously deviates from the viewing habits of the "late night golden window" of previous World Cups. Based on this, the consumption scenario of beer has been significantly weakened, and the traditional consumption chain of "barbecue+beer+staying up late to watch the game" that was previously essential for watching matches has been almost completely interrupted.
Business logic is changing
Previously, liquor companies were betting on the World Cup, with a focus on brand image building. The core of investing heavily in becoming an official partner, advertising, and launching joint products is to enhance brand awareness and shape a high-end, international image. However, in this process, the actual sales of how many bottles of wine can ultimately be converted from these investments are often an incalculable account. Nowadays, the World Cup remains an important engine driving alcohol consumption, and this has not changed. However, the profit logic of the alcohol business is undergoing changes.
Alcohol marketing expert Cai Xuefei pointed out that the explosive sales during the World Cup were essentially driven by brands igniting demand and channels fulfilling sales. The marketing investment of liquor companies creates topics and consumer desires, which is the starting point of traffic. However, what truly converts the instant impulse of fans into orders is the distribution network composed of instant retail, food delivery platforms, and catering terminals.
In fact, many liquor companies have already begun to attach importance to this new channel. Among them, several liquor companies have explicitly stated in their strategic disclosures for the first quarter of 2026 that they will expand their instant retail business. This means that even traditional beer manufacturers are adjusting their channel focus, shifting resources from large screen advertising to instant delivery networks closer to consumers.
Industry insiders point out that during the World Cup, alcohol consumption is highly fragmented and instantaneous. Whoever can complete the contract within a few minutes of consumers opening their phones to place orders will be able to seize this wave of sales dividends. For liquor companies, instant retail is not just an additional sales window, but also a new marketing logic that uses efficient delivery to alleviate inventory pressure and replaces brand indoctrination with scenario triggering.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Add: Xi Ping Aera,Nan Cheng Distreet,Dongguan City,Guangdong Province,China 523000
Mob: 189 2580 3731
Fax: 0769 83002015
QQ： 2225809574
Email: 2225809574@qq.com
English
中文版
18925803731@qq.com
0086+13712831579
