How Social Media Is Profoundly Impacting Sponsorship
Posted: 3/12/2010 3:30:02 PM by
Lesa Ukman | with 0 comments
I will be conducting a workshop at IEG’s Unbound conference on how sponsors and rightsholders are effectively using social media to engage and connect with fans. And on April 15, I will be in London for a similar session with Burson Marsteller on the topic.
In preparing for those discussions, I have come across a great many examples that demonstrate the depth and breadth of these extensions. Here are a few:
Allstate, official insurance sponsor of the Federacion Mexicana de Futbol, created an interactive Web site featuring Mexico goalie Memo Ochoa, who stood in position to protect against soccer balls that users clicked on to navigate through the site. Each of the balls led to a different user experience, including a tour of Ochoa’s locker with exclusive photos, interviews and behind-the-scenes footage; a blog with former Mexico player Luis Roberto Alves (“Zague”); and the opportunity to design their own soccer ball and create personalized soccer chants—all while delivering Allstate’s commitment-to-protection message.
Sponsorship of Lollapalooza and other music festivals is a centerpiece of Sweet Leaf Tea’s marketing strategy, and the company uses a combination of text messaging and social media to engage fans and drive them to its blog and Facebook page. The way texting campaigns are very effective is cross channel, reports Sweet Tea. But the company has discovered that even digitally savvy consumers sometimes prefer one method of contact over another. Since not all of the brand's fans on Facebook are on Twitter, the brand has set up a few of its corporate Twitter accounts to automatically show up on Facebook.
Share Our Strength partner Tyson raised $28,000 for the cause from a one-week push via social media.
Sony Ericsson is shunning traditional TV and billboard ads in favor of social networking in its first major foray into soccer sponsorship at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The mobile device manufacturer, whose parent company Sony is a Tier One FIFA sponsor, believes interaction through sites such as Twitter and Facebook is the best and most intimate way of reaching out to the fan. The company has launched a Twitter Cup competition, where fans have been split into groups along the same lines as the tournament draw. The countries yielding the most Tweets will progress to later stages of the competition.
The takeaway from these examples: If you are not obnoxious about it, you can include your promotion in your Twitter stream, your Facebook page, your Flickr page, your YouTube channel, etc. Pepsi is doing this around Refresh Everything.
Sponsors are not the only ones in this space.
Nonprofits are using social media to build relationships with supporters, raise money—Facebook has raised more than $10 million for nonprofits—promote events, mobilize donors, showcase sponsors, recruit volunteers, share success stories, build awareness and much more.
With 200 million users and more than two million per day becoming a fan of a cause, Facebook rocks. (Note: Just because someone becomes a “fan” does not mean they actively support the cause or that they have a higher propensity to support its sponsors.)
Twitter is less popular among nonprofits, used by only 24 percent of respondents to a survey by the Case Foundation. Those organizations who use it say it is effective for disseminating news, promoting reports and building connections with other organizations.
Facebook’s Randi Zuckerberg suggests the following practices to leverage the world’s largest social network:
Use Fan Pages, not Groups to leverage Facebook’s viral capabilities. Pages operate like profiles for organizations or businesses. Posts made to Fan Pages are included in Fan’s newsfeeds. Pages can only be created by official representatives, and can add applications, while groups are unofficial and can be created by any user.
Have a personality on your Fan Page. Personality is an asset. Don’t be too “formal”—you’re trying to create a connection, and that requires personality. Include fun updates and other content that foster conversations and engagement.
Incorporate videos. Groups that post video on their fan pages are typically able to generate greater engagement and message posting. Those posted messages then are shared with others adding to the viral effect.
Tag liberally. Take pictures at events and post them to your Facebook pages. When you post the images, tag as many people as you can in the photos and/or invite your fans to tag themselves. Tagging notifies not only those who have been tagged but also their friends—which can draw even more traffic to your fan page.
Incorporate Facebook into your events. If you have a special event, make sure you invite your Facebook fans to the party, too. You’ll probably attract more people—and Facebook will tell all of their friends that they are coming to an organization’s event.
What are you doing to make your partnerships more social, connected and engaging?
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Filed under: cause marketing, digital media, new media, trends, activation