(Yicai) July 21 -- After Spain beat Argentina to become the 2026 FIFA World Cup champion, the Chinese sponsors of the Spanish national soccer team started giving out rewards they had promised customers before the tournament.

Chinese kitchen appliance leader Vatti unveiled a promotional campaign valid only if Spain won before the World Cup started. Selected customers who purchased certain items before July 19 were added to a poll from which Vatti will draw 22 winners by Aug. 3. Two will receive limited-edition celadon pottery by Chinese ceramic art master Ye Xiaochun, and the other 20 will get a 25-gram gold ball each.

Vatti’s approach for the 2026 World Cup is much more balanced than that for the 2018 edition. In fact, the company promised customers that if its sponsored team France won the 2018 World Cup, it would refund a portion of their purchases. It ended up repaying clients CNY80 million (USD11.8 million) for online and offline sales worth over CNY1 billion (USD147.7 million).

Vatti’s share of the Chinese offline range hood and gas stove markets climbed to 7.9 percent from 6.8 percent and to 10.3 percent from 9.3 percent, respectively, as of July 12 from a year earlier, according to data from All View Cloud Data Technology. The firm’s online market share of kitchen appliance packages rose to 7.5 percent from 5.9 percent in the period.

Chinese coffee chain Luckin Coffee also sponsored Spain during the 2026 World Cup. After the team won, it announced it would offer 100,000 free order vouchers and 25 percent off coupons.

Industrial giant TCL Technology has been a partner of Spain since 2023. During the World Cup this year, the company held outdoor advertising and terminal marketing events themed around the Spanish team in multiple countries, such as Spain, Germany, the United States, Canada, and China.

TCL’s share in the Spanish television market rose to 10.6 percent in May from 8.5 percent a year earlier and climbed to 11.2 percent in June from 9.3 percent a year ago, according to data from global market research firm GfK. Sigmaintell predicted that TCL’s overseas TV shipments surged nearly 16 percent to 11.8 million units in the first half from the same period last year.

Chinese brands’ core sponsorship strategy at this year’s World Cup has shifted toward refined, in-depth cooperation with national teams, Li Jiang, executive director of sports marketing intelligence platform Yutang Sports, told Yicai.

Li believes that the shift in Chinese brands’ sponsorship attitude is part of a broader marketing adjustment. During previous World Cups, most of them prioritized pure brand exposure, but this time, they collaborated with partners to launch limited-edition co-branded products, built offline display and promotional venues overseas, cooperated with tournament broadcasters and short-video platforms, and held offline fan events to host match-watching interactive activities.

Chinese home appliance giant Midea Group has become the main partner of the Spanish soccer team Barcelona this month. Many Barcelona players are key in Spain’s national team, which helped Midea leverage the World Cup for promotional events.

Editor: Futura Costaglione