i World Online Merchant NoteTraditional sports event marketing has changed dramatically, and social media has become a new value depression. Today summed up the eight principles of brand social marketing, to help marketers do a good job of sports events social marketing.

/ HDMR

If those around you were impressed by the brand's comments on the Internet during the 2012 London Olympics, many people's answer might be Nike's "Live Your Greatness." Liu Xiang's injury, Sun Yang's gold medal, and Ye Shiwen's controversy are all notable for Nike's voice, especially the phrase "live your greatness" extended by "Just do it".

The "great body" has been so successful on social media that many Chinese mistakenly believe that Nike is a sporting goods partner at the London Olympics, without knowing that the real owner of this exclusive identity is Adidas, which has spent tens of millions of pounds on it. Top sponsors, partners, sponsors, suppliers and service providers, these big brands for the Olympic marketing at great expense, but Nike for "great" reasons to be sidelined.

The incident is a reminder that traditional sports event marketing has changed dramatically and that social media has become a new value depression.

Principle 1: Do everything possible to be the fastest

Case. During the 2012 London Olympics, MINI China launched the "MINI Early Excitement" section on its official microblog, with creatives staying up late every day to watch the games and posting posters early the next morning based on hot events and athletes' performance, allowing viewers to wake up and share and exchange their feelings and views on the Olympic events with MINI and maintain interaction.
After more than ten days of "exciting" travel during the Olympics, MINI Weibo has gained more than 26,000 followers and more than 100 million exposures.

Comments. In today's information explosion, people often only remember everything first, it is difficult to remember the second. Therefore, to get the most attention from a new event, you need to be the first to detonate it. Speed is critical, sometimes in minutes. Brands that don't respond quickly become the icing on the cake for others when they wake up.


Principle 2: Identify your audience and speak their language

Case. In 2012, the Italian Super Cup final was held at the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing, China. Juventus will play in Beijing, while Juventus' sponsor is Jeep.

So "a fan" appeared. The "fan" claimed to pay tribute to Juventus' 30 Serie A titles with 30 posters, because he was doing it alone, so he tweeted every day at a pace. Behind him is a creative team that continues to make creative adjustments and posters based on feedback on Weibo.

All the posters were in Juventus black and white and showed the Jeep logo on the player's chest, highlighting Jeep's connection to Juventus, which gained a lot of exposure.

The event covered more than 50 million netizens, Sina Weibo users spontaneously mentioned "Jeep", "Juve" of the microblog 2598.

Comments. "To who, what to say", in advance accurately select the object to communicate, is the basis for the formulation of communication strategy. In sports event marketing, it is common to choose who to communicate with: fans/fans, who have the deepest understanding and desire for the idol you're talking about. General sports enthusiasts - generally like a variety of sports, but not by the spirit of the star or team. Event related person/event follower - the person involved or concerned about the event, some of whom are just good people. All ordinary people - choosing the general public, sometimes in line with the brand's intention to have a broad impact. In the above posters, some fans can understand the content and form of expression, attracting them to a stronger sense of identity.


Principle three: Every word must have an attitude

Case. During the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, 5,000 boxes of yogurt supplied to the U.S. team by yogurt brand Chobani, a sponsor of the U.S. team, were refused entry by Russia on the grounds that the clearance documents were not qualified. So Chobani responded by posting an ad image on Twitter, with several yogurt cups superimposed into a six-color rainbow symbolizing gay parity and diversity, accompanied by the words "Naturally Powering Everyone", softly saying "no" to "Russia's anti-gay laws", both to avoid politicizing the matter and to firmly express its position.

Chobani's statement was shared by many people, many of whom expressed solidarity online. Chobani's brand reputation and consumer buying intentions increased significantly during the Sochi Winter Olympics, ranking first among U.S. sponsors, according to YouGov.

Comments. "The good old man" or "wall grass" may be a hit, but the core value of social media is to create brand influence as you continue to interact with everyone. Brands in the position and attitude to have a broken stand, in order to let the people stand firmly with their own, otherwise they will inevitably lose their personality and charm, into a middle-of-the-way flow. Therefore, whether in the form of text, pictures or video social content, the brand attitude should be clearly expressed.


Principle 4: Identify and resonate with the true feelings of most people in the event

Case. Li Na won the Australian Open in 2014 and became the focus of internet debate. Even in the moment of victory, I'm afraid most fans won't forget that when Li Na reached the Australian Open final for the second time in 2013, she left the court with two injuries and insisted on returning to the tournament, the second time he had passed the champion.

Before the 2013 Australian Open final, Nike tweeted its support and wishes to Li Na, and after the championship, with the words "the only thing that can't calm down is determination", praised Li Na's fighting spirit, echoing the feelings of both regret and expectations of the fans, while encouraging fans to look forward and continue to support Li Na.

Li Na reached the final for the third time in 2014 and finally blossomed at the Australian Open, and Nike was able to celebrate the hard-won honour with everyone.

Comments. It's easy to feel the pride and pride of victory with the champion, but there are a few who can stand on the podium in sports. Brands that find opportunities to resonate with most people from more perspectives mean a more comprehensive and deeper sense of identity. Therefore, in the process of courage, hard work, optimism, frustrated, found laughing points, tears, pain points, grooves, can create more value for brand social.


Principle 5: Create opportunities to corred product characteristics with events

Case. At the Super Bowl in February 2013, the stadium was suddenly without power, and spectators were suddenly stuck in a wait, with the game suspended for 33 minutes. However, just minutes after the blackout, Oreo posted a poster on Twitter with an Oreo sandwich cookie that glowed and lit up the darkness with the caption, "Power out? No problem" (a power outage?) It doesn't matter) the light-hearted text, pushing the humorous positive energy of "eating in the dark." The tweet received more than 15,000 retweets and more than 26,000 likes.

The night's tv commercials cost as much as 770,000 yuan per second, and Oreo was one of the advertisers who took to social media to reassure viewers with the tweet, helping it gain more attention in the advertising war.

Comments. Sports competition has a variety of eye-catching events, how to make these events and their own brands and products, to turn them into endorsement of the topic of communication, is a need for strategic thinking, but also artistic work. In particular, the event does not directly involve the brand and products, looking for indirect correlation is more difficult, let the brand or product in the image of a "person", to participate in the attitude of direct shouting, but also a simple and effective way.


Principle 6: Cajole loyal fans

Case. At the BCS Championships in early 2014, tiger teams from Auburn lost to Florida State Seminoles at home. To comfort Returning Tigers fans, fast-food chain Denny's posted a homecoming road map on Twitter, with 47 stores along the way, informing fans that they might get some treatment on the road.

However, there has been criticism of this seemingly warm practice. Because what Denny's has been doing has shown himself to be a big fan of the Florida State Seminoles. From this point of view, the "intimate" text on Twitter seems to be an abominable mockery of Tiger fans falling to the ground, while Denny's instantly changed from "little cotton wool" to "slut."

Comments. The support of the fans is not in the air. Brands can inspire the endless energy of their fans by genuinely helping them and providing them with benefits. Therefore, in addition to spiritual leadership and companionship, the brand can also provide some material support.

So, deing of Denny's background factors, it's really the right idea for brands to be able to think for loyal fans and do something for them and help them in the marketing process.


Principle 7: Keep the style, avoid personality division

Case. Chelsea star Eden Hazard kicks a child during the English Premier League semi-finals in January 2013. British eyewear dealer Specsavers was quick to post pictures of caddies and footballs on Twitter, accompanied by the brand slogan "Should've gone to Specsavers", with the subtext "You look so bad that you really should go to Specsavers with a pair of glasses" to mock Eden Hazard's misdeeds. Later, they advertised the poster to the local newspaper.

Specsavers, who often use sports events to speak for themselves on social media, including mistaking the South Korean flag for North Korea in the women's 2012 London Olympics and referees turning a blind eye to Ukraine's effective goals at the European Cup, have insisted on turning events into the slogan "Should've gone to Specsavers", creating a confident and humorous style of expression.

Even the British newspaper The Sun, when it reported the news that an elderly man had accidentally crashed into someone else's house, copyed Specsavers' mantra, "Driver should gone to Specsavers".

Comments. Whether serious or casual, brands can shape their social image according to their own characteristics, whether it is selling, playing, small fresh, or inspirational, angry, tall. In the social process of personality communication, according to their own style to shape the "brand personality", to consumers to leave a consistently clear image, do not fall apart.


Principle 8: Establish a creative control room

Case. In 2013, the Australian Rugby League (NRL) dedicated a "Mission Control Room" for the national grand final, a high-tech central control room in the finals stadium with more than 20 people working together. Among them, there are advertising company strategy, creative staff, but also professional commentators, retired stars, fans and other celebrities.

They follow the every move of the players and referees on the field and the public opinion data of various social media outside the stadium, in the way of on-site decision-making, live execution, the picture of the game scene attached to the relevant comments, instant creativity, immediately out of the street, the whole process with the fans in real time to share and interact.

"Score on the ground!" "Reverse!" The NRL finals were a hit on social media, with one event gaining 1 billion views on social media alone.

Comments. Events occur frequently during the competition, and opportunities are fleeting. If the brand wants to seize the event marketing opportunity in time, quickly form the communication strategy, the implementation of the program, must have a set of corresponding mechanisms, which is the reason for the establishment of creative control room.

So, in addition to companies and media resources, you need an efficient, responsive team, including a responsible person for discretion, as well as the best creative, paperwork, art, public relations, media liaison, and technical staff.