Why Billion-Dollar Brands Keep Losing the World Cup to a Coffee Chain
The Mengniu vs. Yili World Cup marketing rivalry is a distraction. The real winner isn’t determined by official sponsorships or clever ambush campaigns—it’s determined by who can convert event attention into actual consumer behavior. While dairy giants fight over press coverage, Luckin Coffee quietly demonstrated the real competitive moat: direct-to-consumer infrastructure that turns hype into transactions.