The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang just ended and it was one of the most buzzed about Olympics from what I recall, and it was due to social media. The evolution of social media has opened up previously inaccessible topics on the Olympic Village conditions, the stories of Olympians, and interacting with Olympians that viewers did not have access to before. How we engage with athletes, share our passion for the competition we are witnessing and interact with sports has changed dramatically. Brands are generating exposure by joining the conversation during live sporting events.
Social Media exploded with excitement just as much as the players themselves when the U.S. women’s hockey team emerged victorious in the Winter Olympic final beating their longtime rival Canada to take the gold. Not only were viewers getting in on the action and excitement of the Olympics, professional sports teams were as well. The Green Bay Packers tweeted at Wisconsin native and Curler Matt Hamilton before he was competed for the gold medal.
Live social content across Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter has blended in with the in-game experience. Sports teams, athletes and their partners / sponsors have noticed this and are seeing the value as their conversational volume across all platforms increase. Social media has brought fans not only closer to the action, but also to the athletes who use the platforms to connect with their followers and who promote the brands who sponsor them.
Olympian Chloe Kim become a star not only for her performance at the Olympics but also for a tweet that she sent during the middle of the Olympic halfpipe competition. She hadn’t finished her breakfast and was regretting it, so she did what any other teenager would do in one of the biggest moments of her career, she tweeted about it. Like any good marketer, they got their brand to jump in on conversation. Brands such as Roy Rogers Restaurants, California Pizza Kitchen, Oreo, Vermont Smoke & Cure, Einstein Bros. Bagels, and Cocoa Cinnamon among others all offered their products to Kim. It was a great opportunity for brands to join the conversation, message an Olympian and promote their product that thousands of potential consumers would see.
Brands have been investing a lot into social media for the past couple of years, from the Olympics, Grammys and Super Bowl. Oreo got a huge boost with their tweet a few years ago during the Super Bowl when the power went out. They didn’t even have an ‘official’ ad during the game, they just had their tweet. The rise of Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, along with social media savvy Olympians such as Shaun White, Chloe Kim and Lindsey Vonn, have allowed companies to join in on some the biggest events to get their brand noticed by just engaging with athletes without shelling out costly ads. The trick for brands is to keep it authentic when engaging during big live sporting moments with athletes and consumers.
The Olympics were viewed not only on television, but on phones, making social media a great way to capture TV audiences. Brands can now easily join real-time live events as they are unfold right before our eyes. Brands can utilize Twitter’s TV targeting to promote tweets to consumers who are currently engaged with a real-time live event, which makes it easy for them to reach their target audience.
Real-time events such as sports continues to receive a great amount of chatter on social media and provides brands with the opportunity to join in the conversation. Taking advantage of these type of marketing opportunities is key to attracting and retaining customers and growing the brand.
