Social Media: your most valuable player at World Cup 2010?
Official sponsorship provides the perks and enables brands to do things others can’t. But in an increasingly free spirited and socially networked world, the tournament presents a wealth of opportunities for sports and non-sports brands alike.
So who will be the real World Cup winners next summer? And how can you harness social media channels to join the party?
Heineken successfully rallied Dutch football supporters during the Euro 2004 football tournament by giving branded cone hats and running a TV campaign giving advice on how to sneak them into stadiums. It was funny, transparent about its objectives and people could get involved or not.
Two years later, beer brand, Bavaria, handed out orange lederhosen to Holland’s fans during the FIFA World Cup finals in Germany. But this time the tournament organisers failed to see the funny side and threatened wearers with ejection from matches unless they agreed to remove the outfit.
Social spaces are not only for promoting a campaign either; brands can get involved in a deeper sense.
The members of unofficial fan groups are some of sport’s greatest advocates, but are often overlooked by sponsors. If a brand is prepared to work in partnership with fans, it could reap substantial benefits at a fraction of the cost of traditional sponsorship.
Take Irish telecoms company, eircom. Yomego has been helping them develop a strategy to support their sponsorship of Ireland’s (ultimately ill-fated!) World Cup campaign over at www.soccerrepublic.ie . (If you saw the recent Ireland v France match – bear with me).
Eircom ‘get’ social media. They haven’t just got involved with an existing fan site, they have, with our help, created a destination from scratch. They have been the non-intrusive facilitators of a thriving community helping fans gain insight and get access to inside information and given them a place to ‘get behind their team. They’ve added real value, and supporting fans on their journey.
Read the case study
Unfortunately, success on the pitch is never something that can be guaranteed. Victory for a sponsor’s team can help to cement a successful campaign, but it isn’t essential. In fact being there during the highs and lows is a significant part of any relationship.
Of course, eircom know what it’s like on both sides of the fence, they also created gaelic rising - a community site and social network for Gaelic sports fans, this positions eircom as the non-intrusive facilitators, helping a community, previously without a home, thrive. eircom has no official tie with GAA sports, but they spotted an opportunity to embrace a thriving and passionate community, working with the GAA to deliver mutual benefits.
Conclusions
So whatever your affiliation (or not) with a sporting occasion, the World Cup and upcoming Olympics in London, should not be ignored. Chances are, both events will have an impact on your target market, and social media spaces will be awash with comment, groups (for and against) as people congregate around common interests. Opportunities exist for brands to tap into these emotions, and, if executed carefully, significant benefits await for those who get their approach right, tip-toeing around the stringent association guidelines and out-manoeuvering some of the more bland and cumbersome global campaigns recycled by some of the more unambitious official sponsors.
For more details, please contact Joe Hughes, Research & Insight Manager at Yomego.
