BBC smashes streaming record during the World Cup

BBC Head of Interactive & F1, Ben Gallop, said the BBC website smashed its previous streaming record by more than 2.5 times on just one day during the recent World Cup in South Africa.

Speaking at the ‘Sport & Technology: The Conference 2010’ by SportBusiness Group on Friday 16 July, Gallop said that the site delivered more than 800,000 simultaneous streams on Wednesday June 23 – the day England played its third group game against Slovenia and Andy Murray was on court for Day 3 of Wimbledon. The result smashed its previous best, which saw the Obama inauguration and Murray vs Roddick Wimbledon semi in 2009 pull in roughly 250,000-300,000 each. Gallop explained that as both games fell during working hours, the BBC had to plan strategically for a huge volume of traffic through the website, as UK workers logged on from their desks to follow the action live.

Gallop was speaking as part of the ‘Where next for broadcast technologies?’ panel, alongside Steve Plunkett, Director of Customer Innovation at Red Bee Media and Aidan Cooney, CEO of Opta. When asked whether interactive and social media activities took away from the main TV broadcast, Gallop argued that they have emerged as complementary. As an example, he pointed out that the ‘trending topic’ on Twitter is often reflective of what is on air at the time, reinforcing the importance of the traditional broadcaster. He said that in 2010 the BBC actually had far higher TV viewing figures than during the World Cup in 2006.

http://www.sportandtechnology.com/content/bbc-smashes-streaming-record-during-world-cup

World Cup illustrates growth of 2-screen experience

The TV audience appetite for sport is bigger than ever and we are seeing a growing trend for a 2-screen experience according Steve Plunkett, Director of Customer Innovation at Red Bee Media.

Plunkett’s comments came as part of the ‘Where next for broadcast technologies?’ panel at ‘Sport & Technology: The Conference 2010’ by SportBusiness Group on Friday 16 July.

He explained that this 2-screen experience is being brought about by two key developments – firstly, the internet coming to the TV and secondly the divergence of content onto other devices. Plunkett said that in the 2-screen world, the TV is all about watching the content in the best way possible, while the second device (a mobile, laptop or similar) is all about socialising and critically how the viewer can get involved. In the end, he argued, it’s about a devolution of power – the consumer is now taking control of their overall viewing experience and choosing how and when they consume content and how they engage with it.

Plunkett, who was joined on the panel by BBC Head of Interactive & F1, Ben Gallop, and Aidan Cooney, CEO of Opta, said that rights for such global events were so expensive it was now a financial imperative for media outlets to be able to wring as much value from them as possible, and that the ability to add to the viewer experience by creating ways for users to socialise and learn together (i.e. provision of game statistics) adds an enormous drawcard for audiences. In Plunkett’s view, the multitude of platforms allows a media outlet to help viewers ‘continue their pub conversation’ – bringing social interaction into the living room.

http://www.sportandtechnology.com/content/world-cup-illustrates-growth-2-screen-experience

World Cup fast-tracks live 3D technology

David Bush, Director of Marketing at Sony Professional believes the World Cup has fast-tracked live 3D technology, thanks to enormous learnings on the ground in South Africa.

While delivering his showcase at ‘Sport & Technology: The Conference 2010’ by SportBusiness Group on Friday 16 July, Bush stated the learning curve for the FIFA partner had been enormous and would have far reaching effects on live 3D production for years to come. Sony delivered 25 games live from five locations across South Africa (almost one per day), travelling in excess of 5,000 miles during the four week tournament. Two production units were tasked over an eight month period with developing, producing and distributing the experience to fans around the world, including UK fans via special cinema viewings. Key production learnings included the fact that eight cameras and a maximum of 12 positions deliver the best results, that cameras need to frame wider and cut and pan slower, plus new techniques that now make set-up/break-down of mobile production in venues just as fast as HD technology (maximum of four hours).

According to Bush the holy grail is the delivery of comfortable, compelling and affordable live 3D – it can be disturbing if not delivered well. Sony research has found that demand for 3D is increasing and that fans are willing to pay more for it, however quality content and limiting technology (3D glasses) are a risk. Content is king in 3D. While 2D is a technology decision (flat screens etc), 3D success is determined by the quality of the content delivered and how. Bush argues that there is scant quality content available at present, and that this, along with glassless 3D technology, will be the key focus for producers in the future.

Enormous learnings on the ground in South Africa have seen the technology take giant step forward – Sony is now planning to deliver 64 matches at Rio 2014. Live 3D sport is here to stay.

http://www.sportandtechnology.com/content/world-cup-fast-tracks-live-3d-technology

FIFA World Cup 2010: Top 5 Media Highlights So Far

We’ve had a action-packed week here at Braben since the World Cup kicked off, with our sport, licensing and media clients all involved in different marketing and promotional ways. It’s also been a great time to monitor how brands and the media are getting involved in new and creative ways and how digital media is bringing new audiences to this event for the first time. There is so much going on we did a quick straw poll around the office and amongst clients to give you our top 5 media highlights so far –

1. Vuvuzela-gate: has any other musical instrument been so divisive? You either love them or you hate them. On the one hand we have the Beeb mulling over “Vuvuzela-free” broadcasts, while on the other, Facebook has registered a support group of 150,000+ and growing… Good news for Sainsbury’s though, reportedly selling 40,000 of the trumpet shaped horns already! If anything, they’ve inspired great headlines: “Vuvuzelas vie with pundits in generating hot air and noise” (The Times).

2. The Return of Roy of the Rovers: the legendary Roy Race is back, cheering on our boys in a souvenir edition of the classic comic, in-store today. Our client, Egmont UK, has pulled together a collection of his finest moments from the 70s, 80s and 90s. “Roy of the Rovers leaps off the bench in England’s hour of need” (Daily Mail).

3. The power of social media for brands: featuring such global superstars as Rooney, Ronaldo, Kobe Bryant and Homer Simpson, Nike’s epic 3min World Cup advert has over 15m views on youtube alone. A Neilson study found that Nike, which is not an official FIFA partner, has generated significantly bigger “online buzz”, based on an analysis of blogs, message boards and social networking sites, than any other brand. The sportswear giant has cleverly become a World Cup brand, despite restricted on-site presence in South Africa. “Nike ad beats official sponsors for online buzz” (mediaGuardian).

4. The great orange ambush: news today that the marketing managers behind the orange mini-skirted Bavaria beer ambush at the Holland vs Denmark game have been arrested. The 36 promotional girls used were today amusingly described as “marketing insurgents”. Hard to decide who won the match here, FIFA’s rights protection team or Bavaria, currently at the centre of a global media storm? “Another triumph for Fifa’s chillingly efficient rights protection team” (Guardian)

5. “USA Wins 1-1”: a slightly mystifying headline from our American counterparts, as the New York Post celebrated Saturday’s draw with England. A game that will be long remembered for “that miss”, as one cynical wag put it in light of the BP oil debacle, “That’s one disastrous spill the Yanks won’t be complaining about” (Sunday Times).

Do let us know your favourite media highlights so far so we can add to our list.

Sport And New Media 2010, Manchester – My Top 12 Headlines

We were the PR partner for the inaugural Sport and New Media conference yesterday, the following are a selection of headlines and themes explored by the speakers…

1.     The sport industry in the North West employs 100,000+ people, has a £6.5b turnover, represents 40% of the Premier League and Manchester itself has established a role as a key city for the global sports business community
2.     Ben Gallop, Head of Interactive and Formula 1, BBC Sport, highlighted the following point in the BBC Strategic Review – events that bring communities and the nations together – and how this underlines the importance of sport to the future plans of the BBC
3.     In 2000, the BBC broadcast 300 hours of coverage of the Olympics across BBC1 and BBC2. In 2012, it aims to broadcast all 5,000 hours made available by the IOC and this could be the moment when digital truly goes mainstream just as TV went mainstream for the 1953 coronation of the Queen
4.     Andrew Croker, Executive Chairman, Perform outlined how any sport of any size can create, set-up and launch an online TV channel to a global audience in three days
5.     Ciaran Quinn, Director of Strategic Business Development, deltatre, commented that the future for TV consumption will be about the fan being given the opportunity and capability to be their own content producer – want to follow your favourite player? Hit that camera angle.  See that goal again? Hit replay…
6.     Facebook was the new black with detailed case studies on how sports communities were coordinated and engaged via Facebook and Facebook Connect but there was a word of warning, don’t set up a Facebook page just because you think you should have one
7.     Chris Lightfoot, Director, Whitestone International observed that social media IS participation in sport and the audience numbers all sports reference should actively include social media numbers
8.     Alistair Hill, senior analyst at Comscore, presented data from the past five years on how the mobile usage for sports content in the UK mirrors the football season with peaks and trough in line with the season finale and off-season
9.     Darryl Newton, Managing Director, Factory Media, talked about monetising passionate action sport communities by linking into all aspects of their lifestyle around the sport, working with commercial partners to provide data and retail solutions in areas such as equipment, clothing and travel
10.  David Fuller, CEO, Pilote Media painted a future of sporting engagement where you can play a game in real-time on your Playstation and compete against real sports talent.  Imagine the buzz as you sit on the starting grid in F1 next to Jensen and Lewis
11.  One of the most successful videos for Chelsea FC on Youtube was Billy the trainer getting an ice bath by some of the players – it’s the stories and insight behind the formal sporting structure that the fans want to see and which layer a sports brand with personality
12.  Key lessons from Jeff Nathensen, Head of Partner Management, YouTube – 1. Don’t disable anything, that is just putting speed-humps in the way, 2. Think about integration across all social media sites and be prepared to be flexible, and 3. You will make mistakes and the boss will freak, go with it and learn from it

Think!Sponsorship Conference 2009

Great conference today! Different style this time, focussing on sponsorship as a whole, from sport to music, arts, government, festivals and more. I found it fascinating to step outside of sports for a day and look at what is happening right across the industry. Here are some of the things we heard:

• Sponsorium has conducted a study of 10,000 global sponsorships (280 different types across 14 sectors), rating them in terms of delivering value. Amongst the top 10% (in financial dollars) they found that 77% delivered the right benefits. The average value across all 10,000 sponsorships is $75k. But the study also revealed that amongst the lower echelons, less than 45% matched the requirements of the brand involved. The study backs the increasing trend across the industry to create bespoke content-led sponsorship packages instead of traditional tiered levels. Add the economic situation to that and rights-holders have to adjust expectations.
• Beefeater 24 and the Design Museum have worked together to create a bespoke sponsorship that delivers against joint and individual objectives in the form of an exhibition focussed on London life. Key recommendations included start planning early, be creative and flexible, keep ahead of budget cycles, ensure open and honest conversation, establish boundaries and objectives and create a shared resource. It took nearly 18months of negotiation and development to deliver the exhibition (still on until the weekend!).
• Samsung created an innovative music sponsorship with NME and Bebo, focussed on engaging Bebo’s 10.2m unique users in the 16-24 age group – traditionally a difficult market for Samsung. Music was identified as a key hook. Tactics included development of ‘Beat’ music show (online and mobile) and delivery of  ‘Bebo Nights’ intimate gigs for customers. Samsung now “owns” music on Bebo.
• Barclaycard entered the world of music sponsorship for the first time this year, after identifying it as a cost effective and relevant way to engage its diverse customer base (from teens to laste 50s). The key platform of communication centres around ‘making it easier’ for music fans to enjoy music and also, finding a way to be credible in that space. Barclaycard focussed on adding value by making payments at gigs easier and quicker (including wireless), amongst other tactics such as partnerships with Live Nation, XFM and Heat.
• Sport England and Facebook has just created an innovative new partnership designed to help Sport England deliver its goal of engaging 1m people in sport by 2013. Research shows that 75% of people in the UK play sport outside the realms of the various National Governing Bodies (NGBs). There are 20m Facebook users in the UK and 10m of these use Facebook at least 25mins per day. Facebook believes it can help Sport England affect social change by giving it direct access to these users. Facebook analytic programmes (including buzz/sentiment measurements and standard reporting) and pre-developed frameworks (including news feeds, mobile apps and video players) are also of added value, especially in terms of cost-effectiveness compared to creating a bespoke website. Key words include cross promotion, wider participation, club participation, local club marketing and brand participation. Case study examples include Adidas, which through its development work with Facebook already has 2m fans ready to engage with its FIFA World Cup 2010 and London 2012 sports sponsorships. Wimbledon used Facebook to provide informal, behind-the-scenes access to the 2009 tournament, tonally different to its website. It allows brands and rights-holders to have direct conversations with fans via wall posts – Ronan Keating posted for Comic Relief in 2009. Depending on complexity, Facebook can create and host an interactive Page for a customer for anywhere between 15-50k. Moderation of sites is key – you need to keep it going once it has been set-up. Many big brands have dedicated writers and editors.

Sports Marketing 360 by SportBusiness

The Sports Marketing 360 conference by SportBusiness took place 23 September 2009 at the BT Centre, London. Viewed as a ‘must-attend’, this year around 300 global delegates from brands, media owners, rights-holders and agencies came together to debate the changes and challenges affecting the sports marketing arena.

Braben Sport was the PR partner, here’s a snapshot of what we heard:

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Notes – Top 10 Nuggets

1.     The next 48 months offers huge potential for sports marketing and sport has an important role in pulling the country out of the recession.

2.     Manchester United is said to have 300 million fans, the same as Disney.  Disney monetises every single one of those fans in many different ways – film, DVD, TV, merchandise.  Manchester United doesn’t yet.   So do the Red Devils have a successful business model?

3.     FIFA has a much higher profile than the IOC with the youth market.  Why?  Because of the videogame, not the sport itself.

4.     Advice to all sports rights holders: Don’t sell rights, create benefits for your sponsors.

5.     More advice to sports rights holders: Remember, brands have a powerful role to play in marketing the sport for you.

6.     A view from a sports rights holder: Sponsorship is about a true partnership – offer unique content, unique opportunities for fans.

7.     In defence of sponsorship:  There has been much debate this year focusing on the credit crunch, banks and corporate sponsorship which has led to the defence of sponsorship as a valued marketing medium.  Does more need to be done?

8.     Advice from an Olympian to potential sponsors: understand (and enjoy) the sport, don’t lose faith in an athlete’s performance, training comes first and remember – activate the sponsorship

9.     More advice from an Olympian: sponsorship is evolving and it is a platform for doing something good

10.  It’s not just brands that benefit.  The global nature of sport has seen cities and countries using it to promote themselves on a global scale – Dubai, London, China – this will continue.

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Quotes – A (paraphrased) selection of the best!

Ian Ayre, Commercial Director, Liverpool FC said –

“It’s important for rights-holders to identify exactly what a brand is trying to achieve from a marketing perspective and then tailor the sponsorship proposition around it. The days of straight shirt sponsorship are gone. You cannot go out to market with the same package for everyone. You should be aiming for a true partnership, where your sponsor is an active partner in promoting your brand alongside their own. We are very focussed on continuing to measure and demonstrate value for all of our partners.”

“For the past 17 years we have enjoyed a fantastic relationship with Carlsberg, in the eyes of the fans they are a part of the Liverpool family. But over time, the objectives of both rights-holders and brands change and they sometimes doesn’t fit together the same way they did in the past. After working closely to create a bespoke package, we have signed a new deal with Standard Chartered and we are continuing to talk to Carlsberg about the best way of working together in future.”

“We have recently been planning our Asian tour in conjunction with Carlsberg and Adidas. We have sold all 150,000 tickets directly through pubs and retail stores – so fans have to engage with our sponsors – they can show fans value.”

Mark Evans, CEO, Harlequins FC said –

“Our sponsorships have certainly been tested over the past few months, but the reality is that while all of our sponsors had the opportunity to leave or renegotiate, none of them did, which says a lot about the relationships we have in place and the value they receive through the association with Harlequins.”

Paul Meulendijk, Head of Sponsorship, Mastercard said –

“Sponsorship is not an add-on activity. It is at the heart of [Mastercard’s] strategy. We are rigorous in leveraging it, in driving value out of our involvement. We do it to capture fan enthusiasm, emotion and passion. It is a mass platform for engagement with our audience. In fact, we look for ‘return on engagement.’”

“Rights-holders must listen to the needs and objectives of brands [as opposed to offering a set rights package]. The relationship has to be win:win. Our ‘priceless’ campaign is at the heart of how we market Mastercard. We need rights-holders to help create priceless moments. For example, we have a programme of player escorts, where 22 kids walk out onto the pitch at games – a unique experience.”

Patrick Wendt, Sponsorship & Marketing Manager, Toyota F1 said –

“There has been a lot of turbulence in F1, but looking forward, we have a very positive future. FOTA (the Formula One Teams Association) has been established and for the first time, all of the teams are working together to develop new ideas to add value for our audience and sponsors. Next year we will have 19 races, with South Korea joining for the first time. We will have 13 teams. It is very positive.”

“There are a number of initiatives looking at how we develop F1 as a brand. For example, F1 Rocks will take place for the first time in Singapore and Abu Dhabi. F1 simulators are being made available. We are developing away from the track.”

“Formula One provides a platform for both B2B and B2C engagement. For us, the power of Toyota itself as a brand is attractive to brands – sponsorship of Toyota F1 provides an entry point to the organisation as a whole.”

Paul Samuels, Executive Director – Sponsorship, AEG said –

“There is a definite change in how sports sponsorship is being used. For example, Sky has created its own cycling team in order to ‘take ownership’ of cycling.”

“Your sponsors should be helping you market the sport, it’s to their benefit to do that. For example O2 help the RFU market rugby via ‘Scrum in the Park’.”

“My advice to rights-holders is to be careful taking on sponsors. Look at everything they offer, not just the money. How are they going to help you market the sport – what other channels and assets do they have that can help long-term.”

“I always say to my team that it’s not about securing the sponsor, its always about renewal. From the moment we start working together, I always look to how to create value so that it’s easy to renew.”

Karen Earl, Chairman of the European Sponsorship Association said –

“The ESA view is one of cautious optimism. Sponsorship works. Our research shows that the big sponsorships are working, the middle level ones are struggling and the grassroots ones are expanding as brands seek cheaper options.”

“It is not inevitable that alcohol sponsorship will be banned. Sport is higher up the government agenda than ever before. Withdraw funding and sport as a whole will suffer. If it has to go, we will recommend a period of transition.”

Lucien Boyer, President of Havas Sport & Events said –

“In a recession, sponsorship is the first to be cut – by people that don’t understand its power to inspire and carry a brand. It is a mistake, and brands have quickly realised this – you can already see them spending again.”

“In France alcohol sponsorship has been banned for a long time. When it came in, the government offered subsidies to sports to give them time to find alternative sponsors.”

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For more information: www.sportbusiness.com and www.sportsmarketing360.com.