{"text":[[{"start":11.16,"text":"Unilever and Coca-Cola have reported surging sales volumes and raised their forecasts after a World Cup marketing blitz, demonstrating the tournament’s enduring power for its bevy of corporate sponsors."}],[{"start":23.08,"text":"Underlying sales growth at Unilever, the maker of Dove and Domestos, rose 5.8 per cent in the second quarter, driven by volume growth of 5.5 per cent, its best quarterly performance since 2010."}],[{"start":36.24,"text":"Chief executive Fernando Fernandez said that during the World Cup Unilever promoted 35 personal care brands — including Dove, Rexona and Axe — across 120 markets, with 50,000 influencers creating related content."}],[{"start":51.52,"text":"Deodorant brand Rexona, known as Sure in the UK, was emblazoned on the substitution boards and referees’ uniforms during the games. In Brazil and Argentina, sales grew by double digits in the second quarter. Unilever’s shares were up 7.7 per cent in afternoon trading in London."}],[{"start":70.2,"text":"Coca-Cola, whose World Cup marketing included sponsoring the mid-half “hydration breaks”, said beverage sales volumes rose 5 per cent in the quarter."}],[{"start":79.04,"text":"The Atlanta-based company said its World Cup marketing, which included a pre-tournament tour of the trophy, contributed to 5 per cent volume growth for its trademark Coca‑Cola drink and 8 per cent growth for Powerade, the sponsor of the hydration breaks."}],[{"start":93.76,"text":"Coca-Cola’s shares rose 6.3 per cent in early trading in New York."}],[{"start":98.92,"text":"Unilever said it now expected full-year sales growth “within” a range of 4 to 6 per cent, an improvement on earlier guidance for growth at the “lower end” of that range. The company is also forecasting full-year volume growth of 3 per cent, up from the 2 per cent it previously guided."}],[{"start":114.9,"text":"Coca-Cola also raised its guidance. The company is now forecasting comparable earnings will rise by 9 to 10 per cent this year, one percentage point higher than its previous outlook, and said underlying revenue was likely to rise 5 per cent, up from 4 to 5 per cent."}],[{"start":128.88,"text":"While Fifa was heavily criticised for its wide-ranging efforts to maximise its income from this year’s World Cup, the results from Unilever and Coca-Cola illustrate the event’s enduring popularity on a global scale."}],[{"start":141.84,"text":"The World Cup has continued to attract huge sponsorship deals despite Fifa being embroiled in a major corruption scandal in 2015. Fifa is now planning to sell a significant minority stake in a new commercial entity valued at about $20bn, the FT reported on Tuesday."}],[{"start":160.04,"text":"Fernandez insisted the World Cup sales boost would not be a “one-off” and that he expected Unilever to derive longer-term benefits from heightened brand awareness."}],[{"start":169.16,"text":"“We don’t do an event like [the World Cup] for a two-month impact,” he said."}],[{"start":174.4,"text":"Unilever’s underlying operating profit increased 0.9 per cent to €5.2bn in the first half of the year."}],[{"start":181.92,"text":"Coca-Cola, whose chief executive Henrique Braun took over this year, said net revenue grew 7 per cent to $13.4bn in the second quarter, beating estimates. Net income rose 16 per cent to $4.4bn, also ahead of analyst forecasts."}],[{"start":199.68,"text":"Analysts at Barclays said they expected Coca-Cola’s marketing push and summer heatwaves to continue benefiting the company in the third quarter."}],[{"start":208.337,"text":"The US drinks group said its use of QR codes on drinks packaging, including digital “stickers” with images of World Cup stars, allowed it to collect more than 25mn data records, “which can be used to tailor future marketing campaigns”."}],[{"start":221.28,"text":"The World Cup “definitely helped us”, Braun said. “But it helped because we were ready for it.”"}],[{"start":232.12,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1785284775_9642.mp3"}