This week I became a sponsor.

That’s right, I’m now officially one of the moneymen. With a few clicks online, my place was secured as a backer of Wish I Was Here, the Kickstarter-funded movie from Scrubs star, Zach Braff. With a site target of $2 million, this is no small Kickstarter project, but in the scale of Hollywood productions is undeniably at the indie end of the spectrum – more in line with Braff’s debut writer-director-star feature, Garden State, than, say, his last starring role in Oz the Great and Powerful.

And that’s no bad thing. Garden State was a gem of a film: an intimate story framed by some memorable cinematography and a soundtrack that brought a whole new audience to the likes of The Shins, Colin Hay and Frou-Frou.

In a smart move by the team behind the appeal (the script was co-written by Zach and Adam, the brothers Braff), the investor rewards have nodded to their talent for selecting music that really connects with film and fans: for my $20 pledge I’ll receive regular picks from the proposed soundtrack, streamed direct to my computer. Other rewards for those with deeper pockets include tickets to the première (where you can sit next to Braff himself), the chance to name a character or even to have a part in the final movie. It’s a well-constructed page – earnest, honest and funny – but moreover it features a cracker of an appeal video from Zach and pals.

The social buzz around it has made interesting viewing: I pledged my cash in the first $100k group and was amazed to see the gentle rumble of momentum (not to mention *ching* of cash registers) as Braff’s A-list friends, James Franco, Michael J Fox and Courtney Cox, all brought their weight – and, importantly, Twitter followings – to bear.

Before the first day was out, the page had already raised $725,000, and, at time of writing is up to $1.7 million. Not bad in just over 48 hours. There’s bound to be a natural plateauing of investment over the coming week, but with 28 days still to go, it’s likely that the fundraising will exceed all expectations – not uncommon for popular projects on the site.

Empire Magazine tweeted about the appeal, though, for a publication that was a 4-star fan of Braff’s first feature, appeared surprisingly indifferent to the project. Similarly, I was rather surprised by the number of “Why doesn’t he fund it from the $millions he made from Scrubs?” tweetbacks and replies. It was good to see a subsequent interview with Mr Braff on Empire Online by Ali Plumb that gave a little more colour to the story, along with a number of comments defending the film-maker’s right to use this medium to secure funding for his movie.

Let’s be honest, whatever Zach Braff makes through this online appeal is unlikely to be the end of the story; I’ve already described how the Kickstarter model has been used by entrepreneurial souls to demonstrate to the slippery big fish out there that a passionate market exists to support any given product/project/person. It’s highly improbable that there isn’t therefore some form of match-funding scheduled once Zach makes his first $2m – and I can’t believe that this won’t include financial investment from the man himself. The criticism just seems a little unfounded. And it’s not like he’s trying to make Independence Day 2. Although that might be quite fun to watch…

Irrespective of the project, I don’t think that it’s fair to criticise anyone for using Kickstarter to get their dream off the ground – famous or otherwise: in the end any project will live or die on the idea at its very heart. If it’s not compelling or realistic enough to make people part with the requisite cash, then they’ll be part of the 43% of Kickstarters that don’t make it.

Having ‘established’ industry people using the platform may offer would-be investors a greater level of confidence in the quality of the finished article, or even just provide a project talisman to believe in – especially important after 84% of projects funded in 2012 ended up being delivered late. As long as the justification for not using traditional funding mechanisms feels appropriate to you, then what’s the problem?

And if you’re really not comfortable with a millionaire asking for your money then just don’t donate.

Sponsorship was born out of patronage in Ancient Greece more than 2,000 years ago – crowd-funding has simply reduced the reliance on finding that mythical single backer. More importantly, it has demonstrated that this collective power can achieve something greater than the sum of each individual contribution: together we can create synergy.

(There, I finally got that word into a blog.)

By Jonathan Izzard on April 25th, 2013

Tags: Blogging, Celebrity, Default, Digital marketing, Film

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Across the pond, college sport is big business. According to Kantar Media research, the NCAA college basketball tournament, or ‘March Madness’ as it is more commonly known, has now overtaken the NFL Playoffs to become the most lucrative US post-season sport property for advertisers.

As such, there is a real onus on sponsors to produce unique and engaging campaigns in order to stand out from the crowd and deliver a return on what would no doubt have been a sizeable investment.

At this year’s tournament, telecommunications provider AT&T have managed to do so by using the @MarchMadness feed to bring real-time video highlights to the fans.

While this may not seem like such an exciting development, drilling down deeper into the mechanics of the service reveals how this opportunity could lead to a revolution in how rights holders, broadcasters and sponsors can collaborate to leverage branded content on Twitter.

What Happened

Turner, the official tournament broadcaster, have partnered with Twitter and quick-share video start-up SnappyTV to bring fans 15-second highlight clips of key plays via embedded video Tweets. Content is selected in real-time by Turner’s social media team, who use a combination of human judgement and SnappyTV’s social media monitoring software to track the most talked about moments in the game. In less than a minute, the relevant clip can be posted online for people to view and share with their friends. This example from Florida Gulf Coast’s improbable run to the round of sixteen shows the technology in action, and the ensuing Twitter conversation around highlight plays.

(Unfortunately, clips are geo-blocked to the US only but AT&T’s pre-roll can be viewed regardless of location. Refresh the page if you missed it!)

Real-time highlight: FGCU with a monster dunk to take a two point lead.#marchmadness – snpy.tv/15IScCG

— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 24, 2013

While this technology isn’t new (it was used in last year’s tournament by Turner), this year is the first time that sponsors have partnered with Twitter to bring these clips to fans via a short pre-roll ad with embedded video content.

Why we love it

In the past year, Twitter has invested significantly in figuring out the tricky task of how to make money from the social conversation around live TV. Snappy TV’s video highlight service has given sponsors, such as AT&T, the chance to emotionally link their brand with high-stakes knockout tournament basketball, and the thrills and spills that this entails.

AT&T have also understood the demand for fast, shareable content and utilised the technology available from SnappyTV and Twitter to create a seamless user experience, where video content can be accessed without the need to click on an external link. This ease of use has enabled users to easily retweet and share highlights with their friends, thus giving AT&T the additional benefit of being seen favourably by the consumer as the provider of their chosen video highlight.

For the broadcaster, advertising opportunities around sponsored video highlights can mean additional revenue streams as sponsors increasingly wise-up to the benefits of supplying eminently sharable content to an already engaged and passionate fanbase.

While this technology is still in its relative infancy, the growth potential in this medium is significant. Current reports project Twitter’s ad revenues will reach the $1bn mark by 2014, with the most significant growth projected to occur in the mobile sector. With this in mind, it will be interesting to see how many brands will follow AT&T’s example and embrace the potential of second screen advertising.

By Robin Ooi on April 4th, 2013

Tags: Basketball, Blogging, Branded content, Digital marketing, Mobile, Social Media, Sponsorship Activation, Sport, Synergy Loves, Twitter

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“It’s good to talk,” a wise man once said. Whilst the ways in which we communicate have evolved dramatically since the days of Bob Hoskins’ well-loved ad campaign for BT, the fundamental ethos remains the same: interaction with others is a positive thing.

The options have since widened from talk to text, short messages have become instant, online statuses are there to be critiqued, commented upon and shared, and with the conglomeration of social sentiment or lines of enquiry under a single @username or hashtag, this communication has never been quite so publicly personal.

Heavyweight oxymoron perhaps, but the Zuckerbergian philosophy of perpetually open dialogue has changed the way in which many people treat their day-to-day interaction with peers. From the mundane daily blow-by-blows through to the occasional comedy gold of an acerbic internal monologue, Facebook’s ‘pedestal for your thoughts’ has profoundly altered its users’ perceptions of personal disclosure.

Though Twitter may have taken up the baton in the running commentary stakes, extending the bounds of our influence beyond merely an invited circle of friends, it’s unlikely that it would ever have found the same reception without the training wheels of Facebook’s closed circuit test-bed. Only now you’re not just broadcasting to your friends but the world at large…or whatever proportion of it hasn’t already blocked you. Whether you use the medium as a creator, commentator or simply an interested spectator, one of the most fundamental functionalities of the platform is the access it gives to each of our own individual influencers.

At one end of the Twitter spectrum, for example, you’ll find award-winning comic and unabashed atheist, Ricky Gervais (@rickygervais), whose 3.8 million acolytes can follow and engage in, amongst other things, his regular Humanist musings. At the same time, just a few clicks away there’s His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI (@Pontifex). B16 (as he’s universally not known) may only have tweeted 23 times since setting up his username in December 2012 (I wonder whether he’s linked it to his Lockerz account…?), but has already attracted almost 1.5 million disciples. In what other universe could you anticipate such completely divergent personalities sharing real estate – and, without doubt, followers?

The ability of social networks to help ‘ordinary people’ connect with their idols is something that has not been lost on brands or self-promoters alike, with the most ubiquitous activation of the fan-hero interaction being the ‘Twitter Q&A with…’ – generally using a single hashtag to collate user questions for whomever happens to be responding. With the burgeoning popularity of Google+, yet another dimension has been brought to the table, as invited fans have the opportunity to video conference with the talent in question. Footballers Beckham, Bojan and Barton have all participated – and you can watch Joey/Joe/Joseph’s OM+Vous tchat here.

Unfortunately he’s lost the Franglais accent…

Whilst this certainly alleviates any worries over whether your questions are in fact being answered by a svengali agent or on-message PR – it’s doubtless to raise a new raft of potential issues for those involved.

You need only look at some of the recent Twitter meet-and-greets involving footballers to understand how certain wags (no, not those WAGs) have managed to divert the focus of these sessions away from their original objectives with the odd well-placed barb.

Michael Owen may have rued his decision to allow fans the chance to ask him questions through the micro-blogging site, for him to answer on a video hosted on his website. In archetypal style, @FootyHumour immediately jumped on the subject of the former England striker’s bench-warming capabilities of late, getting the ball trolling with ”Which stadium has the most comfortable bench?”

Which led on to my favourite enquiry for a striker with time on his hands, @greglarmouth asking, “I’m expecting a parcel on Thursday, would you be able to sit in for me while I’m out? I have Racing UK & ATR & my sofa’s leather?”

Big brands are not immune to this either: adidas’ recent Steven Gerrard Q&A found the #AskStevieG hashtag taken over by a number of cheeky rival fans, with questions for the Scouse legend including:

I’m not suggesting that the adi moderators actually let these questions slip through to Stevie, but the important thing to remember is that anyone following the aforementioned hashtag would have been able to read (and possibly be inspired by) these not-quite-so-serious Qs for Mr G to A.

A number of similar (and identical) tweets were thrown at Gareth Bale on his recent Twitter chat for Spurs – probably reflecting worse on the tweeters’ plagiarism than on the Welsh wunderkind himself.

But it’s not all bad news…

One of the most interesting exchanges I’ve recently followed involved film director Duncan Jones (son of David Jones, otherwise known as David Bowie), whose debut feature Moon screened on the BBC over Christmas. Both a critical success and a personal story (Jones tweets prolifically under @ManMadeMoon), the film explores themes of loneliness, identity and self-discovery – amidst a lunar setting and with an appropriately stellar lead performance from actor Sam Rockwell.

Undoubtedly proud that his work was showing on the Beeb, Jones – who is based in LA – conducted a live conversation on Twitter whilst the movie played. This was perhaps the ultimate director’s commentary, with Jones candidly responding to followers’ questions and revealing some genuinely fascinating insights into the film-making process throughout.

The conversation developed further, with Clint Mansell, the composer of the film’s haunting soundtrack, chipping in on particular subjects. If that wasn’t enough @iamclintmansell also brought prolific tweeter Irvine Welsh (@WelshIrvine) into the wider fray, given he is currently scoring the the movie adaptation of the Scottish writer’s novel Filth.

As with any foray into social media, you need to know what you’re getting into – both for an individual or a brand. It’s not just your voice, opinions or frequency of communication that matter – it’s also your audience. As a footballer you will inevitably divide opinion amongst rival fans (even tweeting for the National Team, I’d wager), whereas expressing defined views on politics or religion will undeniably generate a counter-point.

You’ve just built a wall on which the bored, dissatisfied or just plain witty will inevitably scrawl. Moderation and filtering will only get a brand or individual so far before the main unanswered consumer Q becomes “Why am I following them?” @RickyGervais will happily laugh, debate with or block such contributors, whereas His Holiness doesn’t have the same freedom as a figurehead to interact when #AskPontifex delivers questions such as:

Maybe he just needs a better communion manager.

By Jonathan Izzard on January 15th, 2013

Tags: Ambush Marketing, Celebrity, Communications, community, Default, Digital marketing, Media, Social Media, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Twitter

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We have WiFi on our trains, our buses, in our cafés and bars and even across the underground network– but why is it still not commonplace across our sports stadia?

Most clubs and sporting bodies will boldly claim the importance of social media as a platform with which to engage their fans and will often boast record numbers of ‘Followers’ and ‘Likes’, along with gains in emerging markets. Yet strangely, very few have recognised the potential commercial value of having a ‘connected’ stadium  to improve the match day experience for both those attending and, perhaps more significantly, for those that are not through the sharing of content that this enables.

I recently attended a seminar on the changing habits of sports viewing where one of the panel, a senior marketing figure at a Premier League club, claimed that there was no need for WiFi in a football stadium, as he didn’t feel that fans had the dwell time within a match to update social media sites or consume additional content. I couldn’t disagree more.

On a matchday, 3G networks are over-burdened with people trying to access the internet via a mobile devices, making progress painfully slow- the modern digital-savvy customer neither expects nor is willing to wait. Like it or not, we live in a world where people share almost every facet of their lives in real-time and expect content to be available to them – free of charge – whenever they want it. Conversations, both online and offline, are driven by people’s passion…and there are few more passionate than your average sports fan.

These people want to share photos, videos and opinions and they want to do it as the action unfolds. This wealth of crowd-sourced content is  not constrained by the confines  of the stadium – it is consumed by fans in all corners of the globe. Its power lies in the affinity that exists between fans: it is the reason we read sports blogs and the reason that we follow complete strangers on Twitter – we often value its honesty more than any communication  by a club via more formal channels.

For the club and its sponsors this opens up a world of opportunities – limited only by the imagination of the marketer. Think digital programmes, live match stats, pre-match press conferences, competitions, live betting offers and more. Want to pre-order and pay for your half time beer? It’s all possible.

At its most basic, increasing the quality and frequency of your social media output will increase your reach, which (putting a commercial hat on) can only make you a more commercially attractive entity. Monetising your fanbase is no longer just about selling season tickets and shirts, it’s about growing  your reach within a given market to demonstrate your standing and influence to potential commercial partners.

This is not to say that there is not a handful of players out there that are doing it well. The Rugby Football Union has recently signed a partnership to make Twickenham the most digitally advanced stadium in Europe. This is starting with the installation of an ‘LED fan-engagement and advertising system’ which will “boost interaction and engagement with the crowd” by displaying fan messages of support. Meanwhile,  Real Madrid and Barcelona have signed deals with Cisco Systems and Telefonica respectively, in order to provide hi-density WiFi networks – two deals which are likely to be largely value in kind.

While the pace of uptake has been somewhat surprising, I have little doubt that it will eventually play a significant role in the way that we interact with live sport.  The question is how will sponsors take advantage?

By Tom Whiteside on November 27th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Blogging, Brand marketing, Branded content, Communications, Consultancy, Default, Facebook, Football, Football Sponsorship, Media, Mobile, Social Media, Sponsorship, Sponsorship consultancy, Synergy, Twitter, YouTube

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Athletes represent hugely valuable commodities for sponsors in the US, with Basketball leading the way in celebration of the stars that enter the courts up and down the country. Michael Jordan started the trend in the ’80s, signing a multi-million dollar deal with Nike that led to his self-titled ‘Air Jordan’ trainer; whilst players such as Kobe Bryant and LeBron James represent more contemporary prized assets.

These players are idolised by children who dream of growing up and playing in the NBA, and with Nike and adidas monopolising the market for player sponsorship, the usual global stand-off is apparent. Last year, Nike created a fabulous water projection of Carmelo Anthony to launch his new shoe in New York, and this year LeBron James starred in the ‘destined for greatness’ campaign, where The Ring Maker was launched.

However, adidas has taken an alternative route with their sponsorship of Chicago Bulls star, Derrick Rose, the youngest MVP in the history of the NBA. Rose, or D Rose as he is now known, went down injured in April during a Play-Off game, with a season-ending ACL tear. This put adidas’s creative skills to the test, with a decision made to focus on the rehabilitation of their prized asset, building towards his potential return  in February 2013, when he will hopefully return for the Bulls in the Play-Offs.

The campaign, called #The Return, documents Derrick Rose‘s return from season-ending injury, with adidas introducing a commercial alongside its “The Return of Derrick Rose” series on the brand’s Youtube channel.

The commercial, entitled “Wake Up”, captures the shock and disbelief of the Chicago fans following the injury, and looks to the future as the Windy City comes back to life following Rose’s return to the court. The ad is shot in various locations across Chicago, and features cameos from Derrick’s brother Reggie, Chicago sports anchor Dan Roan and Kevin Harlan’s in-game commentary. “Wake Up” was launched in September 2012, with the adidas ‘D Rose signature collection’ launched in early October.

In his own words, D Rose shares his innermost thoughts on his strenuous recovery training, the return to his hometown of Chicago and the filming of the shorts. The films not only focus on his drive towards a return, but also the unmatched intensity that has pushed him to meet his ultimate goal: to be great and win championships.

Fans across the world have joined “The Return of D Rose” conversation since it began in August 2012, and some of the most inspiring comments are featured during the end credits of each film. Adidas will continue to reward loyal D Rose fans that join the conversation through the adidas Basketball Facebook Page and on Twitter with #TheReturn @adidasHoops.

Through the campaign, adidas have created an emotional connection with the fans, with Rose giving an inside view of the trials and tribulations of rehabilitation, which enables consumers to feel part of his story. This enhances the viewer’s connection with Rose and, with time, adidas Basketball. With over 300,000 Twitter followers, ‘D Rose’ presents a great platform to share content created by adidas Basketball. With a cumulative view count that is well over 3 million (and rising), adidas Basketball has shown that even when a player is inactive, they can still be key to the campaign if executed correctly.

By Adam Shapland on October 8th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Basketball, Brand marketing, Default, Facebook, Sponsorship, Twitter, YouTube

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There’s no doubt about it, London 2012 has been the most digitally connected Olympics we’ve ever seen. Compared to Beijing 2008 there are nearly 10 times the amount of people on Facebook and a whopping 80 times more tweeting away on Twitter.

Brands, consumers and even the stars of the greatest show on Earth participated with tweets, photos and videos, often in real time and always with real, honest to goodness, passion. It’s this real-time nature that made Social Media (‘SoMe’) transform the way we have experienced the Olympics and has held the key to brands making the most of their Olympic sponsorships.

So we at Synergy wanted to take a little look-see as to which brands best activated their campaigns through the use of content and digital channels. Whilst we were at it, we even decided to have a little medal ceremony all of our own.

Gold Medal Winner: adidas – Take the Stage

‘Take The Stage’ was the title of the integrated campaign launched by adidas to leverage its sponsorship of the 2012 Games.

Whilst television and out of home focused largely on the Team GB athletes themselves, the campaign also contained a public initiative which played out via digital channels. These channels provided the content hub to house varied material from emotionally-charged, nation-rousing videos of Ennis, Daley, and Idowu (hindsight’s a wonderful thing), to pieces on the athletes’ adoration of the Team GB kit and Stella (the designer, not the beer), even Keith Lemon interviewing the most successful British Olympian of all time, “Circus Hoy”, getting the Brownlees to Tri-a-Thong or Swingballdon with Andy Murray.

Even a medal-winner laden lip-sync music video to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” emerged from the content coffers. Add to that footage of a certain Mr Beckham surprising well-wishers in a ‘good luck’ video booth installation, and you have a piece of content that has generated 3 million views alone.

Digital channels also provided the platform for 32 youngsters to be given the opportunity to collaborate with a host of top sports people and pop stars by showcasing their own talent via YouTube.

SoMe was employed to get the public more deeply involved and engaged in the campaign. Aside from the dedicated website, consumers could engage with the brand by following updates on Facebook and Twitter, using @adidasUK and #takethestage. The ‘Take the Stage’ Facebook app invited users to create their own campaign image and mantra in the same style as the striking photographic portraits, share it with their friends and post the image within the dedicated gallery.

When it came to content, there really was something for everyone.

Some stats

- The @adidasUK Twitter following climbed by 25% with the hashtag #takethestage being mentioned 109,241 times.

- Throughout the 17 days of the Olympics, adidas’ global Facebook page increased by 202,429 fans with more than 5 times the usual amount of shares.

- The David Beckham photo booth stunt has been viewed more than 3 million times.

- The adidas Team GB “Don’t Stop Me Now” video has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.

- Adidas claims it has “already recouped” its Olympic sponsorship investment through merchandise, with further sales still to be expected.

Why Gold?

Adidas realises that sports sponsorship and social have common ground – unified by passion. The brand generously sprinkled patriotism into the mix and fed consumers’ passions by telling great stories in an ‘always on’ environment, building familiarity, likeability and trust on the way.

‘Take the Stage’ focuses on what adidas as a brand stands for and not what it sells. The content is ‘shareworthy’; so meaningful, useful or interesting to its audience that they want to share it with their own friends, families and other connections.

Ultimately, adidas’ approach to sponsorship and digital during the 2012 Games has allowed the brand to build deeper, more meaningful and more enduring relationships with its consumers.

Silver Medal Winner: P&G – Thank You Mum

Proctor and Gamble brought to life its sponsorship of the Games most effectively through its ‘Olympic Mums’ YouTube campaign. Its aim was to recognise Mums as the special person behind every athelete.

Content for the campaign took the form of a series of video tributes called “Raising an Olympian”, stories told by the Mums themselves, which were then distributed on TV and online through sponsored content and video ads.

Facebook provided the destination to share special moments between the athletes and their Mums, and also allowed consumers to thank their own Mums by uploading family photos and writing messages for them to be shared in their news feeds. Twitter provided the platform to cheer on the athletes and allowed P&G to keep its followers informed.

Some stats

- The campaign achieved over 206,397,926 impressions.

- Over 5 Million views on YouTube.

- 43 online articles were written.

- Retailers that activated the campaign with in-store displays have seen a 5% to 20% sales lift for P&G products in the three- or four-week Olympic merchandising period.

Why Silver?

The content which P&G dispersed told emotional and compelling stories, which people naturally wanted to share.

Who could resist the pull on the heartstrings, the concept of ordinary kids becoming Olympians and the contribution their own mothers made to getting them where they are today?

Using social to roll out content a full 100 days before the Olympics shows P&G’s understanding of how using its “mum-umentaries” to engage wasn’t limited to the actual Games themselves.

Using real time distribution of narratives added to the impact, exemplified by the airing of a ‘thank you’ message from one Volleyball player to her Mum halfway through the final set of the match.

A robust paid-for seeding strategy also ensured the content reached the right audience. Oh…and finally, P&G forecasts that its Olympic campaign will generate over $500 million in additional sales.

Bronze Medal Winner : Coca-Cola Move to the Beat

Coca-Cola has been involved with the Olympics since the 1928 Games in Amsterdam. In 2012 the focus moved from more traditional advertising to a more ‘Liquid and Linked’ approach to story-telling. Launching an integrated campaign, which largely played out through SoMe, Coke targeted its audience with the spotlight on music and youth culture.

Bringing in some musical ‘big guns’, Coke worked with producer Mark Ronson and singer Katy B, with Ronson setting out to produce an original Olympic anthem for 2012. To achieve this he travelled around the world to capture the sounds he needed from various sportsmen and women in action to form a ‘rhythmic backbone’, for the anthem. Imagine Ronson in the meeting with Coke selling in the idea that he needed to discover a rhythmic backbone. He captured sounds from Table Tennis in the UK, archers from Singapore, hurdlers in the US, sprinters from Russia even Taekwondo in Mexico.

Coke then told the story of Ronson’s mission through a series of videos. Users were driven to Coke’s Move to the Beat website where they could become the producer themselves and combine their favourite sport with their favourite beats to create their very own version of the anthem. If the user so desired they could further manipulate the anthem through the movement of their mobile phone via an associated app.

Coke uploaded the UGAs (User Generated Anthems) to its global community and further facilitated the sharing of these user-generated anthems through Facebook and Twitter. Users posted the videos on their Facebook profiles and propagated them via tweets.

Some stats

- 3 million user-generated anthems were created.

- Coca-Cola has now hit 50 million fans on Facebook.

Why Bronze?

Coke understands the importance of creating content which resonates with its audience, and more so, it understands that co-creating this content makes it all the more powerful. People love to share what they themselves create and Coke facilitates this. Make the content unique, valuable and easy to share, and an audience will happily amplify your brand message – and do so with a smile.

In summary, whilst the Olympic Flame may now have been extinguished for another four years, the brands above have demonstrated that they have the ability to start their own fires through the power of Social Media. By creating truly outstanding content, allowing users to put their own stamp on that content, and helping them share it via social, these brands can sit back and enjoy the warm afterglow as consumers ‘fan’ the flames on their behalf.

Full disclosure: Synergy works with the Coca-Cola Company

By Lee Thomas on September 10th, 2012

Tags: Advertising, Digital marketing, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Paralympics, Socialympics, Sponsorship, Twitter

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As the first truly social Olympic and Paralympic Games come to a close, we take a look back at the Games according to Twitter – exploring who generated the most conversation, who gained the most followers and what impact winning a medal does for your popularity in the social sphere.

Social media became such a large part of the Games for athletes, journalists and fans alike that one Australian bookmaker even went as far as to offer odds on who would gain the most Twitter followers over the course of the London 2012. If you had the foresight to put some cash on Tom Daley, rest assured you will see a nice return on your investment.

Despite Michael Phelps leaving his final Olympic Games as the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals, his gain of a ‘meagre’ 950,000 Twitter followers (an increase of 293%), was only enough to bag him a silver medal in the social media stakes. In the end  Daley took the gold, winning more than 1 million new followers over the course of the London 2012 (an increase of 275%).

Daley’s meteoric social rise was triggered by two events. The first of these sadly brings to light one of the negative aspects of the medium, when a user cruelly invoked the name of Daley’s late father after he failed to medal in the Synchronised Diving – sending Tom’s following up 300,000 to almost one million in just a couple of days, as people rallied in support. The second was Daley’s impressive bronze in the individual competition towards the end of the second week, which took the number up past 1.3 million.

There were also other significant movers across the rest of Team GB. Jessica Ennis picked up almost 500,000 new followers as she stormed her way to Heptathlon gold, while Bradley Wiggins followed his success in the Tour de France with an Olympic gold medal, picking up 230,000 fans in the process. Double gold medallist Mo Farah increased his Twitter fan base by 220,000, while Andy Murray’s gold and silver medals saw him pick up more than 100,000 new followers.

Of course, not all athletes in Team GB were members of Twitter prior to the Games; in fact, only 52.7% had active accounts before the Opening Ceremony. Incredibly, by the Closing Ceremony, 73.6% of Team GB athletes had signed up, with Jason Kenny (who didn’t have an account until 9 August) gaining nearly 30,000 followers in the two days up to the end of the Games.

So, what does a medal get you in terms of followers? Looking at a sample of 27 British medal-winning athletes, we explored the uplift in followers that an athlete gained from the Opening Ceremony up until directly after their first medal win. This averaged out at an incredible 57% per athlete. Among our sampled athletes, Anthony Ogogo led the way with an increase of 324%,  to reach more than 24,000 followers – albeit from a low base. This was  followed by Tom Daley who increased his following by 258% to over 1.3m – although as discussed there were other contributing factors to this rise. Next was Louis Smith who saw an impressive 124% increase and Ben Ainslie, who increased his following by 122% after his first medal to 22,000, which has since risen above 40,000.

According to stats released by Twitter, more than 150 million tweets were sent about the Olympics in total and perhaps unsurprisingly, diver Tom Daley topped the list of British athletes discussed on the site, with more than 1 million mentions. Overall, and again unsurprisingly, the most tweeted about athlete was Usain Bolt, with Michael Phelps second and Tom Daley and Ryan Lochte third and fourth respectively.

Despite the countless incredible sporting stories over the Games, the Great British public’s appetite for the ‘celebrity’ still burned strong, with the Spice Girls reunion somehow managing to rack up more tweets than during any of Usain Bolt’s or Mo Farah’s gold medal winning races, with a staggering 116,000 tweets per minute – or roughly 2,000 tweets per second. Although, to put this is some context, the most simultaneously tweeted-about event was the televised screening of a Japanese anime film in 2011 – Castle in the Sky – which registered 25,088 tweets in a single second. There’s no accounting for taste…

And so to Rio. With 33.3 million Twitter users and counting, Brazil currently stands 2^nd behind the United States in active Twitter users, after recently overtaking Japan. As users from across the globe, and, in particular from emerging markets, continue to flock to Twitter, Rio 2016 has the opportunity to learn lessons from London to deliver the most socially shared event to date.

By Tom Whiteside on September 10th, 2012

Tags: Brazil, London 2012, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Team GB, Twitter

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The first thing anyone in sponsorship learns about the Olympic Games is that the Field of Play is sacrosanct. No advertising or commercial branding. No marques or sponsorship identification on any athlete uniforms, save from a Nike swoosh here or a Puma feline there. This strict ‘clean venue’ policy is zealously enforced by the powers that be, and underpins the commercial model from The Olympic Partner (TOP) programme, down.

But it is not quite that simple. London 2012 has seen a number of brands appear on the Field of Play and into the eyes and Twitter feeds of fans worldwide. Some of this exposure has even been sanctioned by the IOC. In typical post-event style, here’s the London 2012 Field of Play Top 10.

1. Omega

An unexplained quirk of the Olympic sponsorship programme, and a source of irritation for fellow TOP sponsors;  despite the clean-venue approach, Omega was plastered across every timing screen or timing-related piece of equipment at every venue. The brand even featured on the ‘final lap’ bell at the Athletics, the Velodrome and the Aquatics Centre.

2. Panasonic

A new entry on to the Field of Play for London 2012. Creeping into the Omega realm of explicit but sanctioned Field of Play branding, Panasonic logos were visible on all event screen venues. Screens variously showed spectators scores, replays, venue instructions and films about the rules of Water Polo, the ‘kiss-cam’ and ’bongo-cam’ and the official Muse song and montage. In terms of eyeballs on logos, one for the attendees rather than the TV audience.

3. MINI

Anyone who watched the Athletics cannot have failed to see the remote controlled ‘mini MINIs’ zipping around the Olympic Stadium, retrieving stray javelins, hammers and discuses, as part of BMW’s sponsorship of the Games. Although the car marque was absent, you didn’t have to be a Top Gear devotee to recognise the signature silhouette (or the  ‘it’s a MINI adventure’ tagline). And it certainly helped that the Olympic Broadcasting Service regularly zeroed in on the cars to ensure the MINI became a quirky focus of coverage rather than an incidental logo.

4. Powerade

Athletes have got to stay well hydrated throughout competition, so inevitably there will be drinks on the Field of Play. At the Olympics, Powerade is the sports drink of choice. While The Coca-Cola Company was required to produce special labels for the Games – reading ‘Sports Drink’ rather than ‘Powerade ION4’ – the signature blue Powerade product would have made it clear to viewers what athletes were consuming.

5. Schweppes Abbey Well

Another Coca-Cola brand that was evident on the Field of Play, again without the brand logo. Instead, the label read ‘Still Water’ in the Abbey Well colours. The fairly recent re-launch of the brand’s identity probably made this a less immediately recognisable brand for many consumers.

6. Heineken

While we’re talking hydration, Field of Play exposure does not come much more high profile than the plastic Heineken bottle launched onto the track at the start of the 100m Final. ‘Bottle yob’ was dealt with, but not before global media coverage of the offending item.

Looking at all the above, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the rules are a tad inconsistent – Panasonic branded things they sell (TVs); Omega branded things they don’t (bells); Powerade and Schweppes Abbey Well de-branded their products; while MINI removed their brand but included their tagline (including the word ‘MINI’). I’m sure there’s IOC method somewhere in the madness…

So what about the non-Olympic family, AKA the ambushers? Leaving aside the permitted sportswear logos on athlete kit, a few brands managed to stand out on the Field of Play.

7. Beats by Dre

Dr Dre and his Beats headphones became the most high profile recipient of LOCOG’s policing, but not before the headphones had encroached on to the Field of Play, and become a talking point in the Twittersphere. Inevitably, the clampdown simply brought the oxygen of publicity to Beats’ use by athletes – entirely in keeping with the brand’s endorsement-led strategy. The sweet sound of success for an orchestrated approach that reportedly included a collection point at Shoreditch House for invited athletes.

8. Nike

When your rival has Bolt, how do you grab attention on the track? Bring out the Volt. Nike’s fluorescent yellow / green shoe didn’t contravene any rules and certainly brought a new colour to the track. Of all the colours in the spectrum, the eye is more sensitive to yellow / green than any other (according to the Nike press release). Nike has form when it comes to iconic footwear at major sporting events – from the golden pair given to Michael Johnson in Atlanta in 1996 to the orange boots worn by Nike footballers at the 2010 World Cup.

It will be interesting to see if rivals will copy their ambusher blueprint when Nike moves from poacher to gamekeeper as an official sponsor of Rio 2016.

9. Kinesio Tape

More fluorescent adornment. London 2012 has seen unprecedented use of Kinesio tape in a variety of colours and patterns. According to inventor Dr Kenzo Kase, the Japanese-made tape can help to mend injuries by allowing more movement of fluids below the skin than conventional tape. Interestingly, the scientific research has not proved as sticky as the tape itself. In spite of this, London 2012 has certainly brought it into further the public consciousness, not least as female Beach Volleyball players had a particular penchant for the tape. Cue a fad akin to Robbie Fowler’s nasal strips?

10. Yohan Blake’s watch

Yohan Blake risked a slap on the wrist from the IOC for wearing a custom-made Richard Mille tourbillon watch during the Olympic sprints. It was designed in the Jamaican colours of black, green and yellow, reportedly in an attempt to comply with the regulations. But, as official sponsor of the time pieces category (including watches), Omega will not have seen it that way.

Media exposure analysis of the Field of Play brands would no doubt score Omega top of the chart. Does that mean they take home the sponsorship gold, as suggested below?

Hats off to Omega for emblazoning their logo across a supposedly brand-free environment. If that was the objective they have well and truly succeeded. But sponsorship has evolved from a discipline obsessed by media exposure as a measure of success to focus on relevant engagement. Omega’s exposure is relatively meaningless ‘wallpaper’ that says little about their luxury products and does nothing to connect meaningfully with consumers.

I’m pretty sure there would have been more column inches, tweets and Facebook posts about Blake’s timepiece than the Games-wide Omega timing system. Winning the ‘Field of Play’ gold is about more than maximising brand exposure, it’s about relevant brand or product integration that is amplified and engages with consumers. Not branding for the sake of it, but talking points that generate fan conversations and a become part of the memories from London 2012.

By that measure, there is only one winner for me, and it is operated by remote control. One of the unintended legacies of these Games will be the rush of Rio 2016 sponsors knocking on the IOC’s door to claim their equivalent of MINI’s little adventure at London 2012.

Full disclosure: Synergy worked with The Coca-Cola Company and BMW UK on their London 2012 sponsorships.

By Tom Gladstone on August 14th, 2012

Tags: Ambush Marketing, Athletics, Beach Volleyball, BMW, Brand marketing, Brazil, Brazil 2014, Brazil 2014 Sponsorship, Brazil 2014 Sponsorship Consultants, Default, London 2012 sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Product placement, Rio 2016, Rio 2016 Sponsorship, Rio 2016 Sponsorship Consultants, Social Media, Twitter

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What Happened?

During the Team GB kitting-out event in Loughborough earlier this month, kit supplier adidas provided a photo booth with fun props and backdrops, allowing athletes to pose for pictures both individually and in groups. The snaps were printed on adidas-branded passport photo-style paper and sold into the media, with great pick-up across national press and online. This delivered some fantastic exposure for adidas and the kitting-out event, but it was also (or at least it seemed) lots of fun for the athletes, and provided a relatively rare opportunity for fans to catch a glimpse of the less serious side of Team GB.

Why we love it

The adidas photo booth has won significant acclaim, and rightly so. Adidas has been encouraging fans to #takethestage with its Olympic campaign, and this tactic put the athletes on the stage, but in a really original way. It brought to life the kitting-out session for consumers – a feat not to be underestimated given that the event really just consisted of athletes picking up their kit. Media time was available with athletes, but the creation of the photo booth meant that journalists focused on the kitting-out ceremony itself in their interviews, with more than just the requisite credit line.

The photo booth allowed athletes to choreograph their own photography, normally dictated to them by media managers, thereby allowing fans to see more of the person behind the athlete. The delivery of such original content secured media cut-through for adidas in the clutter of the Games time, and showcased the brand’s relationship with Team GB in striking contrast to some of the more stage-managed athlete content evident elsewhere pre-Games.

The success of the photography may well encourage even more brands to experiment with this sort of “talent-generated content”, such as video blogs and other creative photography, when the tone and messaging of the campaign is right. Entertaining and original photo content can clear space for brands when it would have otherwise been tight.

We also love this tactic because it can be deployed across a range of channels; adidas could install the photo booth anywhere so that customers could use it at a festival or big exhibition. I can certainly vouch for the fact that the Synergists loved the (Engine-branded) photo booth at the Engine Christmas Party!

As such, I wasnt surprised to see adidas extending the activity into the public space with David Beckham surprising customers in the adidas photo booth at Westfield Stratford City – the related viral has already had over 2.7 million views.

Fans gasped and burst into tears when their football hero was revealed hiding in a secret compartment, and the stunt once again generated significant exposure for adidas in a congested media environment just two days before the start of the Olympics. Adidas has found its white space in this sort of fun and irreverent activity, and to very great effect.

By Jessica Enoch on July 30th, 2012

Tags: Default, London 2012, Olympic sponsorship, Olympic sponsorship consultants, Olympics, Sponsorship, Synergy Loves

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What happened

Remember that shop where you bought your school shoes? The place where you’d patiently sit and have your feet measured at the beginning of each school term? The smell of leather, the nostalgia…

Clarks are turning that perception on its head: ‘that little shoe brand’ has launched a new range, Clarks Originals and is looking to tap into a more fashion savvy teen audience. In its latest campaign, OriginalsLIVE, the brand aims to connect to its new demographic by tapping into the latest new music and giving fans money-can’t-buy experiences.

OriginalsLIVE is Clarks’ platform to showcase their connections, collaborations and very own creations in music and music culture. Every year they champion new ventures, providing unique content and experiences fans won’t find anywhere else.

The 2012 live gig series sees Joy Formidable (currently supporting the Foo Fighters on their US tour) playing unusual locations in Bristol, Manchester and London, with the actual venue not being revealed until 48 hours before.  Tickets are all released via Twitter, Facebook and the brand’s own webpage.

Locations like the Victoria Baths in Manchester, Factory 7 in London and Bridewell Police Station in Bristol have been used on the current tour. The use of unconventional venues further added to the surprise and delight element of the campaign – generating extra buzz in the host cities and online.

Exclusive content from the gigs is all available online along with regular updates from the artists themselves through video blogs and post-gig content.

Why we love it

Changing perceptions about a brand is no mean feat, especially for one that is surrounded by so much nostalgia. Tie-ups with one of London’s last independent record stores, Rough Trade East, and well known up-and-coming artists like Joy Formidable and Trojan Sound System, have added a sense of real credibility to a brand that is seen as reliable and even quaint to many of us.

The results speak for themselves: the brand has over 15,000 followers online and a constant dialogue with their audience through daily updates on Facebook – largely through tapping into Joy Formidable’s existing fan base. The gigs to date have been a resounding success with sell-out shows in Manchester, Bristol and London.

Perceptions don’t change overnight, though, and what’s interesting about Clarks’ approach is that it’s long-term; the campaign is now in year three, with plans already in the pipeline for late 2012 and 2013. This, paired with their collaborative approach with artists – rather than simply ‘badging’ existing gigs – only reinforces a reason for the brand to be there – they are the curator, not the sponsor.

By Oli Richards on March 20th, 2012

Tags: Default, Experiential marketing, Music

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