It’s no surprise that rights-holders and media companies are looking at social media becoming a larger part of their commercial offering, with this year’s Know The Fan: The Global Sports Media Consumption Report 2014 stating that for the first time, in 15 of the 16 global markets included in the survey, online was the second most popular way to access sport, behind TV and now ahead of print.
61% of sport fans in the UK are now consuming sports online, and 53% following a specific team or league on social networks. Football tops the consumption charts and after an active 2014, now is the time to ask if brands are seizing the opportunities being presented to them.
For example, are they responding to live events quickly enough, are they reacting to fan behaviour, are they truly interacting or simply brand-casting? Chances are fans will be reaching for their second screen device mid-match at the very moment they’re most receptive to a creative and thoughtful piece of outreach.
An ability to react in real-time has become a crucial part of any sports marketing and unsurprisingly, Nike were the ones to take that to the next level during this summer’s 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament with their ‘Phenomenal Shot’ campaign.
This campaign let fans remix and share moments from Nike athletes just moments – even seconds – after the plays happened. Display ads celebrating these moments – such as Neymar’s two goals in the first half of the Cameroon game – were then delivered to a global audience at high speed.
Being able to react fluidly and quickly in real-time is all in the preparation stage, and for Nike that was about establishing the most efficient process across all partners, very early on in the production stage. This meant they could plan for both the expected and unexpected.
Within a few weeks 2.2 million people interacted with and customised the Nike content, whilst the inherent shareable nature meant it engaged fans from over 200 countries.
So, did Nike understand and think about the fans? Yes. Did it seize opportunities for relevant content in real-time? Yes. On the surface, Nike’s approach is much like that of the magician who makes a trick look slick and easy: it’s all about the planning, the approach and having a team that are all communicating from the off.
It’s all easier said than done but the opportunities are growing daily and both brands and agencies would be wise to jump on board, sharpish.
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