One match to go. Two teams left and one of them 80 minutes from glory. Now it’s your chance to get involved and make a difference to the two Aviva Premiership Rugby finalists.  This is the message being driven by Premiership Rugby ahead of the big day between Leicester and Northampton at Twickenham next week (25th May).

It’s a game I was looking forward to going to but its going to be all about football for me instead (more details to follow soon).  My better half will be there cheering them on, my rugbyt will have to wait for the next day when its England v Barbarians. Should be a cracking weekend!

Aviva and Premiership Rugby have joined together to give the fans a chance to have their messages of support actually seen by the finalists. All you have to do is send in your messages of support via Twitter using the hashtag #LittleThingsMatter and the best messages will be selected to appear at Twickenham on the day. These messages will be displayed on the LED boards in the stadium, in the tunnel for the players to see, or even on boards that will placed in both dressing rooms.

Aviva’s Senior Sponsorship Manager, Louisa Cheetham explains the thinking behind the campaign;

“Players and coaches love to hear messages of support from their fans. The connection between rugby fans and their club sides is so strong they appreciate every word of encouragement from their supporters.  So this year we are going to make it as easy as possible for the players and coaches to find out what their fans think and how much they want them to bring the Aviva Premiership Rugby trophy home.  Think about the little thing you could say that could help your team on the day and use that thought.”

The best messages will be mounted on boards in the Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers dressing rooms, displayed on LED screens around Twickenham and written on the tunnel. So your message might be the last thing the players see before they run out onto the pitch at Twickenham.

It’s a nice touch by the league and stadium as they look to maximise the use of the screens on match day.  We have seen a trend for their to be more fan engagement around big matches in different sports over recent times.  The technology is getting better, stadiums are starting to ramp up their wifi and 3G capabilities and its all about the fan experience.

Here’s a great video to help promote the initiative.  They gained the help of players from both teams, fans and some other notables.

Every year, the great British institution of Gumball3000 turns 3,000 miles of public roads into an international rally course.  The event pits around 120 of the most eye-catching and/or head-turning cars against one another in the ultimate road trip adventure.  This year, Berkshire-based digital agency, Rawnet, have unleashed their passion in designing and developing the official website to the point where you can almost catch the whiff of petrol in the air.

As the Official Digital Partner, they were keen to apply their digital savvy to create a compelling online meeting place for all the participating Gumballers, as well as the hundreds of thousands of fans worldwide.  Among the more high-profile entrants in this special 15^th anniversary rally are David “The Hoff” Hasselhoff, musician and actress, Eve, skateboarding legend, Tony Hawk, bands Cypress Hill and Nero, rapper, actor and TV host, Xzibit and Formula One Driver, Kimi Raikkonen, to name but a handful.

Rawnet are helping everyone to track the Gumballers’ progress en route from Copenhagen to Monaco with their Interactive Live Map.   Gumballers simply capture a picture on their phone, then tweet the photo adding the hashtag #rawnet.  By enabling Location Services on their mobile devices, they can share moments and memories from the rally on the Live Tweet map in mere seconds.  It’s a great way for Gumballers to update all of their followers, fans and fellow drivers on their position while effortlessly creating their own photo blog throughout the event.  Whoever takes the picture that best captures the ‘Spirit of Gumball’ will win a Nikon D5100 along with a signed copy of the winning picture from founder, Maximillion Cooper.

As part of the new website, Rawnet have also built Gumball an interactive Entry Grid for 2013 that allows fans and Gumballers alike to get their favourite team on pole position for the starting grid in Copenhagen by raising money for the Gumball3000 Foundation.  The team that raises the highest amount as of Sunday 19^th May will be leaving Copenhagen first under the chequered flag.

The Gumball3000 Foundation is a non-profit charitable trust that has been established to benefit underprivileged youth through Education, Infrastructure and Environmental projects.

Show your support by donating today as all monies raised will go to this fantastic cause. Just choose your favourite team and click the donate button.  The total raised so far is £49,789 with Team 86 from Italy in the lead www.gumball3000.com/rally/entry_grid

So, get involved and experience a taste of the action at www.rawnet.com/gumball3000 from Sunday 19^th May 2013 where the adventure begins in Copenhagen.  Accompany us on a journey that winds through Stockholm, Helsinki, St.Petersburg, Riga, Warsaw and Vienna before rocking up in Monaco just in time for the Formula 1 Grand Prix on Sunday 26^th May.

Yesterday’s game at Wembley was full of late drama and emotion.  It was David Vs Goliath.  It was the return to the place that had ended Wigan chairman Dave Whelan’s footballing career back in 1960.  It was the FA Cup Final.

We have spoken on how recently about how Vine should be used and how it is currently.  We have seen many a view of an empty stadium or some other uneventful posts.  But how good would it be to capture something different and of-the-moment.

Usually we only look at the business accounts of clubs, NGB’s and brands but today I wanted to put an individual on here.  I had been to see the FA only last week, though we didn’t talk about Vine, and it was great to see it being used on the day.

Mark Gilbert, who heads up editorial content at the FA, has been experimenting with the app and managed to time it perfectly yesterday.  Sat behind the dugouts of the teams he caught the celebrations as Wigan’s Ben Watson steered in a great last-minute header.  By capturing the manager, coaches and subs going crazy it gave a snapshot that we didn’t see much of on TV and also gave us some emotion.

People love to share things that they feel something towards.  Seeing people celebrating a monumental moment in a clubs history is one of those special times.  Mark’s quick video has already been shared over 400 times.  Imagine is it had been through the main FA account?  It was retweeted by the @FA and also Twitter UK’s Lewis Wiltshire plugged it after seeing his use of Vine in his timeline.  It’s well worth a look.

Here is the main Vine that caught so much attention.  For other events, clubs, NGB’s it worth noting and looking to build into your plans.  It doesn’t step on broadcasters toes as there is no match footage and gives something that fans love to see and share.

The Formula 1 giants have been at the forefront of digital technology (online as well as on the track) for a number of years now and continue to innovate.  Some fans though will be sad to see the renaming of the industry-acclaimed @TheFifthDriver as it becomes @McLarenF1.  This change will be promoted at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix with the new handle appearing on the front wing endplate of Jenson Button and Checo Perez’s cars.

The change will make it easier for McLaren’s global fanbase to identify and engage with the team on Twitter and reflects the wider digital engagement strategy to make the team as accessible as possible to a greater number of people – in turn providing them with a unique insight into the heart of a living and breathing Formula 1 team.

Over the last 12 months, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes has seen strong growth in follower numbers and engagement across its social media channels, owing to a revised approach to content strategy, social media campaigns and entering new and emerging digital platforms:

•     During the last 12 months, the number of followers on the official Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Facebook page has increased by 40% to over 700,000.
•     In the same period, Twitter numbers have grown by 80% to almost 350,000
•     Since entering Google+ in December 2012, follower numbers have surpassed the 100,000 mark

As part of a new digital engagement strategy, the official Vodafone McLaren Mercedes website was also re-launched at the start of the 2013 season. Developed in a responsive format, the new website further empowers fans to stay up to date with the latest from the team across multiple devices. As part of the relaunch, the team’s long-standing adaptation of a second-screen viewing experience – now rebranded McLaren LIVE – continues to add to the race-day experience for fans and looks great.

McLaren.com/Formula1 will also be launching in Spanish, reflecting McLaren’s increasingly global fan base, which has been boosted by the signing of the latest Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver, Sergio Perez.

These developments are the latest in a series of achievements for a team that has developed a reputation for its forward-thinking approach to digital and social media – a fact that has been proven over the past four years. McLaren were the first Formula 1 team to offer fans the opportunity to view live telemetry during races and practice sessions, the first front-running team to start using Twitter, and more recently the team has embraced the full breadth of its social media platforms to spectacularly live-stream the MP4-28 car reveal.

Martin Whitmarsh, Team Principal, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes said:

“Our fans are at the heart of our digital strategy. We’ve strived hard to develop world-leading digital platforms that our fans can enjoy, while creating compellingly insightful content that draws them in and makes them feel part of our team.

@TheFifthDriver has not retired. Through the new handle of @McLarenF1, the mysterious micro-blogger will continue to give our fans unique access to the inner workings of one of the most successful teams in the history of Formula 1, the pinnacle of global motorsport.”

Article taken from original release on McLaren.com/Formula1

The news that I (and many other United fans) had dreaded finally arrived this morning.  Twitter had been awash with rumours of his immanent departure since last night when The Telegraph went with an exclusive article.

The news was posted on Twitter and quickly stirred much debate.  Initially there was a dismissive feel to it but when more facts became clear it sent the Twitterverse into overdrive.  No comment was made by the club which only added to the rumours, though this was of no surprise due to the stock listing in NYC that meant that any change would have to be disclosed to them first.

Then it happened.  At around 9.17am the only Manchester United presence on Twitter (there is no official team account, only the Press Office) tweeted a simple short message that left no doubt.

The move by the club shows how the platform has become the number 1 place to break news.  It is where all the press have a presence and where clubs have been able to enable some kind of control over their ‘brand’.  Players use it to have a voice whilst clubs will always use it for marketing and PR (not so much engagement goes on still).

As soon as the new broke it sent Twitter into meltdown.  People like myself posting messages of disbelief and thanks to a manager who is without doubt the most successful manager ihn the history of the game in England.  I’ve been a fan for over 25 years and have only ever known one manager.  It’s a day we’ve feared will one day inevitably arrived but we didn’t want to happen yet (if ever).

A little after this post was first published I was sent a neat infographic from the guys at Simplyzesty.  It shows the reaction over a longer period of time and some more details of Facebook as well.  Make sure you have a read of their full article on the announcement here.

Taking a quick look at the stats (via Topsy) you can see when the story first broke late last night and then when the official announcement was made.  A total of over 300k mentions in half an hour shows how people from around the world were talking about it.

The use of the hashtag by the club was nicely done and lead it becoming the number 1 trending topic in the world.  At one point 8 out of the 10 trends were related to it and in there was the name David Moyes.  Once the initial shock receded then the next obvious step was to start speculating over who will take over.

The bookies favourite is Moyes, the Everton manager who has managed to over deliver almost every year for the last 11 years.  Will he succeed and be up to the task?  Will it be Jose Mourinho, someone who has shown no secret as to his desire to manage at Old Trafford when Sir Alex calls it a day?  Or an outsider such as the successful Jurgen Klopp from Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund?

It is rumoured that his successor will be announced within the next 48 hours so we will wait and see.  It’s going to be a nervous time to firstly see who gets it and then if they can carry on from where Sir Alex left off.  Taking another snapshot from Twitter most of the conversation is around Jose but Moyes is close behind.  Can this be a judge on who will actually get it?

Once again Twitter has shown that it is the place to be for breaking news such as this.  It would be interesting to see how many people have used Facebook as well to let friends and family know.  It is still a platform to take into account and United used that as well to break the news.  It also added a great banner to the top of their page, which I and many others have taken and used on our profiles.

Not only that but the club have reacted quickly by starting a new Facebook tab allowing fans to send in their messages to SAF.  A selection of these thank you messages will be published in an exclusive #ThankYouSirAlex book and a lucky few will win a signed copy of the book.  Nice touch by the club and very reactive.  The club have improved immeasurably in their use of Facebook (and now Twitter), so a well done from me.

Thank you Sir Alex.  It’s been a great journey!

It used to be all about Facebook fan landmarks but these days Twitter appears to be the leading light for sports teams.  It’s always nice to see clubs acknowledging fans who have taken the time and effort to follow them wherever that they are and both clubs have done just that.

With so many platforms being used to create touch points with fans around the globe it is Twitter that provides the most personal experience.  It is not about broadcasting content or showing how great you are.  It’s about access and transparency, opening the club up to those who give so much and follow them no matter the results.

It is also interesting to see how two clubs celebrate by using the same means (YouTube) but in very different ways.  AC Milan hit 1m followers last week and released their video on the 10th April that takes fans through their Twitter journey, showing landmarks in terms of numbers and events that have taken place.  It’s beautifully made and a good watch.

Chelsea meanwhile released their video today (19th April) and have just hit the 2m mark.  Double that of AC Milan, which is some achievement and shows the huge pull the Premier League has globally.  Their video is a little bit less ‘beautiful’ but shows off some of their tweets, fan moments, players training and includes a message from captain John Terry – who, rather ironically, isn’t on Twitter.

A quick post about a video that was flagged up on Twitter by the guys at LiveWire Sport.  Southampton have been doing a great job in using social media platforms to engage and grow their fanbase.  The club has been performing well on the pitch with mid-table safety looking assured for this season.

When clubs hit a landmark such as 100,000 there have been a mixture of celebrations.  It could be a Twitter banner saying ‘thank you’ or a message out on facebook.  Southampton chose to bring their players into the fray by getting them to say thank you to individual followers.

How great is it as a fan to get your name mentioned by one of your heroes!  It will be a sure-fire hit with the fans and well done to the club for putting together such a quick, simple activation that will only help they’re perception in the football world.

As well as the video they put together a quick Vine which showed the tick over from 99,999 to the 100,000 mark.  Am sure Lewis at Twitter UK will be equally delighted as well with the activations the club have put together, with fans at its heart.

Guest Post:  Tom Kelk is a tech/sport blogger and Account Exec at global social media agency We Are Social.  You can find him on Twitter (@TomKelk), LinkedIn and his blog.

Twitter launched their video service – Vine, in February and the assumption was that brands, and football clubs would embrace it as a useful communication tool.  Vine, in essence, should offer clubs a wonderful opportunity to engage with their audience. It’s taking what Twitter did for writing, and applying it to video. However, the question stood; Are you able to capture the necessary inside 6 seconds?

The answer in short is, absolutely. However, it depends on your creativity, time and attention to detail. The problem of course is with the platform. For the moment, clips must be recorded and uploaded at the point of capture. There is no room for editing or uploading previously developed video.

This will change as Vine develops to work for brands, but for the moment clubs must be clever and creative inside the 6 seconds of unedited footage. The excitement of a new platform enticed clubs to get involved immediately, and we saw initial ventures onto the platform in late January and early February, but where have football clubs gone from there? The truth is, not very far. Birmingham City were very quick onto the scene and are still arguably the most developed football club on Vine. They produced this simple, creative and effective Vine back in January:

Congrats to those who correctly guessed this question. It was: ‘Who did you make your senior debut against?’: ow.ly/h8dCC #BCFC

— Birmingham City FC (@BcfcDotCom) January 25, 2013

Unfortunately videos from most clubs have not developed from this and have become somewhat repetitive, dull and unprofessional. Silent videos of a mashed and fragmented series of clips or an attempt to film 6 seconds of content – looking around an empty stadium being a popular choice – under the assumption that it will have a similar effect to YouTube content. When clubs are filming around the inside of the stadium, why is it empty?

This is true of Arsenal….

Manchester City….

and now Newcastle….

and most other clubs on Vine. Film a stadium in full voice and people will watch, and share that content. Newcastle missed a real trick but not getting involved post their 90^th minute winner against Fulham. The crowd was raucous, and the players were delirious. That produces viral, and shareable content.

Clubs seem unaware that much of this provides little value to the consumer and this is a key reason behind the lack of engagement on the Vine posts. Not only this, we are seeing the new joiners repeat the same mistakes made from the early starters. Newcastle United recently ventured onto the media, and it has certainly been a journey from the fairly good to the downright awful.

I first noticed the club’s use of Vine on the Saturday morning before a game where the person with the phone had simply filmed an obscure area around the Etihad and Manchester City club shop, and uploaded it. Such was the terrible quality, and pointlessness of the video, it was subsequently deleted on the Monday. The sheer aimless nature of the video highlights much of Newcastle United’s, and many other clubs problem with Vine; they do not know how to use it, and do not appear fussed about taking the time to research how it can be best used.

This is perfectly demonstrated by Manchester City’s previous empty stadium film which blurs in and out of focus and should simply not be published. Why does this Vine content not get processed through the same rigorous standards that other social media content does?

Another problem with current Vine videos is this desire to fit as much into the six seconds as possible, and whilst this has worked in several Vine videos, clubs must be willing to shoot singular pieces of content. There seems to be an aversion to capturing six seconds of one feature, instead, clubs insist on cramming 15 scenes into each video. It risks the end-product being fragmented and less effective.

There is plenty of content in this effort from Newcastle United, but this can be halved and would be more effective:

It’s the same with this training clip from Southampton:

We’ve seen the success of well executed drills going viral with Barcelona being the central feature, so why not follow this example using Vine? This fragmented approach also nullifies the effect of sound. Whilst I like clubs embracing new media and opportunities – this cannot be done for the sake of it. If the quality of video is poor, then there is little point in publishing. Indeed, there will be nothing but negative feedback should this be the case. New clubs to the platform have had an opportunity to consider content and ideas from trail-blazers like QPR, Birmingham City and Manchester City which makes the lack of content creativity and all-round low quality even worse.

So, what has been proven to work? We’ve seen success with behind the scenes content, this was especially true of the January transfer window where Wes Thomas and Darius Henderson were seen, and Chris Samba was announced on Vine. Training clips also appear to work well but there are many more opportunities – filming six seconds of a player returning to training post injury for example.

Vine, in essence, should offer clubs a wonderful opportunity to engage with their audience. It’s taking what Twitter did for writing, and applying it to video. However, the question stood; Are you able to capture the necessary inside 6 seconds?

Why is there a significant lack of a footballer showing off his skills? 6 seconds of various players demonstrating their best tricks – perhaps in a series where the Twitter community end up voting for their favourite – would be engaging and absorbing content. Premier League football has access to some incredible assets, why are they not being used with Vine? Here’s a nice idea from Fulham but again, it’s poorly executed

If you can capture the emotion and the feeling that each fan experiences on matchday then the video becomes consumable and shareable. This is fully dependent on sound and this is a weakness in the vast majority of Vine content. It’s not difficult but it’s an example of clubs not setting standards for their Vine content in the same way they might for Facebook or Twitter.

Clubs need to take Vine seriously, it’s not going to be a central communication channel for the moment but it works well as a partnership with Twitter. Clubs appear to forget that Vine isn’t simply a network on its own but it is an extension of Twitter, and functions as such. It should be valued at the same standards. If a club hasn’t got the time to take care over the video content, then Vine should be avoided for the time being. It cannot be used for the sake of it.

There are around 7 Premier League clubs on Vine and this will grow into next season. The close season offers a great opportunity to test features and stories on Vine, and for clubs to maximise their assets to good effect. Hopefully we will see some real creativity and value from football clubs come July because it is sorely needed.

Ahead of this weeks much anticipated first Major of the season we thought it would be a great opportunity to look at how golfers have taken to social media.  They were certainly one of the first sports to really take up Twitter, partially down to the amount of down time they have between events.

It is well known that life on the tour can be hard and lonely.  Travelling all over to world and not being seen by fans until they hit the course, sometimes briefly.  Twitter was a way in which they could communicate with fans and share some of their trials and tribulations with them.

Even Tiger Woods, who originally stayed away from all forms of social media is now active on the platform.  His remains one of brand protection and making up the tarnished reputation from his highly publicised misdemeanours.

I remember watching the Ryder Cup back in 2010 using Twitter to enhance the experience.  It was an amazing insight in those who made up the team  and gave a opportunity to see what else happens during the amazing event.  It was the year that the king of Twitter golfers (at least in the UK), Ian Poulter, was criticised for posting a photo of his son eating breakfast out of the famous trophy!

The US Masters starts on Thursday with the world anticipating a Tiger Woods v Rory McIlroy tussle for the biggest title of the year thus far.  But who wins on Twitter?  The guys at Your Golf Travel have put together a quick infographic to show the Top 10 Twitter Golfers.  I asked them what their inspiration was for putting the list together and Rory Anderson said;

“We were interested to see if there was any correlation between player’s form and their current standing in the game and we like to follow the pros as they give us a great insight into life on tour and the courses they play. Ian Poulter is always worth a follow and, of course, we like to keep up to date with Your Golf Travel Ambassador, Darren Clarke.” 

The Pepsi Indian Premier League (#PepsiIPL) kicks off again soon amidst its usual fanfare of music, Bollywood celebrities and the biggest names in the world of cricket.  This year however see’s the tournament ramp up its social presence, working in collaboration with Twitter and digital agency Pulse Innovations, to engage fans like never before.

Sports specialists Pulse Innovations first launched the IPL site last January, securing a three-year contract encompassing strategy, creative, build and operations. Creating a live match experience that included almost-live Hawk-Eye and video replays, live fan polling and twitter team battles proved a success with cricket fans worldwide. Coupled with social-into-broadcast integration, the IPL became one of the most innovative digital platforms within sport.

Building on last year, new innovations for 2013 include the ‘Twitter Mirror’ (something that was first seen at this years Oscars), Twitter Discover page, Hashtag Battles, a Twitter Counter, Top 10 Trends, Loyalty Corner, social sign-in and much more!  It promises to be an immersive experience no matter how you connect with the competition.  David Strachan, Creative Director at Pulse, explains more;

“This year our focus was very much on social and mobile.  Working in partnership with Twitter we’ve introduced a number of new features that should really excite the fans, including the Twitter Magic Mirror, a first for sport giving fans a glimpse of what goes on within the teams during game time. This coupled with some great 2^nd screen initiatives will put the IPL on another level to other sports in terms of fan engagement.”

Their other focus was mobile, and not just on the major platforms:

“We’ve introduced a ‘feature-phone’ site, a simplified version of the smartphone site. It felt strange developing what was effectively a WAP site, but given the huge audience in India who still use feature phones it was an obvious step. In terms of mobile, IPL is now available on iOS, Android, Windows 7/8, as a mobile site and now a feature phone site. Truly multi-platform.”

The IPL starts tomorrow (2.30pm GMT) with last year’s champions Kolkata Knight Riders hosting the Delhi Daredevils.  Here is a round up of all the new features you’ll be able to play with over the 2 months.

Twitter Magic Mirror

A first in sport, the Twitter Magic Mirror will, in select celebratory settings, allow Cricketers and Celebrities to tweet out candid pictures with one click through the @IPL account. The Mirror will travel the country, and give fans an authentic, behind-the-scenes view of the IPL.  Today saw it used for the fist time by Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni;

Discover Page

“Pepsi IPL 2013 Discover Page” will help users around the world to easily sign up for Twitter, view/join the #PepsiIPL conversation, and follow their favourite cricketers, teams, personalities, celebrities and more, with one click.

The Team Hashtag Battle

On the Live ‘Match Centre,’ there will be hashtags for both teams (eg. #KKR and #DD). As the teams fight it out in the middle, their fans will indulge in a battle of hashtags to ensure that their favourite team triumphs on the popularity front.

Live Tweet Counter

The ‘Match Centre’ has a counter that keeps rolling as people tweet anything related to the match, or the Pepsi IPL 2013.

Top 10 Trends

There is a section on the homepage that ranks the Pepsi IPL 2013 teams on the basis of how talked about they are on Twitter. It will help fans track the overall Twitter popularity of their favourite team.

The Loyalty corner

A box on the homepage where the fans can announce their allegiance to a team on Twitter. All they need to do is select which team they support and hit ‘TWEET’.

Pepsi IPL 2013 Conversation

Boxes on the official website’s homepage and live match centre, through which the fans can let the world know who they’re supporting, their predictions and match moments.

Pepsi IPL 2013 Tweets

There will be a section on the official website that will feature tweets from the Pepsi IPL 2013 franchises, cricketers, commentators and administrators. The section will act as a fan’s one-stop destination to know what the ‘who’s who’ of the Pepsi IPL 2013 are talking about.

On Television…

Twitter features on the Pepsi IPL 2013 website, such as the Tweet Counter, Trending Topics and Team Hashtag Battle, will be flashed on the TV screen during the live telecast of the Pepsi IPL 2013 matches, with the support of a real-time data stream.

Fan/Celebrities Tweets, Pictures and Vines: Viewers will be invited and encouraged to tweet and vine on the Pepsi IPL 2013, and the best tweets of the day will be picked, to be read out by the commentators on air.

In summary, Rajeev Shukla (Chairman of the IPL), said.

“It has been our constant endeavour to make the fans feel that they are a vital part of the IPL, and not just passive spectators on the outside. Our relationship with Twitter, one of the world’s most popular and prominent social media platforms, will bring the fans closer to the Pepsi IPL 2013 and the cricketers participating in it, in a thoroughly engrossing, interesting and enjoyable manner,”

The Pepsi IPL 2013 starts on 3th April 2013 and runs until 26th May 2013.