If you haven’t already heard, 2012 is going to be the year of Connected TV. But what is Connected TV – the next ‘game-changer’, a televisual revolution, or just another over-hyped gamble for brands? And what does it really mean for Sponsorship?

Here’s an overview of Connected TV for the uninitiated:

Let’s look at the facts. Firstly, the TV is still very much at the centre of our entertainment universe. In the UK, we are watching more TV than ever before – a startling average of 120 hours per month – which compares to an average of just 7 hours per month on Facebook.

And last year, of the 9 million TVs sold in the UK, 3m offered some form of ‘connected’ technology (70% of Samsung sets were connected TVs). However, only half of those who have these TVs have ever bothered to connect and only half of those who have connected do so on a regular basis. So, while adoption has been slow, the infrastructure is already in place and just waiting for the revolution to occur.

But haven’t we heard all this before though? Wasn’t interactive TV the future a decade ago? Unlike the false dawn of the mobile internet at the start of the century, developments in both technology and the way people use it have suddenly hit a tipping point for the humble TV – so this time it is for real.

So what’s all the fuss about? What does Connected TV mean and, more importantly, what does it offer the consumer? The presentation below attempts to answer some of those questions:

Simply put, it’s the convergence of TV with the internet to create new content, services and on-screen experiences.

This will include:

Content Apps:

A range of content players like Netflix, Hulu, Blinkbox and YouTube will offer both long and short form content with various commercial models (ad funded, pay per view, monthly subscription etc.). All content creators (e.g. movie studios, production houses, even sports rights holders) will have a direct and cheap distribution channel to the consumer, with no need to buy TV bandwidth or pay carriage fees.

New Platforms:

The BBC, ITV, Channels 4 and 5, TalkTalk, BT and Arqiva are launching YouView, the connected TV successor to Freeview. With a set top box expected to cost £200 (if it ever launches!) it will combine broadcast and broadband content, while providing an open-source platform for app developers.

In addition, Sky have announced the launch of their own internet TV platform which will offer pay-as-you-go premium services, including catch-up TV, to people who don’t currently subscribe to Sky’s platform.

Google and Apple are making set top boxes and TVs to bring new services to the TV screen, while gaming consoles like Microsoft Xbox and Sony Playstation are connected devices that already have a strong presence in many living rooms.

‘Companion’ Apps:

Zeebox and Umami are examples of new ‘second screen’ experiences designed for mobiles and tablets. They allow viewers to gather more information about what they are watching, plan their viewing (even serving as remote controls), while enabling and encouraging social interaction and programme participation. Most interestingly for brands, however, is the fact that it closes the feedback loop, making TV more like on-line in terms of understanding who engages with what content and how.

This will allow Zeebox, for example, to enable brands to serve up targeted content for each viewer. And, of course, it creates a very direct pathway between what you see on TV and the opportunity to buy via e-commerce. “Do you like this song, her shoes, his shirt, this book, that holiday? Well here’s the link to buy it.”

All of this adds up to a potential TV viewing revolution which will impact everything, including what you watch, who creates and delivers your content, how that content is funded, what advertisements you see, what the admen know about you, how your TV experiences are shared and how you will end up paying for it.

So, what does it mean for brands and what does it mean for sponsorship? As a starter for 10, here are a few trends, ideas and opportunities that are worth considering:

Bespoke Companion Apps:

Sponsorship-specific companion apps can provide fantastic opportunities for sponsors to enhance fans’ enjoyment of an asset while opening up a new channel through which to speak to them. A great example is the RBS 6 Nations Live Challenge (featured in the February edition of Synopsis), which tested the audience’s rugby knowledge by challenging them to make real-time, in-game predictions and answer relevant trivia questions. Betfair have just launched a Euro 2012 App which optimises the audiences ability to bet in-game, while Sky gives the F1 fanatic the ability to deep-dive into the sport’s technical detail with its F1 Companion App.

Content Curation:

In a world of too much choice it becomes more and more difficult for consumers to accidentally stumble across content perfect for them. This has to be introduced – a ‘managed discovery’ – where someone that knows what you like and you respect (i.e. a brand) suggests content for you to consume.

Sponsorship gives brands access to content which people are really passionate about, so curating it into relevant music playlists, videos, photos, games and experiences is another way to get invited into their lives.

Content Creation:

Creating the content that your customers want is more time-consuming and risky but just as relevant, and Connected TV is making this a much more attractive proposition for brands. Firstly, it gives brands the ability to distribute their content directly to their audience for a very low costs (without having to pay carriage costs to the major platforms). More importantly, however, it also allows brands to create direct sales channels and capture customer data which delivers a much clearer line-of-sight to revenue generation.

Foster’s are in this mode at the moment with their ‘Foster’s Funny’ new Fast Show episodes, while BMW Presents: The Ultimate Performance is a brilliant series of four short films featuring Louis Smith, Rebecca Adlington, David Weir and Steve Cram which connects the brand to its Olympic sponsorship by exploring various angles on what it takes to deliver the ultimate performance.

Content Distribution:

Connected TV could drive major changes to the typical broadcasting rights model. With the internet providing a global distribution channel, the old country-by-country sale of broadcast rights is starting to look pretty archaic. Here’s a prediction: YouTube will bid for the global broadcasting rights for a major event within the next 5 years.

Connected TV could also significantly change the dynamic for ‘minority’ passion points which don’t currently receive significant TV coverage. There could be global ‘channels’ devoted to passion points like winter sports, triathlon, netball, martial arts, rock climbing, sailing, polo, opera, ballet, yoga, theatre, fashion, shoes, and every kind of music under the sun. The value of sponsorship within these passion points is currently held back by a lack of broad exposure. Connected TV could really help unlock this value creating exciting new sponsorship opportunities for brands.

Connected TV is here, it’s new and this time it means business. Whilst consumers have yet to engage en masse, the battle for platform dominance is still to play out and the commercial models that drive it are still fluid, it is clear that Connected TV opens a whole new world of opportunities for sponsors to drive new sources of value.

This is not the time to sit on the sidelines; this is the time to test and learn.

This month’s Synopsis Thought Piece was contributed by Pete Edwards, Director of Strategy at Engine.

By Synergy on May 31st, 2012

Tags: Content, Film, Media, Social Media, Synergy, Synopsis, Television, Television audiences

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What happened?

Have you ever found yourself shouting at your TV whilst watching a football match alone? Or, if you’re like me, watching Made in Chelsea and yearning to gab with your girlfriends about Millie’s awful outfit? If this sounds familiar, then you need to hear about zeebox.

Zeebox is a new company that’s dedicated to improving your television experience by amalgamating the power of the internet with your TV, all whilst enabling you to socialise with your friends. The notion behind the innovation is to create a more engaging TV-viewing experience, whilst incorporating a new social media aspect to an often lonesome activity.

The zeebox team, based in London, have created a free app that can be connected with your TV via your laptop, iPhone, iPad or Android smartphone. Zeebox can also be used as a social tool by instantaneously providing you with information on what your friends are watching and what shows are the most popular, in real-time. It’s the perfect combination of leisure and entertainment.

The revolutionary aspect of the zeebox is that by simply inviting your friends to join you, it enables you to share content with them, and can chat about programmes together while you watch them. Zeebox is also integrated with Twitter, so you can keep your followers up-to-date as you watch.

As you watch your favourite shows and films, zeebox recognises references to people, places and topics, and puts them up as keyword tags, or “zeetags”, on your screen. All you have to do is click on the zeetag and the machine brings up search results on Wikipedia, Google, or anywhere else on the web. Plus, if your TV is connected to the internet, zeebox can also act as your remote control.

To top it all off, you can also identify products that are related to what you’re watching and purchase them immediately online. This enables viewers to shop in real-time and increases the relevence of product placement in movies and television shows.

This short video from the company founders shows this clever TV sidekick in action.

Why we like it

Zeebox’s integrated social features enable the user to do an impressive number of social and technological tasks, easily and efficiently. By pulling in content on the spot from the internet, zeebox instantly provides you with a vast amount of information that’s easy to navigate. Thanks to this connected portal of information, zeebox is expected to become part of the standard TV-viewing experience in the not-so-distant future – hence why BSkyB decided to take a 10% stake in the company at the beginning of this year.

So, if zeebox is to lead the way for the companion app revolution in TV, and connected TV lives up to its expectations, then TV viewing will never be the same. It is incredibly important for brands to take note of this, as the implications are wide-reaching. The usual television advertisement will lose its relevance and brands will have to move to a more product placement and ad-funded programming orientated strategy to ensure their products get the desired cut-through. This is very exciting, as we will start to move from passive TV consumption to a more active experience in which brands can play an important role.

This, together with the seamless combination of rich information and social channels in one place, brings a sense of excitement that the way we consume television is about to change forever, and that zeebox is one of the catalysts for this change.

And the best part about it: it’s available now.

By Synergy on May 31st, 2012

Tags: Blogging, Branded content, Communications, Content, Digital marketing, Facebook, Media, Mobile, Online communities, Social Media, Synergy Loves, Viral Marketing, YouTube

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What Happened

Nike has done it again bringing out an awesome new ad ahead of the eagerly anticipated 2012 European Championships. ‘My Time Is Now’ combines some of today’s most well known football players like, Franck Ribéry, Wesley Sneijder, Neymar, Andres Iniesta, Mario Gotze, Gerard Pique, Mesut Ozil and Cristiano Ronaldo and puts them alongside a variety of up-and-coming players that Nike have deemed the ‘next wave’ of football legends.

Why We Love It

Despite appearing to be just a regular advert, as usual Nike brings in another dimension, this time including ‘hidden content’ within the video. Nike gives viewers the chance to engage and interact in a variety of ways by entering different ‘tunnels’, whether it’s viewing the biogs of some of the lesser known players or the chance to explore some unique content – such as this recently released viral video featuring Mario Balotelli.

Nike utilises its individual sponsorships, bringing big names such as Ronaldo and Iniesta to the forefront of the campaign. However, in keeping with the ‘hidden content’ theme of this ad, Nike not only uses its  ambassadors’ faces to capture the world’s attention, the brand also offer viewers a further insight into its major stars, by revealing relevant and exciting content about each one.

Nike cleverly combines the excitement of both engaging and unexpected content making you want to watch the advert over and over again to be sure you don’t miss anything.

‘My Time Is Now’ was released on May 18th, and as of the end of the month had 14 million views…clearly I’m not the only one who loves this ad!!

By Georgina Taylor on May 31st, 2012

Tags: Branded content, Celebrity, Content, Football, Social Media, Synergy Loves

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What Happened

Coca-Cola Argentina decided to do something a little different by turning its world famous red truck into an exciting and creative experience for football supporters. The brand created a ’Cheering Truck’ by fitting a recording booth inside the vehicle, in order to gather the cheers of Argentinian football fans across the country.

The truck has thus far driven through 19 provinces that span the depths of Argentina asking football fans to record themselves singing along to popular chants. As the cheers were captured, a digital sign outside the truck displayed the total number collected, with the goal of amassing 1 million cheers. After joining all of these voices together, the truck made a surprise appearance at an Argentina match where the 50,000 live spectators and the ‘Cheering Truck’ combined for a massive song of encouragement!

Why We Loved It

Coca-Cola’s Happiness campaigns are constantly popping up in random locations and consist of simple ideas executed in an incredibly engaging and ‘sharable’ way. The visuals are great and branding is so simple it makes for a memorable experience for all consumers that take part. Additionally, this is not the first piece of activity Coke Argentina has executed – their Papertweetos activation showcased in April by Synergy’s very own Adam Shapland.

By spending time driving through the tracks of Argentina and meeting people who would never be able to go to a national team game, this campaign provides a heart-warming start to Coca-Cola’s World Cup Brazil 2014 activity.

The mass cheer of over a million extra supporters from every corner of the country in the stadium created a colossal sense of community and national pride. This simple idea effectively ties in with Coca-Cola’s existing happiness campaigns and it is clear that this only scratching the surface of their football activity for Brazil 2014. Who knows what kind of truck might come next?

By Synergy on May 31st, 2012

Tags: community, Football, Football Sponsorship, Synergy Loves

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For the eagle-eyed amongst you, Tottenheim Hotspur isn’t a typo: this is the story of how Synergy helped Betfair hit the headlines in the build up to the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final…

Tottenham Hotspur ended their Premier League campaign with a 2-0 victory against Fulham to seal fourth place. This would usually result in a UEFA Champions League place, but Spurs fans faced an agonising week-long wait to see if they’d be rubbing shoulders with the cream of European football. If Chelsea made history by beating German giants Bayern Munich to lift the Champions League for the first time, then Spurs fans would instead be tuning into Channel 5 on a Thursday evening for the UEFA Europa League. The equation was simple: Spurs needed Bayern Munich to win at all costs, and so half of North London became German for the week.

Whilst Spurs fans nervously scrubbed up on their Deutsch, restocked their fridges with Holsten Pils and prepared the schnitzel in support of their Bavarian brethren, Betfair gave them a helping hand by producing a unique limited edition range of Tottenham Hotspur coloured lederhosen, for those fans wishing to go the extra mile.

Following a number of calls to bemused suppliers, some suitable lilywhite and blue lederhosen was eventually sourced, and Synergy’s PR team headed to White Hart Lane to bring the idea to life.

The images were released to national and London media and received a brilliant response. The Evening Standard embraced them with the headline of “Hose the Daddy”, while the Daily Star went for “One Size Fritz All.”

There was also plenty of online pickup, including metro.co.uk and a number of football websites and blogs.

The campaign went down a treat across social media channels, with the @Betfairsports Twitter feed running a competition for fans to win a pair of lederhosen by completing the lyric of the Bayern Munich song.

The activity was a great example of what is possible when PR tactics pre-empt the news agenda, with the Synergy PR team delivering a very successful, cost-effective campaign for Betfair within the space of a few days. Although sadly for fans of traditional German dress, the Chelsea win on penalties means that the lederhosen are unlikely to make an appearance in the stands at White Hart Lane next season.

By David Gerty on May 31st, 2012

Tags: Brand marketing, Football Sponsorship, Media, Public relations, UEFA Champions League

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2012 brings one of the best summer of sport line-ups ever on the Sky platform. As the pre-eminent sports broadcaster in the UK, it was only natural that Sky chose to showcase its glorious HD offering of these events in style.

Sky Creative Director Barry Skolnick, alongside directors Ivan Bird and Mark Harris, devised a concept for a campaign that was to focus on the blood, sweat, tears and hugely demanding preparation that go hand-in-hand with being an elite athlete. Off the back of two highly engaging campaigns created by Brothers and Sisters for the 2011-12 Football season and 2012 F1 launch – the HD Summer of Sport campaign was born.

As part of the planning, management and execution of the campaign, Synergy was enlisted to consult on the use of elite athletes and IP, and to manage the entire athlete management process for all the Sky Sports Scholarships athletes involved. This included management and scheduling of appearance time, liaison with agents and governing bodies, management of contractual rights, on-site management of athletes, content gathering, image approval, and finally, athlete promotion via social media channels upon the ad’s launch.

Each athlete was shot in a non-intrusive fly-on-the-wall style piece of filming usually only accessible to coaches. All footage was captured in three weeks with shoots in several locations including Ireland, Spain, Portugal, London, Peterborough, Loughborough and Manchester.

Overall it was a truly insightful and inspiring to spend time with these athletes in this most intimate of settings; whether hard at work in a 50m pool, tucked away in a boxing gym or half-way up a mountain. The effort, devotion and natural ability displayed by each athlete brought to life some incredible footage which will no doubt inspire and engage people to show their support for the best that Britain and Ireland have to offer in what is set to be an incredible Summer of Sport.

Watch the ad in full here:

By Synergy on May 31st, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Consultancy, Content, Default, Sport

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In a summer that will be full of memorable dates, May 3^rd 2012 may not spring to mind for many people in years to come; however, for 35 Powerade consumers (and a few Coca-Cola and Synergy staff) this will probably be one of the most memorable days in not just this Olympic year, but any year.

Powerade, as the official hydration partner of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, gave 35 lucky consumers the unique opportunity to step into the Olympic Stadium and set their 100m ‘Personal Best’ before anyone else. It was the culmination of three months of hard work from the Synergy team, who project-managed and coordinated the event, working alongside a number of other Powerade agencies.

So how did consumers win the chance to participate? Our brief was to develop an entry mechanic that was innovative and fun that would also deliver the brand some great content. Cue ‘Olympic Planking’ -  encouraging people to adopt the iconic ‘On Your Marks’ pose wherever they saw fit, and submit a photo of this via Twitter to @poweradegb using the #onyourmarks hashtag. It was a simple mechanic, accessible to all and, critically, fun. Additionally, it was the first foray into Twitter for any Coca-Cola brand in the UK.

Powerade ambassador Jessica Ennis launched the campaign to her Twitter following of 150,000 fans. Within a minute of her first tweet, @poweradegb had 300 followers and the campaign was up and running.

Over the course of the next three weeks, we leveraged other Powerade relationships (such as The Football League and Rangers FC) and targeted specific Olympic-related accounts (getting some great retweets and promotion in the process) to build up almost 6,000 followers and hundreds of entries into the Powerade #onyourmarks competition. The entries were then reviewed by our celebrity judges – Jess and fellow Powerade ambassador Derval O’Rourke – and a final 35 were selected and invited to the Olympic Stadium event.

Race day began with a Jess Ennis inspired breakfast at 7.30am, after which around 150 competitors, spectators, suppliers, media and LOCOG staff made their way to the Olympic Stadium. Before Toni Minichiello – Jess’s coach – and Derval got everyone limbered up, there was time for a good luck message from Jess herself.

Then it was on with the warm-up and a crash course in sprint starts from Toni and Derval on the indoor track.

But the real excitement came with the races proper, out on the Olympic track. After the 16 heats, we emerged with the top eight men and women who would battle it out in the On Your Marks finals. Congratulations to Evan McGuire and Bethany Hirst, who both posted outstanding times of 11.37s and 13.34s respectively.

In the following days, we got some fantastic feedback from competitors, spectators and media alike. The @poweradegb Twitter account has been helping to promote the Olympics Sports Bottle promotion and will now help bring a UK audience to the global @powerade account.

More engagement opportunities for Powerade consumers, and hopefully, there will be some more success on the track for both Jess and Derval this summer.

By Synergy on May 31st, 2012

Tags: Athletics, Event management consultants, Olympics, Running, Social Media, Twitter, Viral Marketing

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Marketing Week features our Golden BMW campaign in the ‘We’ll call you’ section.

Click here for the full feature.

By Synergy on May 30th, 2012

Tags: Press Clipping

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Scanning the papers over the last couple of weeks, one story stands out above all others (aside from the European economy being in tatters that is). The Olympic Torch Relay began its journey around the country in Lands End on Saturday 19^th May. Ben Ainslie was the privileged one charged with taking the torch on its first steps, declaring it “comparable to winning a gold medal”.

During the last week we’ve read the heart warming tales of the torchbearers such as Eric Smith, a winner of a George Medal back in 1962, 16 year old wheel chair basketball player Ben Fox taking the flame through Royal Wootton Bassett, and 86 year old Tony Hill carrying the torch 64 years after missing out in 1948 because of appendicitis.

It has not been short of celebrity involvement with Zara Phillips giving the relay the Royal seal of approval on Thursday, with Didier Drogba also fresh from his Champions League exploits in Munich heading to a sunny Swindon to play his part.

However, it has not all been positive. The torch had been designed to cope in the most adverse of weather conditions, but blew out on Day 3 because of a “malfunctioning burner”. Cue many an embarrassing headline for the organisers.

Elsewhere readers of the Mail on Sunday on 20^th May, were greeted by the headline “Olympic Flare-Up”, as part of an attack on the Games’ commercialisation.  We also had Will.i.am rapped for tweeting with the flame in his hand and torch bearers putting the prized possession on ebay for thousands of pounds.

The Olympic Torch Relay lasts 70 days, so rest assured there will be plenty more talking points and headlines to come.

By David Gerty on May 25th, 2012

Tags: London 2012, Olympic Torch Relay, Olympics, PR, Synergy Papers

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Sport Industry reports the tributes to Karen Earl as she steps down as Synergy Chair.

Click here for the article.

By Synergy on May 23rd, 2012

Tags: Press Clipping

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