There were many aspects that made the Germany-Portugal game the ultimate spectacle in China, which reflected prominently on Chinese social media channels Weibo and Tencent Weibo. The group stage fixture was the topic of heavy discussion on Chinese social media, with most posts from football authorities regarding the event going viral.
Before the match even began, the social media sphere was reeling with excitement as content supporting the German national team was published across some of Germany’s most prevalent brands and national team players’ accounts. Individual players Özil and Podolski received great engagement on all their posts both leading up to and following the match, but that was not nearly as impressive as the micro digital marketing strategy implemented by Germany’s leading car manufacturers.
Mercedes-Benz and BMW both are prevalent forces in driving Chinese social media accounts, and just before kick-off, they were victorious in engaging their Chinese fans. The two competitors simultaneously released a graphic of a single car from each company side by side in a stadium, announcing that tonight, they are supporting the German national team as one. While the Chinese social media sphere may be hard to penetrate for many brands, Benz and BMW had no trouble harnessing China’s World Cup fever, as solidarity translates well in any language.
The German national team’s official Weibo account was thriving with activity as Thomas Müller netted a hat-trick and, as a result of Pepe’s inability to control his emotion, saw the Portuguese national sent off with a straight red card to ultimately destroy any hopes of a Portugal victory.
During the game, there was a lot more Chinese social media activity surrounding the pivotal World Cup fixture than just the German national team’s Weibo feed. With the match itself (#GERvsPOR#) being posted about over 85,000 times the night of the match, the midnight kick-off fuelled a lot of activity around the World Cup.
However with all the activity, the true point to notice was the lack of activity on one end of the social media spectrum, where the only thing more silent than Cristiano Ronaldo’s Tencent Weibo account was his presence on the pitch.
So as the Germans’ efforts bettered Portugal’s in every way on the pitch, it was the same scenario in China, as the fans of Selecção Das Quinas were shut down systematically by the precision of the Germans.
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