The Australian Open Grand Slam tennis tournament, which has reached half way stage as I write this,  has built on the progress of previous years to establish a strong, recognizable and credible online brand. According to Sam Laird, in a recent post on the US website Mashable, the Australian Open ‘may just be the most digitally connected major sporting event of all time’. High praise indeed.

So why is the event in Melbourne attracting such accolades for its digital presence?

In my opinion, what the Australian Open is doing so well is leveraging digital assets to create deep and meaningful engagement with fans, while at the same time integrating its sponsors. Many sporting events, clubs and organizations across the globe strive to simultaneously achieve these two goals and the Grand Slam for Asia/Pacific has, arguably, pulled it off.

Fan Engagement at the Australian Open

In terms of fan engagement, the Aussie Open is actively utilizing its website, social media accounts and mobile applications.

The website is fully integrated with social media – essential for any event – and it keeps the fan abreast of pretty much everything that is going on. There is also Slamtracker, the live scoring application, Australian Open television (AOTV), with free live streaming from 7 courts, and an extensive vault of past great tennis matches. Fans also have the opportunity to opt-in for daily email updates and let’s not forget the Fan Centre.

The Fan Centre encourages fan participation and involvement in a number of innovative ways. The most notable is the Social Leaderboard where the social media activity of fans directly increases the points given to 40 popular players chosen by the Australian Open. If a fan tweets about one of these players using a hashtag that relates to the player’s name or likes content on the official Facebook page, that player receives points. As I write this, Rafael Nadal (#rafa) is ranked number 1, with a total of over 16,000 points. Overall, the number of tweets to the official hashtag (#ausopen) has reached over 110,000.

Additionally,  there is Pick Em. This competition encourages participation for daily prizes. There are also polls and trivia competitions to capture fan engagement. Another initiative creating fan involvement and fan voting is Fan of the Day, which enables Kia, the major sponsor, to take and upload photos of fans. Another practice is Caption It, which uses fan generated content to build buzz for the tournament. If that isn’t enough, fans can become ‘Fanbassadors’ and be included in the ‘On The Outer’ honor roll if they tweet a link to their blog or tag the Australian Open in one of their tweets. Popcorn Tennis (@popcorntennis) also provides fans with ‘bite-size pieces of on and off-court action’.

In social media, the official Facebook page has over 500,000 likes and a 54,000 ‘talking about this’ number, providing a 10% engagement ratio for the page. The Twitter feed (@AustralianOpen) is being covered 24 hours a day, for fans wherever they may be, and the account presently has over 67,000 followers.

In terms of sheer numbers, the Australian Open website exceeded 10 million unique visitors in 2011 and this number is likely to be surpassed in 2012.

For mobile applications, the Australian Open has free apps for the iPhone, iPad and this year, for the first time, the Android. The apps feature scores, schedules, players, an event guide, draws, news and a GPS feature to locate key points around the grounds and much more. The apps were developed by IBM. The presence of the IBM logo within the apps shows an example of sponsorship integration for an Official Partner – more of that below. In 2011, more than 700,000 fans updated or downloaded the official iPhone app.

Sponsorship Integration

Sponsors of the Australian Open are integrated both online (and in some cases offline) and, in my opinion, in a fairly unobtrusive way, which is really the key. As with any event, sponsor obligations have to be met – but  not to such an extent that the fan becomes disengaged, which would ultimately damage both the event and sponsor brands. On the website, scores are presented by IBM (technology partner), Video and Radio are presented by Rolex (watches – associate sponsor) and Tickets presented by Virgin Australia (airlines – official sponsor). All sponsors and partners also have permanent website presence at the foot of the homepage, as well as in a dedicated sponsors family section.

The ‘Open Drive’ feature, run on You Tube and from the major sponsor, Kia (motor vehicles), has returned again this year. The Open Drive is an entertaining way for fans to get to know players better through a series of questions asked while the player is driven around Melbourne in the back of a Kia vehicle. This year’s video with Nadal has already attracted over 38,000 views.  And, here’s another one with Novak Djokovic after his semi-final win vs Andy Murray.

Finally, a competition being run via Facebook, and sponsored by Jacob’s Creek, will enable a lucky fan to win a dinner with Andre Agassi. Agassi, a former Wimbledon winner, is also an ambassador for Jacob’s Creek (wine-associate sponsor), which is trying to reinforce its connections with the sport of tennis.

One thing that would probably do even more to deepen fan engagement while at the same time being highly attractive to sponsors? An Australian winner, of course. But some things just can’t be controlled through innovative digital marketing!

Have you noticed anything else that the Australian Open has done to engage their audience? Could they be doing anything better? Feel free to leave your comments below or tweet us your thoughts!

About Chris Conway

Chris is a strategic programs analyst at the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) focusing on, amongst other things, sponsorship research, analytics and acquisition. He holds a MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Business (AGSM). Chris took part in the school’s exchange program by completing a semester at Stern business school, NYU where he studied sports marketing and sports economics. Connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Here in Australia, sporting clubs are only just realizing the massive potential of social media and beginning to understand the new opportunities they have to connect with their fans.

Er, so I’ll start a Facebook page then?

Finding the right tools and platform

The first step to getting involved in social media in sports is to figure out what exactly is the best network to use. It might be necessary to use a combination of networks, but if you are only going to focus on one, it’s crucial to use the one that fans use most.

Once the platform has been chosen, Sean says sports companies or events teams need to know how best to use it and understand what they want to get out of it.

“What’s the goal? Why exactly do you want your club to get involved in social media. Is it to build a fan base? Is it to grow membership numbers or is it to better promote sponsors?” he said.

“You have to get fans to like the FB page or follow the Twitter feed, get them to comment and then drive them back to your website,” he said. “Think of fans as long term customers. Essentially you are in a relationship with them – but you’re more of a friend than a sales representative.  Key numbers are active fans, it’s important to be engaging them, not just collecting them”.

Get Creative and Encourage Fans to Share on Social Media

Case study: West Coast Eagles (AFL)

The SportsDP model instructs fans to like, share or tweet West Coast Eagles content. In return for liking content and sharing in the social media space fans collect points and are effectively ‘rated’ on how big a fan they are.

Not only does this type of approach allow fans to get involved in the club and stay up to date on news, it also fosters a real sense of community and loyalty amongst fans and sponsors.

Incorporating sponsorship

“Just because a sports event or club has large numbers of followers doesn’t mean the sponsors will also become popular,” he said. “Of course there can be a flow on effect but you still have to give fans a reason to stay connected.”

“We worked with a property investing company who obtained an excellent flow on to their social media accounts from a sports event they were sponsoring,” he said. “Even though they aren’t in the business of sport they now provide tips to fans and followers – so when they do decide to look at investing fans will go to them first. Social media in sports is simply a touchpoint – an opportunity to reach fans on a whole new level,” he said. “Clubs have to think differently as they can connect with fans on a daily basis.  Social media is a unique opportunity to engage with fans long term. It’s all about connecting and building relationships.”

He believes there are amazing opportunities for growth, and for sponsors, if clubs know how to develop and implement effective social media strategies.

Sean’s Top Tips for Developing an Effective Strategy for Social Media in Sports

• Determine what the goal is and why exactly you want to get involved in social media. Is it to build a fan base? Is it to grow membership numbers or is it to better promote sponsors?
• Identify the best platforms to support your campaign. Keep in mind that most people on Facebook just want to play. It’s important to understand that most people are not necessarily there to buy but they will be open to reading marketing messages.
• Engage, engage, engage. It’s important to keep social media and social networking ‘social’.  It’s not just a broadcast platform. It’s crucial to have a balance with quality content and marketing messages.

#Youtube140 – Google+ Brand Pages In Sports

Also, make sure to check out Sean’s Youtube channel where he produces a series called #Youtube140.  These are a series of videos where he discusses a topic in the world of sports and technology in 140 seconds while showing you live on his desktop.  Here’s an example of one of the most recent episodes.

Do you know of any other new programs designed to engage the fan and incorporate social media in sports sponsorship? Feel free to comment below, Tweet or Facebook us if you have any other ideas!

About Claire Kelly

Claire Kelly is a freelance writer, communications consultant and Australian beach volleyball player based on the Gold Coast, Australia. Experienced in social media marketing, conducting interviews, ghostwriting, editing, generating publicity and photography, Claire is passionate about about helping athletes and businesses grow through the power of the media and the internet. Follow Claire on Twitter @clairelkelly

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The world is changing rapidly and from now onwards the speed of that change is only going to further increase. We’re daily bombarded with thousands of images. Every photo can be worth a thousand words. But which images are the ones that stick and make a difference? Which (and whose) story is being told (and where) has almost become as important as the quality of the image. Choices about which professional images are created are increasingly made by executives, not necessarily creatives. At the same time, anyone can now take pictures. The quality of a sports photography image is no longer defined by its resolution or razor sharp focus. A picture made by a fan can travel all over the world and end up on the international front pages before you can say ‘bong’.

This post covers the changes in sports photography from the perspective of the photographers, media, sponsors, fans and athletes. Its not intended as a philosophical reflection of the value of a photograph. The digital revolution, which this blog is dedicated to, has resulted in lasting behavioral change as well as the way sports imagery is produced, distributed, and ultimately consumed. How do photographers find their audience, how do sponsors maximize their visibility, and how do athletes manage their exposure?

Photographers: Artists, Reporters or Editors?

The key application of professional sports photography is for editorial purposes; dedicated sports photographers generally work for papers, major wire agencies, or dedicated sports magazines. However, sports photography is also utilized for advertising purposes both to build a brand as well as to push a sport in a way that cannot be achieved by editorial means. Despite the fact that camera manufacturers have dramatically reduced the difficulty of focusing and nailing exposure, the photographer IS the difference between ‘just any picture’ and a great picture. Whether you’re shooting action, commercial, feature, or portrait photography the underlying image structure, composition, dodging and burning (selective lightening and darkening), gesture, color and originality of an image celebrate the true skill of a talented photographer.

One of the single most difficult aspects of being a sports photographer is to capture the “decisive moment”. It involves a deep understanding of the sport and what is newsworthy. The media are looking for news, the decisive moment, perfectly illustrating the story of that game. It’s all about the goal or the sending-off. Capturing that moment requires experience, anticipation, skill, and probably even a little bit of predicting the future.

Technology

However, in a couple of years from now, there might not be a shutter to press anymore. Some camera models are now processing “image capture” before you depress the shutter – enabling recall of prior moments even before you’ve shot the image. This technology is becoming available in consumer cameras like the new Nikon 1. According to French American photographer Vincent Laforet , @vincentlaforet, technological developments are leaning strongly towards further convergence between the photo and the film camera. Current cameras capture up to120 (!) frames per second (at an incredible resolution). Stills from video might not be good enough for usage yet, but they soon will be. Due to increases in quality and file size, it’s the storage and delivery which is now sometimes problematic. Original files are too large to even email, so Media Manager solutions are becoming more prevalent. In the near future cameras will simply be recording all the time, thus evolving the job of capturing “the moment” into editing it. There’s going to be such an incredible amount of data coming in that editor is going to become one of the most important job positions out there.

Google images and Flickr are rapidly turning great imagery into a commodity. How would you have searched for images before those platforms, or rather; were you even looking for images in the first place? Today images of professional photographers quickly find their way into a wide variety of social channels and they should think carefully about the risk of losing control over their photographs. Who actually owns these photos in social media? Some agencies like WENN own the rights to all imagery uploaded to Twitter via the TwitPics app. Creators of this unique content may be giving away their rights without even knowing this! It’s all in the small print. Kathy E Gill (@kegill) formulates an insightful answer to this rather complicated question in this great post.

On the back of digitally enhanced films like 300, the post-production of imagery is rapidly increasing in importance. 3-D photography has been around since the early 1900’s, but it’s only now that we have the applications to use the content for consumers through cinema, tv, mobile phones, tablets, etc. Another new technological option is the 360 degrees photography panoramic image, (which could also have relevance to sports). A 360 pan  of a big play in the endzone of the Superbowl would be awesome! Maybe we should be holding out until this is available.

Distribution & Global Sports Events

Pictures are distributed worldwide and no longer geographically constrained. The big agencies, such as Reuters, Associated Press, and Getty Images are dominating the photography marketplace worldwide. In sports photography access is the key. Without proper accreditation, entering and photographing at a major sports event has virtually become impossible. Getting hold of these accreditations is increasingly challenging. The question is whether that is a problem. I personally do not think so. How many photographers does it take to photograph the world’s largest sports event? The 2010 FIFA World Cup hosted exactly 943 accredited photographers from all over the world. The 2010 FIFA World Cup final was covered by 233 photographers on the pitch and an additional 128 on the tribune.

The choreography following the final whistle in a Champions League or World Cup final has become a returning comedy. Dozens of stewards run around the field holding cords in an attempt to ‘cage’ the photographers. At the same time dozens of photographers fight each other for what they believe is ‘the best place’ to shoot their shot. This system basically facilitates that the (physically) strongest photographer is allowed to shoot from ‘pole position’.

Of course I highly respect and greatly appreciate the dedication, perspective, artistic eye, and sense for news that most individual  photographers bring to their work. They’re extremely passionate about their photography and really into their sport. However, one wonders if we are approaching the point where the sheer amount of photographers becomes directly detrimental to quality of the photography. Does more really result in better? In the meantime, changes seem inevitable.

Click here for a tutorial with sports photographer Craig Golding (sponsored by Canon) or here for the Getty Images Blog which highlights a whole host of events, photographers, and shoots. In this one created last week, sports photographer Dean Moutharopoulos talks about shooting boxing.

Sponsors: “If you do not shoot, you cannot score!”

Although Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruijff was talking about soccer in this ‘Yoda-like’ quote above, his words are equally appropriate for today’s topic. Simply put:  photography that isn’t shot will never be seen. Sponsors often (also) aim for maximum exposure, and photography that remains un-shot, in many cases, equals missed opportunities.

Hiring famous or influential people to represent your products is not enough to create a deep and true connection. It’s also why sponsors use strong imagery to equate products with positive cultural and social experiences. There have been many shots that have emulated a star in their own sport from Michael Jordan’s many clutch shots to David Beckham bending in one of his legendary free-kicks. Sponsors connect their brand and /or their product(s) with events and individuals, using imagery to equate products with positive cultural and social experiences. The images we perceive take these associations out of their representational realms and make them live realities. Simply put, “If I wear the same football shoes as the world’s best player, I’ll probably be a better athlete”.

I  Heart My Sponsor

Whether it’s Jamaican Usain Bolt kissing his Puma Complete Theseus II spike at the 2008 Olympic Games, or Leo Messi kissing his adidas Adizero F50’s in the UEFA Champions League final, a well-timed, authentic image celebrating the athlete as well as a sponsor’s product can make all the difference. Research shows that strong brand imagery, in particular images of ‘celebrational athletes’ , results in the most favourable brand-associated coverage achievable.

At the world’s largest sports events photographers are usually well represented. While sponsors might not have to worry about imagery being shot, they do have to ensure the capability, structure, rights, and process to allow immediate, integrated activation of such tactical opportunities.

Measuring Results

Thoughtfully executed evaluations allow sponsors to formulate meaningful and measurable objectives. Usually such objectives would include visibility, favorability, and reach in a previously defined media sample. Such research is able to monitor a brand’s ongoing performance on a daily basis, over consecutive quarters, or year to year. It also allows them to compare their performance vs. its main competitors or its fellow sponsors.

Depending on its objectives, a brand can choose to monitor the use of photography and the impact its use has on the favorability of the coverage. Also tracking which images get used where will allow sponsors to develop the creation and distribution of their images.

Media: Destination or Distribution?

The internet is a key influence on the future of photography as we know it. Editorial photography is in the doldrums; magazine and newspaper publishing is going down. The quality, news value, or printability of an image is no longer defined by its resolution, and distribution has become at least as important as your company-owned destination. Kids rarely read magazines; instead they spend all day on their phone or ipad. Still photography is important, Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit edition proves it year after year and so does the annual Body Issue of ESPN.

Some of you might have already seen this video featuring a 1-year-old playing with an iPad. She then gets confused and disappointed when paper magazines don’t respond the same way to being tapped or slid on. “For my 1-year-old daughter, a magazine is an iPad that does not work”.

Sport Illustrated is an aggressive innovator in the tablet space, and photography is a key component of its strategy. As this post by Lauren Indvik (@laureni) for mashable points out, Sports Illustrated has produced a digital edition for the iPad every week since it debuted last June, produces daily content for www.si.com, and created “SI Snapshot” , a chrome app delivering the best sports pictures of the day – every day. At Time they certainly realize that great photography has the ability to ignite conversations (and drive sales). Terry McDonell (@SI_TMcDonell), the editor of the Time Inc. Sports Group explains; “We used to do 3,500 pages per year. Now we do more than 100,000 pages, maybe 200,000 if you count different aspect ratios and slideshows as pages. Digital now accounts for 30% of overall revenue. Print generates 55%, and other marketing efforts bring in 15%”. Here’s another Mashable post by Lauren on Sports illustrated.

Too Slow?

Here’s an interesting post on invocus by Brent Treworgy on how social media is changing the media landscape. His point of view is that if consumers are finding daily newspapers too slow for their liking, monthly sports magazines seem positively irrelevant!

Social media, and Twitter in particular, has had an enormous impact on sports coverage over the past five years. It’s hard to talk about breaking news on Twitter without mentioning Captain Sully and his heroic landing on the Hudson River. Twitter had the news – and the pictures – before any of the major news outlets started reporting what transpired. It brought Twitter into the spotlight as a legitimate news source. Twitter has certainly brought sports figures, those who cover them, and consumers all closer together, and opened up new channels of communication between them. While it is true that print coverage of sports has continued to suffer, social media has also allowed new business models to emerge.

Gone are the days of refreshing ESPN.com’s front page during half time of the Super Bowl. For both reporting and photojournalism there are two ways to get ahead: be the first or be the best. For most, it’s easier to be first. To break a story, a photographer has to deliver his pictures the instant they’re shot. However before distributing imagery or information you learned on Twitter – before you hit RT – check the source of the story before you become part of the problem.

Fans: You love to watch, don’t you?

Fans love autographs, re-tweets, and having their pictures taken with their favourite athletes. They literally fall over themselves to take a picture with their idol, take a moment in the middle of the coin toss or even invite the coach of the opposing team to snap their photograph . Photography is everywhere and fans are sharing 24/7.

Fans have become an important source of imagery. According to a study by Panasonic, a stunning 175 million minutes of video from the 2012 Games will be captured by fans, equal to 334 years of footage. It estimates fans will snap 466 million photos of athletes and events in London! These numbers imply that each of the 8.8 million ticket-holding Olympic fans will take 53 photographs and about 20 minutes of video.

Pretty, Partying, Planking, Police & Playboy

Athlete photography simply fascinates fans– whether it’s the top 20 of most embarrassing athletes pictures, a gallery of the 20 prettiest female athletes, athletes planking, athletes partying, pictures shot by playboy or even the police. Today every single shot is only one quick click away.

Corporate technology is now firmly in the hands of consumers. Altering imagery has become as easy as photographing itself. However the main change is not technical, it’s sociological. It’s not about the tools that have become available to all, it’s about consumer behavior that has fundamentally changed. The democratization of images has resulted in self-controlled broadcast. As an example, here’s a post by @amymaeelliott featuring 10 stunning sport photographs taken on an i-phone (some of the iphone apps for image creation are excellent) and here are 8 tips for taking better sports pictures by @dakdillon.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup

The power of the network has turned the audience you reach into the people who are reached by the people who are reached by the people you reach (ehm, please do feel free to read that sentence once again…). A typical example is that despite the small army of 948 officially accredited FIFA World Cup photographers, the most memorable image of last year’s tournament was a viral image created by an unnamed fan. Within hours of England’s disastrous 4-1 2010 FIFA World Cup loss against Germany, the internet was awash with references to a controversial referee decision, including one doctored image featuring a white line showing just how far the ball had made it past the goal posts.

These internet memes are a relatively new phenomenon, often an (altered) photograph (video, site, phrase or word). Internet memes will move from person to person via social networking websites, blogs, news sources and other web-based services. Internet memes can spread very rapidly by ‘word-of-mouse’, sometimes reaching world-wide popularity and vanishing in a few days. Incidents surrounding major sports event have proven an exceptionally rich inspiration source for memes.

Athletes & Sports Photography:  Trick, Treat or Thread?

People love looking at attractive people and fans love looking at (and photographing) attractive athletes. Looks matter. With the available research it’s fair to conclude that attractive athletes make significantly more money than lesser attractive colleagues. According to this post on ABCNews by @ewencallaway better-looking sportsmen are even more likely to win matches!

While some (in most cases most) of an athlete’s income is generated by his or her athletic skills, a significant percentage of their money comes from being a public figure. Many people consider athletes’ brands. As such, athletes are not only representing themselves but also their school, team, club, league, or sponsor(s). Most athletes appreciate that most fans are genuinely interested in what is going on in their lives. Clearly none of today’s well-known athletes would be where they are without cameras.

Paparazzi

However, paparazzi are increasingly turning their attention to athletes. ESPN quotes Gary Morgan, the CEO of Splash, a paparazzi agency that employs upwards of 2,000 photographers worldwide, “Sports stars now are really the big Hollywood actors and actresses, they’re the new celebrities.” NFL prospect Colt McCoy already is keenly aware that “you got to be on your guard all the time, no matter where you are or what you’re doing, just be smart.” NASCAR’s four-time Sprint Cup champion, Jimmie Johnson, knows the tabloid world is training its eye on athletes and the “magnifying glass is intensifying in the sports world.” Athletes surely do have the right to a private life too, don’t they?

Privacy?

A survey conducted by PR Week in the UK  in September 2010 amongst 3,000 respondents showed that, in the eyes of the public, celebrities who make money from their private lives have fewer rights to privacy. 36% of respondents believed the public had the right to know about a sports star’s private life. An additional 49% (85%!) feels the public has the right to know about a sports star’s private life if “it” was something that undermined their sports performance. In addition, 68% said celebrities do not have the same rights to privacy in the future if they made money by revealing details of their private lives to the media.

That’s probably why these 2,000 paparazzi have jobs! But hey, wait a second, who’ll need paparazzi anyway?! With every second fan feeling entitled to photograph an athlete around the clock, paparazzi might quickly become obsolete. Athletes are not superhuman and – with a camera density of close to 100% – every athlete will (eventually or inevitably) be photographed under ‘sub-optimal circumstances’. As one of the world’s most famous cases, here’s a link to the NBC coverage of the Micheal Phelps ‘Bong picture’.

 Watch & Learn

Not only pictures shot by fans and paparazzi are making headlines, also pictures taken by athletes such as: Brett Favre, Martellus Bennett, Dorell Wright, George Hill, Greg Oden, Sean Salisbury, Grady Sizemore, Chris Cooley, Mark Ingram, Ron Artest or Ray Edwards are creating news. It’s fair to assume their pictures were not intended for mass publication or large scale distribution.

In some of the above cases the pictures were taken years ago and shared (leaked) by trusted contacts. Nobody needs to be taught not to publicize naked pictures. Not everybody is aware of hackers stealing your private images though. According to LA Late, a man was arrested early October 2011 for committing a digital breach of many celebrities’ mobile and computing devices to steal photos and then leak them online. Officials confirmed that the pictures were being looted from traditional devices like laptops and computers, not just mobile devices like cell phones.

In retrospect, no matter how these images got out, an athlete’s assumption that his (or her) private pictures will remain unseen by the common public has clearly been proven mildly naive. Should we all agree that from now onwards a “momentary lack of judgment” and “naivety about the Internet” are no longer valid excuses? Athletes can read too and should definitely be learning from the experience of others in sports photography.   Therefore the most sensible guidance to (aspiring) athletes that do not want to get “caught with their pants down” remains that the images that you do not want seen should probably never be shot.

What are your thoughts on sports photography today and social media’s impact?  Let us know in the comments below and please feel free to share this article with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.

Special thanks to Brendan Kemp, aka @bjnkemp.

About Thomas van Schaik

Thomas studied Communications in Amsterdam and has been working in international sports for over 15 years. He started his professional career at the Amsterdam Admirals in the NFL Europe and moved to Dutch professional soccer champions PSV Eindhoven in 1997. In 2001 he moved to Southern Germany to join Adidas. He's filled a variety of roles with the sporting goods brand, including 'Head of Global PR'. In 2011 he moved into the role of Global Brand Director.

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Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of attending the Ivy Sports Symposium at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia. The Ivy Sports Symposium is one of the global sports industry’s premier conferences that sets the standard among college-based sports business events. It is widely considered the best and most comprehensive one-day event. The Symposium has gained industry-wide recognition since its inception by featuring more than 180 unique speakers from around the world representing all facets of the sports business.  There were a number of great sports job tips to take away from the conference.

1. Social Media in Sports

The #1 thing that I took away from the symposium was how important it is to possess social media skills. Sports are moving to the social media realm at an incredibly fast pace. Many current industry executives are lagging on social media trends and since younger professionals are more versed, they are being hired to help their company’s social media presence. This skill was emphasized as a potential differentiator to break into the sports industry or creative a competitive advantage in your current job.

2. Sports Job Tips on a Global Scale

Another aspect that was greatly emphasized throughout the entire conference was that sports are becoming an increasingly global enterprise. In the United States, we often think that there are only four major sports that matter to fans and consumers. This is simply not the case. We often fail to recognize sports that are dominant in the international sector such as Futbol, Cricket, Formula 1 racing and Rugby just to name a few. There is enormous potential for brands and executives alike to capitalize on this relatively untapped market.

Kevin McNulty, CMO of Momentum Worldwide, emphasized that agencies are starting to expand their offices overseas and offered the following tips for people to land a sports job internationally:

• Learn another language: When looking to enter into the sports industry, think about working abroad as there are countless opportunities. By being fluent in a foreign language, it sets you apart from the other applicants in a big way.
• Be Fluent in Portuguese: Rio De Janiero, Brazil is the host of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Summer Olympics in 2016. Many agencies and companies are starting to set-up offices there to prepare for these huge events. Portuguese speakers are in high demand and McNulty said this is a huge advantage for applicants if they possess this skill.
• Dual Citizenship: It’s extremely expensive for companies to hire foreigners to work in their overseas offices as it is costly to pay for work Visas, find them housing, transfer funds, etc. If you have the opportunity to have dual citizenship in any country, it makes you more attractive for companies to hire you for their international operations.

Sports Job Tips - Advice For Students

Here are some other sports job tips from top executives in the sports industry:

About Holly Koski

Holly Koski is a recent grad from Indiana University majoring in Sports Marketing & Management. As the Sports Networker Marketing Intern, she is responsible for managing the Sports Networker Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages while promoting Sports Networker content through various online and email marketing strategies.

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This article is a guest post by Sam Hawkins

A new free sports app has just been released in the UK. It’s called PlayUp and combines real-time scoring, free messaging and fan rooms across more than 20,000 live games

The free PlayUp sports app includes real time scoring and statistics for more than 20,000 games, along with the option to create private rooms to discuss the action with friends or join public rooms to interact with fans from around the world – goal by goal, play by play or pitch by pitch.

The sports app is available initially for Apple iPhones, iPads and iPod touch (iOS-based devices), other mobile platforms such as Android/Desktop/Windows 7 will follow in 2012.

Already, the PlayUp sports app has achieved strong interest globally ranking as a top free sports app in the highly competitive US (#14) sports market.

The app can be downloaded now at http://playup.com/apps/

For more information, visit http://playup.com/uk or contact:
Paul Nicholson (paul.nicholson@playup.com; tel: 07990 586003) or Becki Willis (becki.willis@fourcommunications.com; tel: 07817 368000)

About Heidi Howes

Heidi Howes is a freelance writer,editor, and singer-songwriter living in Columbus, Ohio. She blogs about following bliss at www.theanandaproject.com.

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We can all breathe easy, the NFL is back. And with a little more than a month left until the 2011 NFL season opener (Sept. 8th) we are witnessing a frenzy of a free agency period. In just one week we saw Chad Ocho Cinco traded to the New EnglandPatriots, Reggie Bush taking his talents to south beach, and Nnamdi Asomugha joining the Philadelphia Eagles.

Luckily, fans don’t have to rely on traditional media to stay current with all the mayhem. Social media has solved that annoying problem of waiting to read tomorrow’s paper or catching the news. Here are some ways to keep up with the NFL free agency period through social media.

Twitter

Talk about real time news and information. Reporters like Chris Mortnensen and Adam Schefter have leveraged Twitter to report on breaking free agent signings and trades. These are the two people to follow if you are serious about football. How do you think I heard about Randy Moss retiring?

Facebook

I found Facebook useful for different reasons:

1.    Following Your Team

As a Jets fan I head to the Jets Facebook page to get the latest updates on my team and much more. I can watch new videos uploaded by Jets players and the front office, stay up to date with upcoming events and even buy tickets for regular home games.

2.    Sharing My Opinion

The NFL Countdown just got a Facebook page and it is quickly becoming one of my favorites to visit. Every day they post a new question to start a discussion and to get the fans’ opinions.

Blogs

Twitter is great for breaking news but sometimes I like to receive a little more coverage about a story than 150 characters can provide. Here are a few blogs I read to get more details about a story:

Bleacherreport.com

Everybody knows about this site but I still want to give it the coverage it deserves. The articles are creative and well researched. (i.e. Offseason Report Cards for All 32 NFL Teams)

Espn.go.com/blog

These articles are a lot different than the articles that are ESPN.com. They are simple, interesting, and straight facts homey. You won’t find those witty Bill Simmons articles that compare Jennifer Aniston Movies to something in sports.

Dmitriy Gamarnik is a marketing analyst with Blue Fountain Media, an ecommerce design company in New York City.

About Dmitriy Gamarnik

www.bluefountainmedia.com Dmitriy Gamarnik is a marketing analyst for Blue Fountain Media. He is passionate about two things – sports and marketing. Sports have been a big part of Dmitriy’s life since he learned to crawl. When he isn’t keeping up with the industry and providing top notch analysis in New York City, he works on his golf swing and coaches basketball in his home town of Plainsboro, NJ.

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Last week I shared a basic social media guide to get you started on the right path. Today I will provide examples of two sports organizations that are using social media platforms correctly.

However, instead of writing about well-known sports like basketball or football I thought it would be interesting to examine endurance challenges that test the human body like no other.

Over the years, endurance challenges have become very popular and to connect with the growing community, organizations embraced social media as their marketing tool of choice.

Tough Mudder & Facebook

Tough Mudder, a 10 mile obstacle course designed by British Special Forces, has a great Facebook presence. New visitors are directed to an engaging landing page that contains a video that draws visitors right in. To build urgency, the landing page also shows information for upcoming events and the percentage of how full the event is.

Tough Mudder also utilizes all Facebook features to interact with their community. They regularly hold contest, group discussions and deals for their events.

Civilian Military Combine & YouTube

This strength, endurance, and agility test is not meant for wimps. And to really prepare participants Civilian Military Combine utilized the power of YouTube. CMC decided to use the platform as a training resource and upload instructional videos that would get participants prepared for the upcoming race.

These videos are also helping CMC with the following:
1. Community
CMC is building a strong community
2. Content
Uploading new training videos keeps community members coming back
3. Expertise
Providing training videos established CMC as experts in their industry

Dmitriy Gamarnik is a marketing analyst with Blue Fountain Media, an ecommerce website design company in New York.

About Dmitriy Gamarnik

www.bluefountainmedia.com Dmitriy Gamarnik is a marketing analyst for Blue Fountain Media. He is passionate about two things – sports and marketing. Sports have been a big part of Dmitriy’s life since he learned to crawl. When he isn’t keeping up with the industry and providing top notch analysis in New York City, he works on his golf swing and coaches basketball in his home town of Plainsboro, NJ.

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Guest Post by Dmitriy Gamarnik

Before social media, reaching customers was a challenge accomplished by face to face, television, radio, or print advertising. Today, a company can use services like Twitter and Facebook to directly communicate with customers. This also means that crowd is filled with many voices and to be effective the message needs to be clear.

1. Goals

What are you trying to achieve and what is the expected outcome? This is an important question to ask at the beginning of any social media campaign. This step will provide guidance and a clear course to follow as you navigate the world of social media.

2. Metrics

How will you measure the results? There are a variety of ways in which to measure social media success. Typically the goal of social media is to build relationships and trust, which cannot be easily defined. Some common metrics to keep an eye on are the number of interactions, fans/followers, and conversions.

3. Message

What is your business’ message for the world? It is critical to decide what is unique about yourself or your business. Determine the ways in which you can deliver value to your customers and how you separate yourself from the competition. A unique identity, idea, or concept is highly beneficial in developing an online following.

4. Scenarios

What will you do if you receive a negative comment or a positive one, and how will you respond? It is important to have a clearly outlined protocol for managing your interactions and delivering appropriate and prompt responses.

5. Roles

Who is in charge of what and on which social platform? If multiple people are managing a social media campaign it may be necessary to define responsibilities and boundaries. This will ensure that no aspect of your social media campaign is neglected.

6. Audience

What type of crowd are you targeting and how will they benefit from the interaction? Social media is all about building relationships, so it is critical to make ensure that these relationships are with the right people. Your fans/followers should be interested in the value you can deliver.

7. Platforms

What social media tools will you use and how? There are many different mediums through which you can engage your audience. Choose the ones that will allow you to access the largest possible portion of your audience and communicate with them efficiently.

8. Influencers

Who are the influencers in the arena? Identify the important and well-known people within your audience who wield influence. Building relationships with these individuals can be very valuable and will help you climb your way to the top of the social media food chain.

9. Timeline

What are the phases of the project based on goals (special events, deadlines, sales, seasonality)? A timeline will allow you to take a step back and look at your social media campaign as a whole. Setting specific deadlines will allow you to stay on task, punctually execute the different phases of your social media marketing efforts, and ultimately allow you to reach your goals.

Dmitriy Gamarnik is a marketing analyst with Blue Fountain Media (www.bluefountainmedia.com) in New York City.

About Lewis Howes

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Sport, unlike other forms of entertainment, lends itself to short bursts of consumption and technology is increasingly becoming an enabler in that process. Technology is driving innovations in how we watch sport and even changing the reason why we watch it in the first place.

Passionate sports fans, especially avid armchair fans, have a scarce resource – our old friend Father Time. We simply don’t have enough hours in the day to watch all the games and action that, in a perfect world, we would like to watch.

Of course, television has historically assisted, in some ways, by offering condensed highlight shows. An example of this for soccer (football) fans in the UK is BBC Sport’s Match of the Day (MOTD), which airs on Saturday night and has held a permanent and iconic place in the weekly viewing schedule since 1964.

Leagues, broadcasters and technology companies can now provide content that only shows the exciting moments (touchdowns, goals, tries etc) or even allow viewers to concentrate on players or statistics which are integral to their fantasy teams. Today’s sports viewer is provided with an array of rich ways to experience this kind of bite-sized action, as well. For instance, MOTD can be watched for free on the BBC’s iPlayer. 

A recent article in the New York Times highlights the efforts of two US technology companies that are enabling sports fans to personalize what, how, when and where they view sport.

The first company, Thuuz, from Palo Alto, California, is the brainchild of venture capitalist Warren Packard.  A quick visit to the homepage will give you an idea of what the company is all about:

“Don’t miss a moment of Madness. 100 games in three weeks? No problem with Thuzz!”

Reading further, you’ll begin to understand how Thuuz can make such promises for NCAA’s College Basketball March Madness. The company states that it:

• Follows every game
• Posts an excitement level
• Lets you know how and when best to watch the game (by alerting you through email or text message)

Thuuz processes streams of play-by-play data and calculates excitement by:

“…using a set of proprietary game excitement algorithms that ensure objectivity and consistency. The output of our algorithms is a continuous flow of game excitement ratings over the course of each game, on a 0 – 100 scale”.

The algorithms took months to be finalized, but in simple terms they take into account the pace of the game, the closeness of the contest and the novelty of the game.

The service obviously makes it easier for the passionate fan to go straight to the exciting and meaningful action – either by accessing the game on the internet, or by using the DVR. The list of sports goes beyond basketball and includes hockey, baseball, soccer, cricket (surely a great idea for a 5 day test!) and football. While the alert service is free for sports fans, cable providers and carriers pay for the service.

The second technology company is a mobile, fantasy gaming startup from New York called Pre Play Sports, which was created in the spring of 2010 by a group of former Cornell University students.

The company states ambitiously that it represents:

“..the future of fantasy sport, giving fans the ultimate chance to prove they can predict what will happen next in a live game”.

Fans are able to make their football predictions through an application which was launched in September 2010 for Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. It is also now available for the Android. Users of the Pre Play Sports app are awarded points for predicting the outcome of a certain play. The more unlikely the outcome, the more points are scored.  The app also provides instantaneous updates, scores, and play-by-play information. According to reports, the app has the feel of a video game layered over a sports broadcast. Pre Play Leagues have also been created.

The New York Jets have partnered with Pre Play Sports, experimenting with the company’s technology and offering live streaming to its fans at New Meadowlands stadium in New Jersey. 

Unlike the Thuuz service, Pre Play’s app is only free for 2 weeks and then it is $4.99 for a full season subscription.

According to co-founder Andrew Daines:

“We’re trying to create a new type of fantasy experience every step of the way during a game, rather than just a cumulative thing like in traditional fantasy. What our game does is pretty much how most people watch games already”.

As stated by Daines, the attraction of the Pre Play app is that:

 “It takes the game and makes it more personal”.

The growth and popularity of fantasy sport is making sports consumption increasingly individual. The development of exciting new technologies will continue to enable the personalization of sports content even further.

Image by gyverchangphoto

About Chris Conway

Chris is a strategic programs analyst at the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) focusing on, amongst other things, sponsorship research, analytics and acquisition. He holds a MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Business (AGSM). Chris took part in the school’s exchange program by completing a semester at Stern business school, NYU where he studied sports marketing and sports economics. Connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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Sports marketing strategies are becoming increasingly sophisticated. The days of corporations walking away satisfied after paying millions of dollars to display their logo on a team jersey are long gone.  Savvy marketers know that you to have go where the eyeballs are. Whether it be social media, digital marketing or the more traditional channels, you need to communicate and then engage with your targeted customers (fans) using the medium (language) they favor.

Two recent news releases from the carbonated drinks industry illustrate this.

USA Today last week published an article revealing how large corporations such as Coca Cola are leveraging social media during the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ‘March Madness’ annual basketball championships. Coke reserved 20% of its tournament spending for social media – a massive increase on the 2% that it gave social media marketing in 2010. When you consider the 11.7 million hours of live streaming in 2010, that is money well spent. As the article states, Coke:

“…devised a social-media gathering place dubbed the Coke Zero Social Arena, where fans can go for professional commentary and fan chatter. Coke will aggregate tweets about the game by team and try to refine social chatter in one place”.

On March 17th, The Wall Street Journal published an article revealing that Diet Coke is now the second best-selling carbonated beverage in the U.S,  behind Coca Cola, but significantly in front of arch rivals Pepsi Co Inc who are pushed down to third place.

Two reasons were offered for this result. Firstly, Coke has “ramped up its traditional TV marketing in recent years” and secondly, Pepsi’s decision to not “market its flagship cola on the Super Bowl or in other TV spots” in 2010 may have backfired. Instead of spending on the largest annual sporting event in the US, Pepsi launched its Refresh Project – a charitable program providing $20 million to “ideas that change the world”. Interestingly, in 2011, Pepsi returned to the Super Bowl promoting Pepsi Max, which competes directly with Diet Coke. Additionally, after famously missing out on sponsoring the TV show American Idol, sponsored by – you’ve  guessed it – Coke, Pepsi is fighting back. Pepsi will hand out more than $60 million to sponsor “X Factor,” Simon Cowell’s new talent show set to debut this fall on the Fox network.

You may ask what these articles have in common. For me, they illustrate the importance of having a comprehensive marketing strategy and having an in-depth understanding of your customers – and competitors.

When explaining the rationale for Coke’s social media expenditure at the NCAA, William White, group director for Coke Zero, was quoted in USA Today as saying:

“This is where our consumers are”.

When it comes to the sports industry –whether you are a sports rights holder, or a large corporation intending to spend on sports, or any other stakeholder – you have to go where the eyeballs are.

Social media is important, as we all know, and you need a strategy for it – preferably a creative one. However, traditional marketing still has an important place and ignoring it may prove to be your downfall.

Photo by D34n

About Chris Conway

Chris is a strategic programs analyst at the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) focusing on, amongst other things, sponsorship research, analytics and acquisition. He holds a MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Business (AGSM). Chris took part in the school’s exchange program by completing a semester at Stern business school, NYU where he studied sports marketing and sports economics. Connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

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