THE OLYMPIC GAMES AND THE IMPACT ON PARTNERS AND SPONSORS WITH NO FAN ENGAGEMENT

It’s Olympics time again and millions around the world are enjoying watching a multitude of sports, many of which we only take an interest in every four years. We become armchair experts and hop from channel to channel to consume as much and as many sports as we possibly can. 

 

The exceptional skills displayed by the athletes is mindboggling. Looking at gymnastics, it is hard to believe that bodies can be manipulated to such an extent!

 

But it is a very different Olympic Games this year. There are no crowds and no fan parks. We never realised how important these elements are to the overall excitement of the entire Olympic package until they were not there. The usual full month of sport has also been condensed into a mere two weeks this time.

 

The statistics point to a decline in interest in the Olympics this year, although the Millenials and GenZs have shown more interest as the games have progressed. 

 

One must spare a thought for the sponsors who have invested millions of dollars to partner with the Olympics. There are no crowds to help them achieve that all important return on investment (ROI) via sales. Not to mention that there are no sales of the replica clothing that is synonymous with large international sporting events.  The full impact of Covid-19 on the Games will only be known in the months to come.   

 

But it is the sports rights holders that this blog is going to focus on.

 

Creating fan engagement is critical for rights holders, no matter what the platform, be it linear TV, CTV or on the different digital platforms available. Fan engagement leads to brand awareness, brand love and it ultimately create sales. How to effectively grab the attention of the fans is no easy task at the best of times, especially with new forms of entertainment joining the clutter every day. And which media or social media platform to use and how to use these also need a carefully crafted strategy to reach the desired target audience.

 

It’s in situations like this, regarded as a crisis, when creativity becomes critical and PR agencies are needed to provide the creative story-telling ability to help position brands.  PR is needed in the marketing mix more now than even ever before.

 

Guidelines on how sponsors can utilise the Olympic logo and how they can associate with the games is strictly regulated. Purchasing the rights is one thing, being able to leverage the rights is quite another matter, which pushes up the costs exponentially. Olympic brands have been tested to the hilt and must expand budgets even further to be heard and create that much needed awareness.

 

The pandemic hasn’t been kind to brands as many have taken massive knocks in sales creating a vacuum, and now they must spend more to leverage their sporting associations in a time when most brands have changed strategies linking sponsorships to sales as opposed to brand identity and awareness.

 

One way to possibly have helped sponsors achieve a higher ROI in this unique situation could have been, allowing some form of in-stadium branding. After all, live exposure is how the games are primarily consumed and incidental branding for sponsors might have been a good compromise.  Once the excitement has died down highlights and short inserts will be shared for years to come on all platforms, whether on YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram and all others.  The newest data from the Maru Group pointed to fans between the ages of 18 and 34 prefer to watch highlights as opposed to hours of watching live.  Could brands benefitted from this?

 

With the rising popularity of the new digital viewing experience, brands can hopefully make use of Olympic footage and put their own visuals together with a direct link to brand messaging. There have been many brands that have taken ideas from the sports that they sponsor and put an omnichannel catchy and creative video together driving product.

 

The need to belong has emerged out of the pandemic and brands need to show they care.  In fact consumers actively seek out products that they perceive as caring for the community.  Utilising the Olympics in a visual and fund post Olympics campaign would go down well amongst the consumers.

 

And what about replica clothing and other goods?  I have attended international events and even a hardcore PR lady like myself with years of travel behind me have frequented many shops that stock replica goods and have spent a fortune purchasing for myself and my entire vast extended family. Companies have to pay a fee to be able to produce replica goods and it will be interesting to see the statistics come from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

 

It is up to the Olympic sponsors to find that element and then creatively package it into a valuable original content driver to tell their own unique story in a way only their brand can.  It could even be a look behind the scenes, taking a closer look at athletes, training or even asking fans to show how they are consuming the Olympics in their own special way.

 

Sponsors can capitalise on the Olympics by allowing it to live far beyond its live 2 weeks.  However, the feeling of many brand managers is to cut off immediately after the event

 

Looking at recent stats put out by Deloitte show that fans are very interested to be kept up to date during ‘off-seasons” (albeit this is not based on the Olympics)

 

● 65 percent of fans say they want some form of content or information at least monthly during the off-season.

● More than 60 percent of fans say a great “year-round experience” would make them more likely to be more engaged with the team in the coming season.

● 55 percent say it would make them more likely to purchase a ticket in the future.

 

Time will tell how sponsors will utilise their Olympic association.  We have seen some great ads coming out in the UK, let’s keep tracking.

 

 

Neil Tovey Talks about South Africa's chances at the Olympics

 

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Neil Tovey analyses Euro2020 from a coaching perspective

 

If you want to listen to our webinars live register here https://bit.ly/3uWlr8g Video Editor Cyberlink this will help for content creation and video analysis for athletes: https://bit.ly/3ysQ5bR Audio by Cyberlink

Looking at the changes in how content is used on Twitter - Intune Communications and Entertainment July Blog

 We are into the second half of 2021 and many of you might be wondering where on earth the year has gone. We’ve been dodging the Covid-19 virus; waiting for our age group to be called for the vaccine; and online schooling and zoom meetings are the new reality. Looking at what is trending on the internet, and wondering how we can trend, have become part of our everyday anxieties.

 

July is the time of the year when many businesses reflect on the past six months. The pandemic has resulted in every business transforming its digital marketing strategy. Measurement of online impact has become critical, and this requires a more thoughtful, scientific and in-depth measurement strategy.

 

Where does #twitter fit into the equation? We all know that twitter should not be ignored, but many corporates are merely using the platform to evaluate what is being said about the company, its brands and its competitors – in other words they see it as a reactive as opposed to a proactive platform. 

 

Gone are the days, however, when twitter was merely an outlet for people to get onto their soap boxes and gripe and complain. It’s not been eradicated, but that relentless negativity has been curtailed somewhat through the ability to stop the comments on a post.

 

What businesses need to know is that twitter has evolved exponentially since the onset of the pandemic. The new developments have, arguably, focused on business applications, in an attempt to climb onto the financial bandwagon that other platforms such as Instagram and Facebook created after companies began diverting their funding from traditional to social media when the pandemic hit.

 

The use of twitter for promoting launches (no matter the size), to push product awareness and in marketing campaigns has shown a steady increase, with remarkable success. It has effectively driven traffic towards websites and ultimately produced sales.

 

Good ‘CONTENT’ creates attention onto every social platform and twitter is no different. But where to start, what to say, how to say it, which hashtags to use and how to use those hashtags has become overwhelming. 

 

There are ways to create effective twitter copy, such as use of pictures, video clips, the use of the media library, effective use of hashtags and tweet threads, Copy needs to be inspiring, and emojis must be used effectively.

 

What is very interesting is the way in which ordinary people, the man in the street, have made the best use of twitter and how it has helped them become influencers. On a micro, macro or nano scale, influencers have effectively turned their twitter presence into money. Companies are starting to encourage their staff to go onto twitter to become relevant for the company. This can particularly be seen in the #beauty industry.

 

The most recent change to twitter is the New Business Profiles function, which enables businesses to ‘Convert to Professional’. It is currently being tested in the USA and will open up globally over the next few months.

 

This option was shared by both @janeManchunWong and @AlexandroPaluxxi, both app analysts. Businesses follow a three-step process enabling them to select a business category and assign either a ‘Business’ or ‘Creator’ profile to their accounts.

 

@Twitter explains it in this way: “Professional Profiles are a new tool that will allow businesses, not-for-profits, publishers and creators – anyone who uses twitter for work – to display specific information about their business directly on their profile. We’re starting with a small pool of businesses in the United States. and will give more accounts access to Professional Profiles in the coming months.”

 

Once converted, more of your company’s details will be made available for view. Further down the line product display panels and picture galleries will also be available.

 

Twitter currently has a ‘boost’ option for revenue generation.

 

Through recently launched ‘Twitter Blue’ (only available in a few markets) Twitter is trying to get businesses to pay for tracking elements such as brand surveys and other analytics.

 

Social media is here to stay and will continue to grow and twitter is giving us an alternative way of getting our message across to a wider audience that we might not have accessed before. After all, it is all about maximising our presence in as many different markets as possible. 

 

The new idea is to get away from the LSM’s and rather target anyone with the same likes.

 

Allow us, Intune Communications, to help you build your social media strategy.  Being a creative agency, we can effectively and efficiently get to work and make your platforms produce results

 

 

Who are the athletes to look out for at the Olympics?

 

With the Olympics about a month away and the deadline to qualify for the Olympics coming up on the 29th June we take a look at athletics and what it means to athletes and schools. We are privileged to have three time Olympian and TUKS lecturer, LJ van Zyl, and content creator and sport journalist Manfred Seidler, talk about the Olympic Games and what we should expect from the games

How do you transition from a school athlete to a professional athlete?

With the Olympics about a month away and the deadline to qualify for the Olympics coming up on the 29th June we take a look at athletics and what it means to athletes and schools. We are privileged to have three time Olympian and TUKS lecturer, LJ van Zyl talking to us about Athletics and opportunities that school kids have at getting recognized, transitioning from school to professional athletics and being able to participate at the Olympics. Together with LJ we have content creator and ex journalist Manfred Seidler who has over 30 years of experience working in Athletics and reporting on sports events including the Olympics over those 30 years. LJ de Villiers did his masters on the difficulties that athletes have transitioning from a school athlete to a professional athlete and here, LJ together with Manfred, identifies these problems and then goes on to talk about other issues that athletes face.