ACCORDING TO some commentators, the London Games this summer will be the most tweeted, liked and tagged in history.
Despite stringent rules placed by both the International Olympic Committee and LOCOG on how athletes, employees and volunteers may use blogs, Twitter and Facebook during the Games, the social media Olympics – or ‘socialympics’ as many are calling them – will not go unnoticed.
Whilst every new major event, from elections to the Euros, is supposedly more ‘social’ than previously, it is worth remembering that Facebook and Twitter have grown by about 800% and 1500% respectively since the last Summer Games in Beijing.
This fact hasn’t gone unnoticed by the sponsors either, it would seem.
Many have taken their campaigns online and, more specifically, onto social networking sites. In the last fortnight alone, British Airways, EDF and McDonalds have all announced major programmes with digital and social media elements at their heart. BA has even chosen a hashtag (#HomeAdvantage) in an attempt to appeal to the tweets and likes of the British public, not just their hearts and minds.
Sociagility, an agency that helps brands develop their in-house social media capabilities, has been tracking the social media performance of the 25 main sponsors since 18 April – 100 days out from the opening ceremony – via a dedicated London 2012 Social Scoreboard. Using its PRINT Index™, a measure of social media effectiveness that correlates directly with brand value, the consultancy has identified some clear leaders and laggards.
Procter & Gamble unleashed a wide-ranging social media initiative very early on, as part of its broader “Thank you, mum” global campaign. The video of the original advert has already been viewed 25 million times and both consumer and brand engagement on social networks have put P&G consistently in gold medal position.
Snapping at its heels in close second has been Cadbury, with a carefully-planned and executed series of digital and social media campaigns, including an addictive application of its longer-running Spots v Stripes campaign, an Unwrap Gold on-pack/online combo and now much broader consumer engagement via its ‘owned’ social media properties.
Other sponsors, however, seem to have neither the will nor inclination to activate their sponsorships through social media. Names like adidas, consistently ranked as one of the most ‘appropriate’ sponsors by consumers, fail to make it out of the bottom ten according to Sociagility’s tracking.
Others, such as Atos, Dow and GE seem to be stuck in the starting blocks (Dow actually shut down its sports-related Twitter account and Facebook page in April).
So with the ‘socialympics’ just around the corner, brands that have spent significantly on Olympic sponsorship – or any other property for that matter – should be making a serious effort to achieve some return from that investment through social media. Just ask P&G and Cadbury.
By Niall Cook, Co-founder and Principal, Sociagility
Follow Niall on Twitter: @niallcook or @sociagility
http://olympics.sociagility.com