June 8, 2026
During major sporting events like the World Cup, brands invest heavily to capture demand.
The expectation is clear: drive incremental sales and maximise return on trade promotion investment but there’s one question that often goes unanswered until it’s too late:
Did it actually execute as planned?
For many teams, the answer only becomes clear weeks later when sales data and syndicated reports start to come in but by then, the opportunity to act has passed.
From a commercial perspective, this will feel familiar.
You invest time and budget into building a strong promotion:
On paper, everything is aligned but what happens in store is far less predictable and during high-pressure moments like the World Cup, that gap between plan and execution becomes more pronounced.
This is part of a broader challenge we explored in our article on why the World Cup is won in store, where in-store execution ultimately determines performance during major retail moments.
This gap between planning and in-store reality becomes even more visible during major events. If you’d like to delve deeper into this, take a look at our piece From Plan to Reality: Why Major Sporting Events Expose the Execution Gap.
The World Cup compresses demand into short, high-intensity windows.
When everything is working, these moments can drive significant incremental sales and category growth but when execution breaks down, the impact is immediate.
There is no recovery window.
To close the gap between plan and reality, it’s not enough to measure performance after the event. You need to understand what is happening while campaigns are still live.
These three questions are critical:
At a basic level, this comes down to promotional compliance.
Without this, it’s difficult to determine whether performance reflects demand or execution.
On-shelf availability is one of the biggest drivers of performance during major events.
Even short periods of out-of-stock during peak demand windows can result in lost sales that cannot be recovered.
The key question is not just:
Was stock available?
But:
Was stock available at the exact moment demand spiked?
One of the most common challenges is inconsistency.
Some stores execute perfectly, others don’t.
This creates:
Without near real-time store-level visibility, it’s difficult to identify where execution is working and importantly, where it isn’t.
Traditionally, these questions are answered after the fact.
Through:
But by the time insights are available, the moment has passed.
This also has a direct impact on trade promotion investment, where a significant portion of spend often goes unverified, a challenge we explored further in 40–60% of Trade Promotion Spend Goes Unverified.
The brands that perform best during high-pressure retail moments are the ones that can answer these questions in near real time and take action in the moment where it counts and while campaigns are still live.
This changes how teams operate:
Instead of reacting after the event, teams can act during it.
Asking “Did it execute as planned?” highlights a risk but it also highlights an opportunity.
Because when execution is visible and consistent:
During moments like the World Cup, this is what turns demand into revenue.
Most teams only understand execution after the event.
Execution Intelligence changes that by providing visibility into what is happening in stores across all locations, from pricing and promotions to availability and display execution, all while campaigns are still live.
Learn more about Execution Intelligence
Or if you'd like to explore how this applies to your organisation:
.svg){kind=logo}
.svg)
.svg)