Why brands are bringing creators to the World Cup sidelines 

Three weeks into the 2026 FIFA World Cup, brands aren’t just buying media around the tournament – they’re building entire creator-led activation machines, from local microcreators selling host cities to influencer-heavy sidelines content that turns every match into a days-long stream of social posts. 

Together, these efforts show how creator marketing around global sports has moved beyond one-off influencer posts to complex, multi-city activation programs designed to drive cultural relevance, tourism, and long-tail content across social and performance channels. 

“The U.S. is not the most soccer-loving country, but that breeds an incredible opportunity for brands and content creators to bring exposure,” said Paul Coggiola, president of creators at LIFT Management.

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The rise of pharma ad tech

In a bid to associate themselves with the vanguard of professional practice, marketers are ever-eager to embrace new technologies, though in highly regulated sectors, the shock of the new has a little extra resonance.

Intuitively, healthcare advertisers are among the most conservative, as the downside risk of getting marketing wrong is materially higher than for their counterparts in other verticals, such as CPG, given regulatory oversight from bodies such as the Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission, and a host of privacy regulators.

Given the risks to patient safety, subsequent litigation risk, government oversight or overall reputational risk, the risk-averse orthodoxy among marketing practitioners in the sector is well understood.

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