This month sees the launch of a new event and it promises to be the best yet!  At the the last UKSN Meetup where we spoke to leading digital leader Richard Ayers and gained some great insights into his career and his thoughts on social media.  Now we are looking at a different topic within social media, one that has really come to the fore this last year….. video.

http://uksnvideo.eventbrite.com

The venue is the fashionable Bar Kick in Shoreditch and we have some great guests coming along to speak. They include;

Mark Coyle - Head of Digital Production, BT Sport
Stephen Nuttall - Senior Director (Sports), YouTube EMEA
Tim Hines - Digital Content Strategist, The Rugby Football Union
Richard Welsh - Creative Director, BigBalls Films & Copa90

This last year we have seen the role of video within social media become more prominent. With Twitter launching Vine, YouTube backing their ‘Originals’ channels and sport starting to realise the potential these platforms offer.  When YouTube worked with Red Bull on ‘Red Bull Stratos’ they proved to the world that they can handle huge amounts of traffic and that live events have a place on the platform. With 8 million people (!) from around the world tuning in at any one time it really was a massive global event.

Twitter have been pushing new products and making the user experience richer without them having to leave the app. Personally I’ve worked with Livestream to push live content through Twitter that helped launch a new product and it was great. You can also do the same using Ustream and YouTube.

In the football world we’ve seen Man City’s ‘Tunnelcam’, England’s live streaming of training sessions and even QPR using Ustream to connect with fans on a weekly basis. And there is much more besides.  But are we missing a trick? How engaging is video content for fans? And what can we do without using game highlights?

This and much more will be discussed at the event. There are still spaces and you can book at http://uksnvideo.eventbrite.com

The event is being kindly sponsored by Pusher and Somersault Video Productions (it will be filmed and we’ll release edits from the event in the weeks after it runs).

Below is a lovely pic from our last event at the Sports Bar where I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr ‘Datatainment’ himself, Richard Ayers.

Last week I wrote a post that focused on Eye of the Fan which is an innovative campaign run by Turkish Airlines.  This operates via a series of cameras that are attached to a ‘fan’ who has been given complete, unrestricted access to the ‘Final Four’ and reacts to tweeted requests from contributors.

Since then, Turkish Airlines have released a slick 2013 campaign teaser trailer (check it out below).  An addition to the 2013 campaign is ‘#whoisup’. This is a new hashtag to find someone to accompany the ‘UpTeam’ behind the scenes at the Final Four event in London. Users have to upload their favourite fan photo with the hashtag #whoisup to be in with a chance of joining the Team. Another addition is that the best tweets will be transferred into ‘fan-banners’ that will held up in the crowd for the arena to see – and also viewable by the TV audiences.This is a great example of an integrated multi-media campaign and I look forward to watching it in action.

 

Video marketing is one of my newest passions, having spent a good amount of time looking at the nuances of it both at We Are Social and particularly now at Copa90. Now with the start of the new F1 season with us, a new report [infographic] has come out revealing huge areas of opportunities for brands.

Formula 1 is the biggest global sporting series in the world yet its brand partners are struggling to amplify the value of their sponsorship rights through branded video content.

As the new season gets underway, over 200 sponsors have again committed to the adrenalin-fuelled sport.  Yet Blended Republic, a new branded content consultancy with specialist F1 experience has revealed huge gaps in marketing potential after reviewing all video content created by each of the 221 listed F1 sponsors during the 2012 season.

The report: “Content Marketing in F1: From Exposure to Engagement” highlights that:

• Only 24% of sponsors create video content around their sponsorship
• Most video content fails to gain a significant audience with 66% of those videos achieving less than 1,000 video views on You Tube.
• Despite a quoted global TV audience of around ½ billion across 185 countries, less than 10% of F1 sponsors create content for use by F1 broadcasters.

Chris Sice, Managing Director of Blended Republic says:

“Formula 1 delivers unrivalled global exposure but most sponsors are struggling to create video content that connects with F1 fans.  The rise of social media and the popularity of F1 on TV present a huge opportunity for sponsors. Audiences crave content about F1 that fuels their passion for the sport.  As the news season dawns, there is enormous scope for those sponsors that can create video so compelling broadcasters will air it and fans share it on social media.”

The report highlights some of the best recent examples of branded videos created by F1 sponsors, summarises the potential benefits and provides a checklist of how F1 sponsors can develop effective branded content.

The key findings from the report can be viewed as an infographic below or check it out at http://www.blendedrepublic.co.uk/insight/f1-content-strategy-report.  

What do you think, are brands missing a trick here?

The International Cycling Union (UCI) has had its troubles recently (!) with Mr Armstrong and the constant battle the sport faces with drugs.  To lighten the mood and show that they are looking towards the future and not just the past they produced some interesting news.  This week they announced that, for the first time, it will provide free, live broadcasts of the Cyclo-cross World Championships on its YouTube channel. The World Championships will be held on 2-3 February in Louisville, USA.

The UCI channel will then proceed to provide live coverage of World Championships in the Road, Track, BMX and Cyclo-cross disciplines, as well as the World Cup events in Cyclo-cross, Track and BMX. Mountain Bike and Trials will also be live, with the outlet announced shortly.

The UCI’s live broadcasts will be available all around the world with the exception of those countries in which TV channels already offer the option to view the UCI events live. This new video coverage means that a passion for cycling can be spread to countries that have never before enjoyed such coverage, over all five continents.

It will also provide highlights during the live coverage, offering freeze-frame images of the most spectacular action and most skilled performers. These highlights will be accessible to all Internet users, free of charge and without restriction on location.

You can see more about the event here…

It is a progression in sport that we are seeing more of.  The platform is keen to encourage more unique content, whether that be pre-recorded programmes or live events.  We have already seen the power of big live events – think Red Bull Space Jump – and this can be utilised for more niche events.  The rights haven’t been sold and tend not to be very valuable.  So why not put them up for all to see?

If you draw a decent enough audience in then the future production quality can be enhanced and there are advertising and sponsorship opportunities around it.  With rumours of YouTube introducing a paid subscription model to certain areas then it would make even more sense.  Pay 69p for the ability to watch a tournament for a day…why not?!

Further signs that this is the way the industry is moving, we heard today about SkySports being made available on a pay as you watch service.  This gives fans without a subscription the opportunity to pay £9.99 and watch a full day of sport on all the SkySports channels.  For a Super Sunday or Ryder Cup final day it could pay dividends for the channel.

Anyway, you can catch the action on www.youtube.com/ucichannel
Schedule of live coverage of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships

- Saturday 2 February: GMT16:00 – 17:00 Junior Men – Live
- Saturday 2 February: GMT 19:30 – 20:30 Under 23 Men – Live
- Sunday 3 February: GMT 16:00 – 17:00 Elite Women – Live
- Sunday 3 February: GMT 19:30 – 20:45 Elite Men – Live
(CET is GMT +1)

Over the last couple of seasons we have seen a fundamental shift in the way that football news is being reported.  This is not only from the media, all of whom have reporters on Twitter now and break news first on the platform.

Football clubs have been equally adept at finding new ways in which to reach out to the press and fans.  All the Premier League clubs (and most Football League) have a social media presence now and people dedicated to servicing the needs to provide content on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.

Twitter is the go-to place if you want to keep up with who is signing who and want to know first so you can let your mates know (football fans love having those ‘first fast’ facts).  The Football League for example has been working with all their clubs to standardise the hashtag for this transfer window.

It’s a great idea and you can keep up with all the signings by following the #FLTransfer hashtag.  Keeping all this info in one place and creating your own column on Tweetdeck or Hootsuite will provide all your transfer needs for the lower divisions.

QPR have been very active on social media since the arrival of Tony Fernandes, himself a massive advocate of using the channels to get closer to the fans.  Something he initially instigated with his F1 team.  Since then the club have been livestreaming their press conferences so any fan can see and hear Harry Redknapp the day before games.

This week they have used one of their other main platforms, YouTube, to announce the signing of new striker, Loic Remy.  They show him signing a couple of shirts and then writing a welcome note on the official QPR Twitter account.  A nice way to make things official and very visual.  It’s already gathered over 28k views and will have given the channel some added exposure for future activations.

With a couple of weeks left until Transfer Deadline Day (when SkySports spend all day camped outside of Premier League football grounds), there may be some more breaking news on clubs social media pages.  What will be done on deadline day itself?  Let the fun commence!

Gillette, which is the sponsor of football on YouTube in EMEA, has launched the Gillette Football Club channel on the video site, with content including goals, highlights and behind the scenes footage from international football leagues and clubs.

The channel has gone live today in beta. It features content from leagues including Spain’s La Liga, and Italy’s Serie A, and over 50 different clubs, including Manchester City FC, Chelsea FC, Paris Saint-Germain, and Olympique de Marseille.

It does not have online Premier League highlights, however, as the rights are owned by Yahoo.  Much of the ‘football shows’ comes from a new partnership with Copa90, part of Big Balls Films, as the brand looks to set up a video football magazine style site.

The channel will feature news from sports content providers such as TalkSport and ESPN. Gillette plans to launch exclusive branded football content on the channel and social gaming.

It also has a stats page with information on leagues, including the English Premier League and players, provided by Squawka (well done Sanjit!).  The stats section includes information on top European goal scorers and Gillette’s team of the week.

Gillette already has an association with football through its partnership with grassroots football organisation streetfootballworld. For every user which registers on the new Gillette YouTube channel, P&G it will give one dollar to streetfootballworld, up to a limit of $3m.

The channel also has an “explore Gillette” section for the channel, with videos of past TV campaigns, information about products and the ability to click through to buy Gillette them on Boots’ ecommerce store.

Matt Brittin, vice president of sales and operations at Google, said: “The ever expanding team of YouTube football partners create a diverse and compelling content line up for fans.

“We’re delighted to join forces with Gillette to build a fantastic new YouTube experience for our passionate football community.”

The channel was developed with Proximity BBDO Paris.

The launch comes shortly after YouTube launched a foreign football league highlights channel by sports media rights company MP & Silva. The Scottish Premier League also recently launched a highlights channel on YouTube.

In a very interesting development, the SPL (Scottish Premier League) has joined forces with YouTube in a deal which will see highlights and exclusive content made available to fans.

Match highlights and exclusive content will be made available to fans in the UK and around the world for the next three seasons.

The partnership is a first for league football in the UK and will see the SPL’s official YouTube channel ‘splofficial‘ screen highlights from every SPL match, beginning this season.

They have said that match highlights will be available for supporters in the UK to view from 6pm on Sundays.  The channel will also cover pre- and post-match reaction from players and managers, as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes features.

Stuart MacPhee, SPL commercial manager, said: “Making Clydesdale Bank Premier League content available on YouTube will allow fans to access all the best action, on and off the pitch, whenever they want and wherever they are, be it at home on the laptop or on their smartphone on the bus to work.”

Stephen Nuttall, Senior Director, Sports for YouTube Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: “Football fans worldwide naturally go to YouTube to catch up on goals and highlights. Our partnership with The Scottish Premier League will give the global YouTube audience access to all aspects of Scottish football from the best on-field action to exclusive behind-the-scenes footage.”

Manchester City and The FA have been leading the way in utilising YouTube with exclusive content but this is a first in terms of a rights holder, the SPL, pushing out match highlights.  The Premier League would be restricted on this with deals with Sky, BBC and ESPN making sure their hands are tied.

The SPL have taken advantage of their situation and created something of benefit to fans who will be able to access on any platform.

FIFA today debuts on the video-sharing platform YouTube (www.youtube.com/fifatv) to make the world football federation’s rich audiovisual content more accessible to fans.

FIFA on YouTube features tailor-made football match action from the most recent FIFA competitions, including the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011™ Germany, top player profiles and clips from FIFA documentaries, FIFA Futbol Mundialshows and the 2014 Brazil monthly magazine show.

This content will be updated and expanded regularly and will be complemented with content from the non-competitive side, such as features on football development, social development initiatives and human interest stories, as well as video news releases and live streaming of media events.

“FIFA is keen to engage with football fans beyond our competitions by sharing our rich visual content with them, and for this there is no better platform in terms of reach and penetration than YouTube,” said Joseph S. Blatter, President of FIFA . “We want to provide YouTube users with the greatest moments of FIFA World Cup history but also invite them to share theirs with us.”

“We are very excited that FIFA is launching its channel on YouTube,” said Stephen Nuttall, YouTube’s senior director of sports partnerships in EMEA. “This new channel will allow a global audience to discover and interact with videos featuring the best footballers competing in the most prestigious tournaments. This is one more example that YouTube is increasingly the place for football,” he added.

While content for FIFA on YouTube is at present sourced primarily from FIFA Films’ voluminous archive, the aim is to further engage with fans by including user-generated content and other interactive offerings, as well as material from FIFA’s many stakeholders.

It is a shame they are not allowing the embedding of videos from the site so the governing body for football aren’t taking the sharing of their content as far as they could.  It is an organisation that likes to be in control and by doing this they are doing so.  So now we have FIFA on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube…. will they be on Pinterest next??

It has been well publicised recently that the world’s richest football club has taken the step of getting a YouTube brand channel.  To many this may get a ‘so what’ reaction and many of the articles so far have only mentioned the news but not looked into what this means to the club and for football.

If this had been in any other industry it would not make the news as most decent sized businesses have their own channel that they spend extra on to make it look cool.

But this is football and so far they have stuck to basic marketing strategies and the biggest marketing costs they will have is a club website.  Most have now (with some prodding) ventured into the new domains of Facebook and Twitter but YouTube has been largely forgotten about. But why?

This is a hard one for clubs.  They are watched on TV by millions of people, at least twice a week these days, with the games being beamed all over the world.  But, and it is a big BUT, they don’t own any of the match footage.  This is controlled by the Premier League and broadcasters and there are numerous deals in place.

One slightly odd possibility is, though I’ve never seen the contracts (strangely enough), is that any match footage is not allowed to be shown on social media platforms.  It may sound strange but am 95% sure on this one that is true.

So this leaves clubs with only their own content to use.  What this does is narrow down the field of who is likely to produce their own content and use a video platform to the big clubs.  Those who have their own TV studios and channels, usually on their website.  Those clubs such as Man Utd, City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool.

One thing to point at this stage is that gaining a YouTube brand channel is not cheap and certainly not free (sorry to those were getting excited about what they can do with a channel).  This is another restrictor when it comes to which clubs will follow suit with City.

What City have done, and managed to leap in front of the rest in the process, is take it seriously as an additional revenue generator and seen the possibilities.  They started slowly with a normal ‘official’ YouTube channel, much the same as any of us can set up if we so wish.

This allowed them to give away content that would otherwise sit on their CityTV channel being played out to a small audience.  When you are building from scratch to develop a global brand as City are, then reaching out to new fans is a must and YouTube allows that to happen.

Now they have over 4,000 subscribers to the channel and deliver regular (good) content that fans are interested in then they have been able to take the next step. A Brand Channel!

So what does this allow them to do now?

Basically it allows the club to customise how their page looks and what it can do including the channel banners, background image and branding box.  They can also moderate comments and automatically redirect people depending on there geographical location (could be a good one for the future).  It also opens up the possibilities with gadgets (opening up YouTube’s API), syndication (channel can live anywhere on the web) and metrics.  I am a fan of ‘annotations’ which allow the linking off to other videos/sites via clickable links within the video, something you only get with a brand channel.

This last one is key to any brand being on the platform.  It gives you great information on how videos (and the channel) is performing.  It can also tell you more about the content you are putting up and how engaged with it people find it.

They have already made changes to the page with links to areas of their website.  I especially like the map integration where you can buy tickets for upcoming games (as you can see below)…

There are opportunities to get even more creative as time goes by and we’ll see how it goes, as am sure other clubs will be doing.  What it does open up when it comes to revenue, I’ve finally got round to mentioning it, is the advertising/sponsorship opportunities it presents.

They can look at running sponsors messaging on their site, incorporate annotation links within videos, have a company sponsor their page and open up another opportunity, link off to sponsor channels/videos….. there is a lot they can do to monetise this space.

Here’s what those involved had to say about the partnership;

Richard Ayers, Head of Digital, for Manchester City (who has been nominated for a DADI award!), said:

“Manchester City is having a phenomenal year of growth and development online. Our goal is to deliver a market leading experience for fans in terms of online video.  That means delivering the great content we make to where the audience is – i.e. on YouTube. This deal is the first move in laying the foundations of our syndication strategy and is part of a series of deals to expand our online capabilities. The ability to extend our reach and to increase accessibility to audiences is great, but we’re also looking forward to exploring the differentiating factors of YouTube, like using annotations, making bespoke interactive video and, more than anything else, becoming part of the thriving YouTube community.”

Jeff Nathenson, Head of Sports Partnerships for YouTube, said:

“We are excited that Manchester City has become the first English Premier League club to become a commercial partner with YouTube.  They are proving to be an exciting club both on the pitch and in the digital media space.  We believe this kind of deal will have a global impact, allowing them to reach new fans in new territories with compelling original content.”

To finish, here are some examples of cool brand channels and what City could look to achieve (if they want to spend the money on doing it).  Its great to see them pushing the boundaries and hopefully they will pull others with them.

A Guest Post by Simon Hoskins from Earnest Agency (www.earnest-agency.com)

A sprinkling of skill…

Sports stars tend to exert all the tendencies of super humans when placed in front of a camera and told by those milling around the shoot that what they’re making is a viral! And remarkably the more demanding and difficult the skill, the more relaxed and confident these men and women become when performing it. Federer, Beckham, Kobe Bryant and the like perform skills and stunts that are wild extensions of what they are required to do on the sports field or court every day.

A pinch of curiosity…

Their skills are turned up to 11 to blow everyone’s expectations of what they thought they could achieve. They are each revered in their particular sport – this gives their performance a certain edge of legitimacy that makes people question what certainly would be labelled as fake if performed by a lesser athlete. Their celebrity endorses their flamboyance far more than if Joe Public attempted the stunt.

A slice of brand awareness…

Sports stars are recognised as brands in their own right. A viral concept can hang on this brand framework by creating an interest from the viewer that develops from their feeling of familiarity with that person. Although Federer represents Gillette, Braylon Edwards the NFL and Ronaldinho, Nike, viewers believe they are watching an advert for that athlete’s skills – not for a specific brand. The Hi-Tec ‘Liquid Mountaineering’ viral is an anomaly here because it doesn’t employ the use of famous stars as brand ambassadors to drive its interest. The theme of athletes fitting themselves with Hi-Tec trainers before running a few paces across water is the hook which creates the buzz about the stunt. It highlights that without a famous face most virals need a supremely extraordinary feat to give them the edge and to compete in popularity with the likes of the All Blacks and Cristiano Ronaldo.

All Blacks training

The viral was used to promote the Rugby Channel in New Zealand and created huge chatter about their extraordinary feats. All Blacks Piri Weepu and Cory Jane can get away with passing these skills off as easy and matter-of-fact. Being synonymous with the world’s best rugby team allows viewers to partially suspend their disbelief, especially as their nonchalant manner and easy-going training ground routine makes their skills seem second–nature. The same can be said for the Pepsi viral featuring David Beckham in which his famous long passes have allowed him to feature in a viral set on a Californian beach kicking footballs into plastic rubbish cans from 60 yards. These approaches make the All Blacks viral and the concept feel under-produced and raw and henceforth more natural and appealing to the viewer. Such was their success they produced a follow-up.

Hi-Tec: Liquid Mountaineering

The aim of ‘Liquid Mountaineering’ was to capture the spirit of the brand and to have fun – providing a way to get to know Hi-Tec through the telling of a story and the supposed arrival of a new sport. The viral shares a similar story arc and structure with that of surfing videos. Whereas surfers are chasing the perfect wave and getting involved through their surf gear, these guys are after the thrill of pushing a new adrenaline sport. Amid the false science claims and impossible physics of it all, the one truth is the hydrophobic nature of the Hi-Tec shoes and their ability to repel water. This is the one shred of accuracy that allows the falsities to hang from it.

Roger Federer: William Tell

Federer seems to take a couple of minutes out from shooting a Gillette ad to perform a modern day re-telling of the Swiss legend of William Tell. In what appears to be a break from a studio shoot the footage seems to present a natural extension of Roger’s affable persona. Getting one of the production team to balance an empty can of balls on this head, Federer appears to serve and smash the can off his head with pinpoint accuracy. Cue a stunned production team. He then does it again. It’s clever because the first shot is almost off camera and would provide immediate ammunition for scepticism, but the second is shown far more clearly and serves(…!) to cast a bit of head-scratching. Arguably he is the greatest tennis player of all time…could he do this? It doesn’t seem to be THAT much of a leap of faith to suggest he could…

NFL Pick Me Reebok Campaign

This campaign is all about big names, big feats and big ambitions. They want YOU to pick THEM for your fantasy team…they want to impress and the viral suits as a platform in which to perform some truly awesome stunts on and off the football field. Accuracy levels needed in most stunts are almost impossibly high and with most players the ball disappears off screen and becomes barely visible in the distance. However, for invention and sheer entertainment, this is the real stand-out. Unlike the All Blacks training viral it feels far more produced and far more commercial, although they really notch it up a gear!

Nike basketball: LeBron Rise

LeBron James, when he made this Nike viral, was a basketball player for the Cleveland Cavaliers. This viral wasn’t about what LeBron James had or hadn’t done – it was about the difference between the expectations others may have had of him versus the expectations he had of himself. What has made this a stand-out viral is the version that the Cleveland fans produced that reflected the questions LeBron James was asking himself in the original. Opening himself up for Nike about people’s expectations of him at Cleveland left him open to some wide criticism when he left the club for sunnier and more successful climbs.

This is the Cleveland fans’ reply: