DIGITAL MEDIA has transformed the way we think about sports marketing and it’s pretty easy to view the Games of the 30th Olympiad positively with unprecedented digital activation, and sponsors doing more across a broader range of platforms than ever before.
The statistics back this up; the Beijing 2008 Facebook Page achieved 330,000 likes whilst London 2012 has already achieved 1.3m; the London 2012 opening ceremony generated 9.66 million mentions on Twitter (2 or 3 of them from me!), way exceeding the total number of tweets posted during the entire 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
As of August 5, the Olympic Games has over 4m followers across all platforms, and YouGov’s SoMA social media measurement tool claims that Olympics-related tweets are reaching around 90 per cent of UK Twitter users.
The athletes are getting involved too (according to the IOC) with 2,014 verified Olympians, both past and present, using social networks.
Undoubtedly, with the growth of digital platforms/applications over the past four years, these results are to be expected. However, with this growth comes the challenge of how sponsors should most effectively leverage their Olympic partnership across digital platforms. A website, Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube channel and Mobile app are standard methods for deepening consumer engagement in the digital space.
However, the growth in the production and distribution of branded video content is perhaps the most interesting area of development. There have been some strong Olympic campaigns that have used this well and a number of those sponsors have developed really nice standout work.
Coca-Cola have created Beat TV, broadcast live on ITV2 at 11pm with online edits running across YouTube and supported across Web, Facebook and Twitter. VISA have ventured down the User Generated Content route encouraging fans to upload and cheer on team VISA athletes.
During the Torch Relay Samsung featured daily video diaries, and during the games have a team of global bloggers creating video content. All three of these brands are currently posting multiple pieces of video content on YouTube every day and sharing that content across all other platforms.
Meanwhile Adidas, P&G and BT are creating exclusive video content around their respective ‘All in/All2012’, ‘Thank You Mum’ and ‘BT Storytellers’ campaigns.
And beyond these five or six consumer facing sponsors are creating video content featuring behind the scenes and athlete interviews.
Online video gives sponsors a way to ‘squeeze the pips’ out of their partnership assets and create a deeper, more engaged connection with their consumers, staff and stakeholders.
Moving forward the challenge will be to integrate the second screen with online content – making both the in-stadium and in-home content experience more engaging and as mobile and 4G technology develops further, the bar will rise substantially for Rio 2016 and beyond. It’s a challenge we’re certainly excited by.
By Andy Westlake – CEO, Fast Track
Follow Andy on Twitter: @AndyWestlake