Last year Castrol EDGE presented Ronaldo Tested to the Limit, an award-winning documentary that showed the Portugal and Real Madrid forward showcase his strengths in a series of captivating challenges in the most scientific examination of a player ever undertaken.  #RonaldoLIVE will showcase the star player’s legendary skills, strength and agility.

Now, to celebrate the release of the documentary for free on iTunes, Castrol EDGE and Ronaldo are counting down to one more epic challenge, and this time – in a ground-breaking twist – Ronaldo’s fans will get to test his skill for themselves live on Facebook.

Fans are being asked to take part in the challenge – #RonaldoLIVE – by signing up on facebook.com/castrolfootball to be in with a chance of going head to head with Ronaldo on Thursday 17^th May.

#RonaldoLIVE will be the world’s first interactive football challenge streamed live through Facebook from a state-of-the-art testing facility in Madrid. In the test, inspired by Ronaldo and Castrol EDGE’s Twitter followers, Ronaldo will face a barrage of footballs fired at him from chutes suspended above and he will have to receive, control and shoot each ball into one of four goals that surround him before the next ball is released.

Of the first 100,000 fans that connect to the #RonaldoLIVE Facebook app to watch live, fans will be selected at random to take part in the action, by selecting Ronaldo’s target and choosing the goals that he must shoot into.

Will Ronaldo have the lightning quick reaction speed, shooting accuracy and strength under pressure to control and successfully strike each ball? Or will his fans’ selections prove too much of a test?

All the action will be streamed live on both Castrol EDGE and Ronaldo’s Facebook pages (facebook.com/castrolfootball & facebook.com/Cristiano) on Thursday 17^th May.  For fans that miss out on the live action, a mini-film will be released on Wednesday 23^rd on youtube.com/castroledge and castroledge.com/ronaldo

Be interesting to see how many fans tune in and how exciting the action will be.  It’s an interesting follow up event by the guys at M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment.

Vauxhall has this week launched a brand new Facebook competition giving England fans the opportunity to support Roy Hodgson’s men either at Home and Away this summer.

The England Team sponsor used digital agency Skive to develop the competition for fans to support their team in style this summer with a chance to travel to Ukraine or take part in a VIP Match screening in England with an England legend.

England fans can take part in a Home or Away quiz based on England team trivia and gives the winner the opportunity to choose where they would like to be watching the action this summer.

Peter Hope, Marketing Director of Vauxhall Motors, said; “As the England Team sponsor we wanted to be able to offer the ultimate fan experience for England fans either at Home or Away this summer.

“We have made a significant investment in our digital football platforms and the response to our activity has been very positive from the fans.

“Our Facebook competitions have been very well received by football fans and we are always looking to push the boundaries and give fans a unique experience through our sponsorship of the National team.”

Vauxhall’s Home or Away competition app is available via both desktop and mobile Facebook platforms.

Vauxhall launched their football social media platforms in October 2011 and currently have close to 45 thousand followers across all four Home Nations.

Become a fan of Vauxhall England on Facebook at www.facebook.com/VauxhallEngland

For more information on Vauxhall Football go to www.vauxhallfootball.co.uk

Follow @VauxhallEngland on twitter at https://twitter.com/VauxhallEngland

Last night saw Liverpool FC launch their new kit.  Actually it was more than a new kit launch as it saw the dawn of a new era in terms of their kit with new manufacturers ’Warrior’ – a US company founded by a former Lacrosse player, acquired by sports giant New Balance in 2004.

This is their first foray into football with their specialism coming from lacrosse (obviously) and ice hockey.  So it was always going to be important to shake off the shackles of previous incumbents adidas, who had been making the kits since 2006, by making the first kit launch an impressive one.

So, aside from the usual press release and pictures, what did they do in the social media space?  Here is what Paul Rogers, LFC’s Head of Content and long-term friend of the site, told UKSN (there are more quotes throughout the article too);

“When we sat down to work out our content plan around the ‘reveal’ of the new LFC kit, social media was at the forefront of our thinking. We know from past experience that kit reveals generate enormous excitement amongst fans and we wanted to reach out to and engage with as many supporters as possible when the clock struck midnight.

With our last  kit launch in the summer of 2011, we used our own official website, TV channel, Twitter and Facebook accounts to create a buzz but even in 12 months, things have moved on a lot. This time around, we were keen to maximise the reach of all of our social media channels including our new YouTube channel as well as Pinterest and Tumblr”

YouTube

The club and Warrior launched the usual video to accompany the launch showing some behind the scenes shots of the photo shoot, interviews/quotes from players and pictures of the new kit.  The players appear to be happy with it (no surprise there) as it brings back the gold into the kit so its a bit of a throwback to the 1970′s/1980′s in that sense.  It also appeals to the die-hard fans with a tribute to the 96 fans who lost their lives in the Hillsborough Distaster in 1989 with the inclusion of the number on the back of the shirt.

Interestingly in the video it shows an integration with a bigger campaign by the inclusion of the #LFCkit tag, encouraging fans to talk about it on twitter and talk to other fans. So far the video has gained 61k views since its launch at midnight last night.

The new kit sponsors also released their own video showcasing their ‘expect us’ activation today as the push to link the club and brand starts with a vengeance.  It is pretty cool and offered a teaser to the fans as they walked past the ground by projecting images of the players and the brand tag line onto a wall.  With £25m a year being paid to the club we can expect much more of this with a hefty marketing spend to back it up.

Twitter

The #LFCkit tag has been used many times and was reported to have trended in Liverpool after the midnight kit launch, showing fans were anxious to show their feelings (mostly good) about the kit.  It’s always a sensitive time for clubs when it comes to such a major change in design, as has been shown recently by Cardiff City’s plans to change from blue to red (something that was retracted after the predictable fan outrage).

As of 9am this morning there had been some 12,972 tweets using the hashtag.  Something that will taken as great success by those involved.  This was all before it had been picked up by the press or blogs so this number will increase significantly as news travels past the city walls of Liverpool.  The club also posted a new image on their Twitter background which showed the kit and, once again, the #LFCkit hashtag. (stats below taken using MAP).

“We went big on a dedicated twitter hashtag #lfckit – which we promoted across multiple sites, not just on Twitter – and it worked very well as it was trending worldwide soon after midnight” said Paul.

Pinterest

As part of the clubs push onto new platforms, of which Pinterest has been a focal point for the last few months.  The new launch was an ideal opportunity to make use of this highly visual platform with pictures from the launch event as well as the video being posted on their.  This gives fans another of many touch points where they can find information about the kit as well as links to the club store.

“As the reveal of any new kit is a very visual experience, we changed our facebook Cover photo and Twitter background to showcase the new kit and used both Pinterest and Tumblr to showcase some amazing images of the players for fans to share.”

Facebook

Finally, the club used their long established Facebook page to bring the imagery (and store links) to the fans.  With just under 10m fans on the page the reach would have been pretty wide and with the late night timing of the launch, the majority of fans would be able to get their first taste of what they are going to see on the pitch in August when they checked their Facebook this morning.

The use of cover photo’s as a way of bringing a highly visual approach to campaigns is something we have already highlighted here but it also provides a picture that fans can upload and use as their own cover photo.  Something a friend of mine did this morning.  There was no big tease as we saw with Rangers but there was no shortage of likes, shares and comments on each post.

Tumblr

Last, but not least (though originally left off from this post! – ed) was the inclusion of the clubs Tumblr page to provide more visuals to those who have subscribed to their page in their news feed.  The page is still quite new and it will certainly boost the number of people heading their page.

What else?

“On our website, we asked fans to mark the kit out of 10 – and so far we’ve had just short of 20,000 votes with a score of 10 coming out on top with 25% of the votes, with 74% of all fans voting for 7 or higher. To encourage engagement with fans, we’ve picked out 20 of the best tweets about the kit and embedded them in a news story on the official site – which lots of fans appreciate as fans all over the world can quickly follow them via the news story.”

Summary

The approach was that of hitting as many touch points as possible.  At the end of the day it about raising awareness, gaining coverage and selling kit (at the moment through pre-orders).  It has not been anything new or spectacular but shows good use of all the platforms at the same time, an integrated approach which proves that departments within the clubs – and the new sponsors – are talking to each other and working together as one.  Something very simple but often not achieved.

“It’s been an exciting launch so far, created a great deal of excitement and we’re on target to break the record for the number of pre-order sales on day one. In terms of exclusive content, we’ve got loads more kit-related videos planned for the coming days and weeks.”

AC Milan linked up with sponsors adidas to promote the fact that they have managed to break the 10m fan barrier on the official Facebook page.  For a global brand such as the most famous club in Italy it was only going to be a matter of time till they grew in such numbers – though still well behind Barcelona (30m), Real Madrid (27m) and Man United (26m).

It has been a pretty low key affair with no promotional video or massive digital campaign launched, what they have done is incorporate their players and give fans the chance to be part of it.  Interestingly they have also turned it into a revenue generator!

The players were photographed at the training ground donning the new Facebook ‘are you in?’ t-shirt that has been produced by the main kit suppliers adidas (disclosure – adidas are a client).  This links into the ‘are you in?’ campaign which has been going on for the last year.

The revenue side of it is that they are giving fans the option to buy one of the t-shirts on their e-commerce site for €12.00.  A way of turning those 10m fans into customers, which is something that is proving to be challenge for clubs on social media.  (I’m going to be speaking on Social CRM ‘converting fans into customers’ at the Sports CRM Summit later this month – more on this to come soon).

The players signed some of the tops and then wore the t-shirts whilst posing for photos.  They also changed the cover photo on their page to promote the celebration.  Timelines are becoming an easier way for clubs to provide visually great content as more clubs and brands use them in new ways.

The struggles that the former Scottish champions have had to endure this season have been well documented, with doubts still remaining as to what the future has in store as bidding to buy the troubled club continues.

Life, and business, though at the club has continued as normal though as the end of the season nears and thoughts move to the 2012-13 season.  One of the earliest features of the following season is always the kit launches that occur in April/May at each club.  Rangers are no different….. apart from in their approach.

The clubs Social Media Manager, Rab Boyle explains, “With the on-going success of our Club social media strategy since launch last year, we wanted to find a way to build some buzz around the launch of a very special kit that celebrates the Club’s stunning 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup Final victory and Rangers 140th anniversary using our social channels.”

The clubs social media strategy has been based around the launch of new channels on Facebook and Twitter.  The concentration on these channels (as well as keeping a close tab on others) and integration in other elements of the business has been ongoing and a great case of experimentation to test success.

The kit launch has certainly been one of these cases.

“We knew that if we had told the supporters outright that we were launching a 1972 tribute kit, they would have very easily realised what it was going to look like. It was then that we realised we could use the power of our social networks and our highly engaged fans on Facebook in particular, to build anticipation for its launch on Thursday. We decided that the best way to do this was use the visual storytelling capability of Facebook through Timeline covers to unveil the kit and to get fans talking about what the messages on the timeline meant.”

The use of the new Timeline cover photo’s is certainly a unique one and great use of a very visual element to the platform.  Not only did they release the new look kit on there but the teasing out of the launch to generate interest and word of mouth coverage was a nice touch.

They created 4 different timeline covers, each showing a different section of the kit and telling part of a story about the 1972 victory: In 1972 on a hot, tense night in Barcelona one game changed everything | The Rangers spirit conquered Europe | And 40 years later the spirit lives on.

This is how they looked…

Some great pictures that teased out the launch and look of the kit nicely.  Rab explains what happened during this process;

“The day before and the morning of launch, we changed the timeline covers at regular intervals, making no comment about what the images were of, or what they meant. This meant that fans could release for themselves what was happening and once they had done so, tell their friends. We also introduced a hashtag (#spiritliveson) on the cover pictures which helped to tie together all of our efforts on Twitter once the kit had gone live.

The evening before launch we ran a story on the Club website which said that there was going to be a kit launch the next morning at 11am and announced that it would be shown live on the Club video channel RangersTV – we also teased the kit at the end of our nightly news round up the night before.

All of this build up and preparation meant that when we went live at 11am on Thursday morning there was an audience waiting with anticipation, excited to see what the kit looked like across all of our social channels, our Club TV station and our website, rather than having to wait for pictures to be taken at a press conference, processed and later added to our website.”

Once the tease was complete a new cover picture was uploaded that showed various photos of the new kit and its links with the 1972 Cup Winners Cup Final shirt.

It’s certainly a unique use of Facebook new functionality and one I am sure that will be copied to a certain degree by other clubs and businesses.  The cover photo is a great way of showcasing iconic imagery and an area that can be used in many visually creative ways.

Last week the IOC launched its new ‘Olympic Athlete’s Hub’.  This new innovation is part of the organisations plans to make this the most social games of all time.

The concept is one that has been used by sponsors before around the Superbowl, providing a hub where you can follow the athletes latest comments on Twitter and find out other information at the same time.

This has taken it a stage further.  It integrates Facebook and Twitter, encouraging you to follow any of the 1000+ athletes that are on there.  What they have realised is that they need to offer more than just being a connection platform.

“We wanted to do something meaningful for both our athletes and fans,” said Alex Huot, Head of Social Media for the IOC.

So how does it work?

After signing in to the hub – by using either Facebook or Twitter – you are encouraged to start following athletes.  The reason for the signing in is that the hub is actually a rewards platform as well.  From the examples below you can see that there are videos from past games and tips from former Olympic champions.

To access thee videos with athletes tips you have to follow them (the ones with pictures you can see) and to view the previous games you have to follow a certain number of athletes to unlock it.

To provide extra encouragement for users to become part of this ‘Olympic community’, you are given points and badges for engaging with the content – very Foursquare-esque.  These points are then collated and you are placed onto a leaderboard with a Gold, Silver and Bronze medal for the top 3.

And there is yet more to receive from it….

“We think that regular chat sessions with athletes inside the village in London will be something that our fans want to engage in,” Huot said. “Fans will also get a rare, live, behind-the-scenes look at the Games through the eyes of the athletes.”

“Social media is a catalyst for a much more personal, engaging and fun way to experience an event like the Olympic Games.  Thanks to social media, London 2012 will ignite the largest online conversation the world has possibly ever seen and heard.”

It is a nice way in which to leverage social media at the games and bring fans closer to the athletes, especially those who may not be as well known.  It will also be useful for the media to build up their Twitter lists for sports that may be off the beaten track for them.

So is it a good idea or a social media fail…… to sit on the fence I would say it is too early to say but I dont see enough on there to maintain interest as a platform during the games.  It’s certainly worth the experiment and if it succeeds expect other governing bodies to follow.

What do you think?

Today sees the UK celebrate that it is only 100 days until the Olympic Games in London start.

It really doesn’t feel that long ago that the announcement was made by the IOC and we saw Beckham et al jumping around in celebration (as well as a few thousand people in Trafalgar Square!).

There are a few different strings to this celebration to tell you about that cover YouTube, Facebook and Twitter.

Firstly, Team GB have launched a video asking people on the street how they felt we when we won the Olympic bid, what their favourite British moment was and much more.  Watch it below to find out what they had to say….

Tonight also sees the 1984 Olympic Decathalon champion Daley Thompson take over the @TeamGB Twitter account for a Q&A session.  This is the latest instalment in the #AskTeamGB series where a famous GB athlete gets onto Twitter to take fans questions.  IT stats at 6pm tonight so get asking your questions now!

The next part of the social activation by the guys at Team GB is the launch of their mascot ‘Pride the Lion’ on Facebook and Twitter.  You can follow his latest exploits on www.facebook.com/PrideTheLion and @teamgb_pride

Finally, the team are asking people to “Join #OurGreatestTeam” by pinning their message of support on our map: www.ourgreatestteam.com

So, only 100 days to go and a huge amount going on!  Can’t wait to see what will be happening next….

Vauxhall and the Football Association of Wales will score a social networking first with a live Twitter takeover event next week with Head Coach Chris Coleman.

The newly appointed Wales Head Coach has agreed to become the first Home Nations Manager to answer questions from fans live via Vauxhall’s dedicated Wales football Twitter page.

This live Twitter takeover forms part of a series of player and coach live feeds over recent and coming months.

Simon Culley, Vauxhall’s Football Sponsorship Marketing Manager said; “We’re very grateful to Chris and the FAW for facilitating this activation. It is a ground breaking opportunity for us to host a live interaction between Welsh football fans and their head coach.

“We have made a significant investment in our digital football platforms and the response to our activity has been very positive from the fans.

“As sponsor of all four Home Nations we are in a very unique position and throughout the campaign we have worked hard to give fans a behind the scenes view of International football.”

Ian Davis, FAW Commercial Manager, commented; “This is a major coup for the FAW and Vauxhall and we are delighted to be able to make it happen.

“As an association we are always looking to innovate and offering the fans a chance to interact with the Head Coach via Social Media is an exciting opportunity for everyone involved.”

The Twitter takeover will take place at the FAW Headquarters at 11am on Thursday 19^th of April, the same day that a group of Welsh football fans get the chance to play in Vauxhall’s Big Pitch game at the Millennium Stadium.

Vauxhall launched their football social media platforms in October 2011 and currently have close to forty thousand followers across all four Home Nations.

Follow @Vauxhall_Wales on twitter at https://twitter.com/vauxhall_wales

Become a fan of Vauxhall Wales on Facebook at www.facebook.com/vauxhallwales

For more information on Vauxhall Football go to www.vauxhallfootball.co.uk

The FA WSL have just announced the launch of their new digital initiative.  It’s great to see the hard work of Leigh Moore, someone I have followed for a while and was lucky enough to meet the other week.  Here is what he has been up to…

Fans of the FA Women’s Super League are to be given a unique insight into the lives of their favourite players with the launch of the new FA WSL digital player ambassador programme.

The eight FA WSL teams have each selected a player to be the digital face of their club in what the league hopes will continue its offer to be one of the most interactive in football.

Leigh said the programme was aimed at giving fans unrivaled access to players:

Whilst football fan pages are commonly used, Moore believes having a player-led approach across all teams will add something different to the WSL offer.

“There are plenty of fan pages on facebook but we wanted to give our players the lead on this, so they will be running their pages and creating all the content themselves.

“They will be giving fans a glimpse at what they get up to on and off the pitch which hopefully can inspire the next generation of top women’s footballers.”

As a part of the programme the eight players will also wear their twitter names on the sleeve of their shirts.

He continues: “The players have done a brilliant job of building a good relationship with their fans via twitter.

You only have to look across the game to see what a big part twitter is playing in the day to day business of football and we see it as a crucial part of what we are doing.

In the WSL you can get close enough to the action to see exactly what players have on their shirts, so we wanted to make use of this to further promote the players and the digital accessibility of the league.”

Here are the ambassadors and their Facebook pages…

StephHoughtonOfficial

SiobhanChamberlainOfficial

ClaireRaffertyOfficial

LauraBassettOfficial

AroonClanseyOfficial

JillScottOfficial

MeganHarrisOfficial

JulieAnneRussellOfficial

Guest Post: Iain Taker is an associate at Kemp Little LLP, specialising in commercial and sports law, and a registered lawyer under the FA Football Agency Regulations.  You can follow him on twitter @iaintaker or on LinkedIn.  Following on the from the success of his last article here on UKSN, here is the first of two part look at sports bodies and clubs interaction with the public through digital media.

A digital media strategy is increasingly not only an accepted part of sports governing bodies, clubs and players (“parties”) interaction with the public but a necessary part.  This article will look at the importance of interaction with, opposed to merely talking at, the public.  A number of parties appear to have failed to harness the potential digital media offers but those who have understood its capabilities are reaping the benefits in both monetary and non-monetary terms.

This article will examine aspects of a digital media strategy that should be foremost in the mind when planning and reviewing such a strategy and extracting the maximum benefit from its use.  It is clear that there is no one size fits all strategy and that parties need to determine their individual requirements, budgetary constraints and the skills available to them before creating, implement and maintaining a suitable strategy.  A common complaint from fans of the parties is that there is often a lack of understanding in relation to the difference between having a digital media presence and using that presence to engage the fans.

Engaged or merely courting?

A vast number of parties now have a presence through digital media platforms and in particular an increasing presence on social media channels. However there is a significant difference between presence and successful engagement. Too few parties have been successful in achieving a sustained level of engagement. Often this is a result of not prioritising digital media efforts, lacking the sufficient expertise or having an ineffective policy.

Many may wrongly believe that a successful strategy is simply a case of being able to make the necessary resources available, but this is not the reality.  A recent survey by Newcastle United Supporters Trust found that only 3% of fans believed the club listened to them. Such a figure is not uncommon even amongst the higher profile teams and it is symptomatic of the argument that the sports industry (as a whole) takes fan loyalty for granted rather than seeking to build a business to customer relationship more akin to alternative ‘business led’ industries.

It is widely believed that the NBA in the United States has been the most successful sport in engaging with their public, as digital media opportunities have been pursued from the governing body, the teams and individual players. The NBA has developed its digital media strategy by embracing opportunities and learning what works and what has been less successful.  In the United Kingdom the slickest operation is undoubtedly Manchester City as exemplified through initiatives such as use of FanCam and streaming post-match interviews via their social media channels. One reason for their success is that their digital media strategy works in harmony with their long term overarching intention of creating a global brand.  It is by understanding the fan, their wants and likes that will enable a party are able to fully engage the public.

There are a number of factors behind many parties’ failure to actively engage the public such as an over focus upon increasing revenue from the outset and inadequate available skills within the employees which results in a failure for the parties ability to get to grip with the impact that digital media can have.  Richard Ayers, Digital Playmaker at Manchester City believes that the biggest hindrance faced by many is a lack of internal communication and co-ordinated planning.  Without understand what the aim of the communication is it is virtually impossible to create a consistent and effective on-going engagement with the public.

Considerations for parties

Strategy

In order to have a successful engagement with the public there needs to be considerable planning and consideration as to what the party is actually seeking to achieve and what would need to occur for the strategy to be deemed a ‘success’. As part of this the party should undertake a process to establish what an acceptable return on its investment would be (this may be commercial returns or cultural returns).  In order for the strategy to have a chance of being a success the aims must be line with an honest review of the budget, the time that key personnel are able/prepared to commit and the available skill set of the employees.

Without the commitment of the key people within the party any planned strategy is likely to be unsuccessful. In order to achieve this ‘success’ it is necessary to highlight shortcomings, and quite possibly advisable in the case of skill sets, to bring in a consultant to work alongside the existing employees of the party to create, implement and maintain a viable digital media strategy.  Digital media is a specialist area and the specialist skills required to fully utilise its capabilities should not be underestimated.  Successful digital and social media offerings are increasingly the result of utilising third parties experience. Manchester City for example decided that in order to become a market leader they need skills which were not available internally and brought in an external team.  Individual players are also increasingly using the expertise of consultants who take the player’s wish to engage with fans and turn it into a professional offering as shown by Wayne Rooney’s recent hiring of Jae Chalfin from Sports New Media.

Target

One key aspect to fully engaging fans is ensuring that the social media strategy is fully targeted. The Party should determine to whom the content is designed for. Some content will be suitable for the public as a whole such as Manchester City for example use the twitter hashtag #blueview on match days a simple idea to initiate but highly effective and has been equally well received by those attending the game and their international fans.

Where however this is not the case attention should be paid as how best to engage the relevant part of the public.  For example on a match day there are two separate groups that the digital content make seek to engage e.g. those attending the game and those who are not at the game.  Therefore it may be a possibility that those at the ground can be offered more targeted content e.g. traffic news, latest offers in the club shop etc. while those unable to attend may get different content e.g. latest offers in the online store. Where a party is seeking to maximise its engagement with international fans there are significant benefits to providing content in a range of languages along with region specific content e.g. heavier focus on players from that region etc.

Analyse and improve via feedback

To improve the level to which fans feel engaged it is important to ensure that the digital media analytics are effectively monitored as this will provide evidence see how the successful the engagement is.  For example by analysing social media data such as the number or comments on Facebook, replies or retweets on Twitter for example it will enable a greater understand of who the audience actually is.  In addition it will provide valuable information that will help to target content and improve the value of digital media offerings to the party.

While the digital media strategy must have a long term goal it is necessary to have built in flexibility in order to adapt to trend changes for example.  It is therefore vital to encourage the users to have their say on both the content and how it is being provided, e.g. weekly suggestion competitions with the winners getting a shirt/voucher/ticket etc. and importantly incorporating the suggestions. The provided content should be simple to use, interesting and fun for the public. By thinking from the mind-set of the target public (easily done through using their feedback) it is possible to understand what will be most appealing e.g. behind the scenes access or interactive content.

Make content engaging and authentic

Jae Chalfin believes a key aspect of having a successful approach is to embrace the ethos or personality in the offerings as fans will know, and been turned off, when there is a lack of authenticity.  Parties must understand that there is a significant benefit to focussing on producing engaging content for fewer platforms than a lesser presence on many. Dan McLaren, from here at UKSN, says that “a number of pitfalls are the result of parties doing something for the sake of it and not really understand why they are providing content.”  The content must engage the public and not be solely about the commercialisation of a party, by providing content that is authentic and interesting the party will see a greater uptake of their message.

As mentioned above parties should place themselves in the shoes of the public what content they would like to see? For individuals and clubs it is very much about contact, the behind the scenes access is constantly top of fans favourite features on social media surveys.  For governing bodies its again about removing the feeling of us and them and enabling the public to understand how the body functions. Governing bodies should seek to be informative and give the public an insight into the latest going-ons within the sport and utilise former professionals to give context around events.  For example the Rugby Football Union can use former players to discuss the upcoming Six Nations games as well as news about team line up, fixtures etc.

Traditional media v Digital media

There is a careful balance to be taken between an over reliance on either traditional forms of media or digital media as they each offer advantages and drawbacks such as the cost, speed, target markets that they will reach.  There is a need and benefit for undertaking a co-ordinated marketing and communications plan that embraces both types of media.  There has been a hesitancy by many parties in embracing digital media to a greater extent. This does not come as a surprise to many as the vast majority of decision makers have often built their careers during an age of traditional PR/marketing opposed to the relatively new phenomenon (particularly in relation to social media) that is digital media. This situation is slowly changing and with the addition of decision makers who have digital experience, or directors who are open minded enough to hire someone with such experience and give them sufficient authority, increasing synergies between the two forms of media are occurring.  Richard Ayers believes that it is this lack of digital experience coupled with the authority to act that is resulting in missed opportunities for many parties who often continue to struggle to make digital media part of their standard operating procedure.

It is vital that a party, who wants to maximise their opportunities and engagement, uses specialists within each area but also that these specialists work in conjunction rather than competition with each other.  Traditional media still has a very significant role to play and the different types of media can benefit from each other as many social media marketing campaigns cannot work without the awareness that TV, print, etc can bring and in turn digital media can reach a wider and different audience than traditional media.  When choosing the correct media to use it is still important to remember who is the target market is as some age categories and countries are more effectively reached through traditional media than digital media. This is shown by a quote given by an ICC spokesman when discussing the difficult balance they have between using traditional and digital media “particularly given that we are an international organisation trying to reach out to countries where consumers behave very differently when it comes to what kind of media they engage in.”

So what expansion ideas should be looked at?

The social media focus of most digital media strategies has been on Facebook and Twitter, which is not surprising due to the popularity and possibilities available on these platforms.  However, these platforms should not be relied upon to the exclusion of others for example Manchester City currently has nine separate components of social media available to their fans.  However it is prudent to build a presence on one or two platforms and build up rather than spreading the content too thin across multiple platforms. Prior to releasing content onto any digital platform the plan must be well-thought through and tested.

The ICC is very sensible looking at utilising the experience held by their broadcast and sponsors to find new and creative ways to engage fans at their marque events such as the ICC World Twenty20 later this year in Sri Lanka.  It is important to undertake market research as to what the targeted audience is looking for.  A governing body should seek to offer a different service to that of a sports club or player who will seek to engage their fans on a daily basis. The governing body should look to work with their members and collectively share their experiences as different members will have alternative strategies.

A few thoughts that the parties should consider are:

Be fan driven

It is the fan who generates a significant amount of revenue for the club and holds a passion for the team. It is important to always think of what content they would like to receive rather than just what you wish to provide.  Regularly interacting with fans is crucial ideas such as competitions, exclusive access, uploading fans photos and Q&A sessions may make them feel part of the team and in turn encourage others to join.  Taking the time out to reward particularly loyal fans shows that you are interested in their support. The cost to do this may be negligible but the value could be significant. You should encourage your fans to suggest ideas and encourage them to interact with each other e.g. offer a hashtag where fans can share their thoughts.

Remain focused and up to date

It is not necessary to try and put content out on every available platform and it is advisable to focus upon a few outlets (the most common being the body or club website, Facebook and Twitter).  Three considerations should always be borne in mind, content must be correct; content must be current and content must be of interest. Utilise the strengths of the platforms you are using to their maximum, the club webpage can provide significantly more details/stories etc, Twitter should be used for very quick updates the fan should hear the latest news from the party themselves not a third party.  Facebook offers an easy platform to upload interactive content and fan pictures etc.  

Where parties wish to utilise digital and particularly social media to drive revenues it is often a collaboration of non-revenue content that will enable this.  For example when a party is launching a new kit or event the videos of such a launch or announcement can be accompanied by a link to be the first to buy the kit or tickets. Fans will not be upset by having commercial driven content alongside relevant content, they will however be turned off it the content is primarily focused on increasing revenue streams.

Constantly benchmark against other sports team/bodies or players

Once a party has set up their digital media offerings they should always be looking at how to deliver an improved service.  A simple way of doing this is looking at what offerings other parties and brands are using.  Not everything that is successful elsewhere will work for every party but there are often elements that will help to ensure that your content is engaging.  If you think of an idea it is worth trialling it and making a point about its trial in order to: a) create hype around it; b) receive feedback; and c) enables it easily to be taken down if it is not successful. It is by trying new and innovative ideas that you will establish what works for you and your fans.  New ideas do not have to cost a lot of money but can really set you apart from the competition e.g. Manchester City and Vincent Kompany who held the Premier League’s first post-match interview on Facebook and Twitter. Another simple but clever initiative is being used by Sheffield Wednesday FC who allow supporters to use Facebook to find where their friends are sitting when buying a ticket.

Size of digital media market domestically and internationally

One of the most prominent advantages of digital media is that the vast number of people (both current fans and potential fans) that it enables a party to reach across international boundaries.  It is this fact only that should mean that the digital media strategy should be an integral part of any party’s business strategy.  The market enables quick and easy access to a greater number of fans than traditional media is able to.

Due to the international support that parties now have and the possibilities available through digital media platforms the content should be provided in a language other than just English, such as Manchester City providing their content in Arabic. The party should seek to utilise the international aspects of digital media in line with its core business plan, this has been shown by Manchester United’s development of mobile video highlights of its games across Asia and Europe.

Conclusion

Digital media is too often an area that many parties undervalue and its full potential is yet to be embraced by many.  The increasing popularity and acceptance of smartphones means that digital offerings can be viewed more often than ever. A successful strategy must be well planned and implemented but should not be in place of existing traditional media offerings utilised with such offerings. Digital media is not a fad and is a specialist industry in itself and often the cost of hiring an consultant to guide a party through the available opportunities will be money reaped back many times over.

A fan-centric approach should be adopted by parties as the culture of digital media, and in particular social media, is very different to traditional media.  Fans expect content to be tailored to be of maximum interest to them and when this is achieved will revenue generate activities be established. Facebook itself showed that by having patience in getting the offering correct prior to commercialising the platform can be very lucrative in the long run.  It is likely that an increasing number of parties will embrace the opportunities available through digital media in the coming years.  While there are some potential pitfalls where handled properly it can be an incredibly effective tool.

I would particularly like to thank the ICC, Richard Ayers (Manchester City), Jae Chalfin (Sports New Media) and Dan McLaren (We Are Social/UKSN) for their help in writing this article.