Bavaria get close to R1m free publicity

Fifa branded the campaign as ambush marketing and Ornico, brand reputation and analysis company, has tracked the editorial, print and broadcast coverage generated from the campaign by the South African media.

"The value of the South African newspaper and broadcast news coverage is R756 728 but this excludes magazine coverage and online coverage," Ornico CEO Oresti Patricios said on Tuesday.

"When the final tally for local publicity is done it is likely that Bavaria will have scored well over a R1m worth of local media publicity, if not more. That's not even looking at international coverage which has been massive and in all the right media."

Onica monitored the mentions of the word Bavaria and used this to audit the coverage and calculated advertising value.

"This is the value Bavaria would have paid if they had placed adverts in the same media that had afforded them coverage," said Patricios.

The news value of the event was so compelling that it became an instant talking point, followed by "overwhelming" media coverage.

"It is irrelevant whether Bavaria staged the spectacle or not, the media clearly positioned the Dutch Brewery and the women wearing the bright orange minis as the hero of this story. FIFA was undoubtedly cast as the villain of the saga," said Patricios.

The advertising and tourism industries have been the biggest beneficiaries of the 2010 Fifa World Cup so far - according to Visa, spending by foreigners using cards has topped $128 million, up 54 percent compared to the same period last year while advertisers are cashing in on the various campaigns run by sponsors of the event.

Since the start of the tournament, though, many experts have warned that both South Africans and tourists alike need to be careful of overspending and local debt management company DebtBusters even said they expect applications for debt review to increase towards the end of July.