This summer has been an emotional rollercoaster for British sports fans, with a bitterly disappointing Euro 2016 followed by a great Wimbledon victory. But the excitement isn’t over yet – so take a deep breath and brace yourself for what promises to be the biggest event of the year: the Summer Olympics in Rio.
Based on the lack of consumer noise around the Olympics so far, you could perhaps conclude that the British don’t really care – but you’d be wrong. A report by RadiumOne shows that UK fans are hotly anticipating the excitement of Rio, with 34% defining themselves as “obsessed” with the event and 42% as “engaged”. That’s 76% of Britain’s population who are looking forward to kick off on August 5.
It’s a similar story on the advertising front – we have not seen much from brands as of yet, but given that 47% of the entire Olympics revenue comes from sponsorship, I think it is safe to say that there is something pretty spectacular on the horizon. As Steve Martin, M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment chief executive, comments, “You are going to see some terrific work but my view of the Olympics [activity] is that rather than a slow and sure build up, it is just going to arrive.”
We are now officially in the run up to Rio 2016, where thousands of the world’s top athletes will come together to compete. Huge numbers of fans will travel to Brazil to support their teams, but the largest chunk of the audience will be at home, tuning in via their TV and other devices. And because major sporting events such as the Olympics deliver a richer experience on digital, this is a huge opportunity for brands to capture the attention of vast numbers of highly engaged consumers – and not just sports fans.
In the last 12 months, according to Google, YouTube watch time for sports (such as track and field, gymnastics, swimming and volleyball) exceeded thirty times over the total watch time for all of the estimated content ever broadcast on ESPN. The Olympic audience is much bigger than the segment of sports fans who tune in occasionally to watch their favourite national or local team play: Google says that more than one in three of those who say they rarely or never watch sports content plan to watch the summer games.
This is a unique chance for the savvy content marketer to reach a huge, engaged audience by throwing some fresh content themes and formats into the mix.
Grow and connect with your audience
Some brands may feel they have an obvious tie in with sports, but for others the connection may be harder to find. That said, the advantage of the Olympics over most other sporting events is that it is about much more than just sport. Plus, despite the strict rules around advertising during the Olympics, brands don’t need to be an official sponsor to take part in the conversation. There are endless angles that can be leveraged to connect a brand to the big event, whilst staying true to the Olympic spirit.
For instance, the host city itself tends to remain front and centre of the conversation. For example, during the last Summer Olympics, London travel – related search interest on YouTube nearly doubled. So as long as brands are innovative in their approach, they can relate to the Olympics no matter what their offering is. For example:
- A luggage store could create content around travel tips in the host country.
- A fashion brand could talk about how to dress or pack for the Olympics – or for those on a smaller budget, an Olympics-themed party.
- A health brand could create content around Olympic athletes’ training or diet regimens.
The list is endless, and it speaks volumes that my personal favourite from the 2012 Summer Olympics was Mini’s Small Wins campaign – even though cars are hardly relevant to the event. What the brand did was cleverly play up to their underdog status by celebrating small competitors succeeding against the odds, which made for truly compelling storytelling.
With 42 different sports represented at this year’s Olympics, brands can take their pick when it comes to choosing a theme. A good strategy could be to focus on some of the new sports in the competition this year, which include rugby, golf and kitesurfing. These are likely to be engaging simply by virtue of being newcomers, and they can additionally offer the opportunity for some stunning visuals.
Another key strategy is creating content that is sharable. The RadiumOne study shows us that 59% of people are likely to share content about the Olympics and 43% will do so at least once or twice a day during the event.
Here are some of my current favourites, although it is still early days – meaning there are many more great campaigns to come.
- P&G takes the gold with its “Thank You Mum” campaign. Part of a 10 year sponsorship of the Olympics, this heart-warming campaign honours the emotional strength involved in motherhood (I dare any mum to not tear up, even just a little!)
- Nissan does a great job of taking fans behind the scenes and into the heart of the GB Olympic and Paralympic teams with their ‘On The Road” campaign. The series of short videos gives fans a chance to get to know the individual members of Team GB and hear their stories first-hand.
The real-time challenge
Perhaps the greatest opportunity for content marketers during the Olympics is the real-time nature of the games. Unlike traditional advertising, which can take time to turn around, content can be fast and reflect real time events just a short time after they happen.
There is no question that social will be huge during the event, and will boost the shareability of content, but we shouldn’t neglect other less appreciated forms of content marketing either. Rupert Staines, european managing director at RadiumOne, says, “The Olympics provide a sustained series of moment marketing opportunities for brands, particularly if they can connect the second-screening usage at key glory moments on TV, [including] the opening and closing ceremonies and the BBC highlights show, and individual events.”
But with so many options, which moments should marketers actually focus on? According to the RadiumOne survey, the Olympics opening ceremony is the most popular event for 71% of respondents, while 60% are mainly interested in the closing ceremony and 56% prefer the highlights shows. The most popular sports are athletics (67%), followed by football (51%), tennis (50%), gymnastics (49%) and aquatics (45%).
•For more insights, download Outbrain’s Olympics Report
•For more content marketing tips and insights, visit the Outbrain Blog
Antonia Faulkner is european marketing director at Outbrain
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