With the postponements of Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics, as well as the Wimbledon final reached by our compatriot Matteo Berrettini, this July has been a month of well-attended sporting events. For several years now, these events have been becoming a form of entertainment that engages spectators around the world, consequently attracting considerable investment from brands.
The digitization of everyday life has then further changed the relationship between people, companies and sports. On the one hand, social media has made the connection of athletes with their fans more personal and direct, and they can closely follow even the most everyday aspects of a sportsman’s life. On the other, online communication opportunities allow even smaller companies to use the long tail of attention to sporting events (and enthusiasm for victories) to their advantage.
Added to this in the last period are the new needs brought about by the health emergency, which have in many cases forced organizers to limit or even block public access to events. As a result, digital channels have become even more important for engaging people.
In this article, we talk to you about how the relationship between marketing and sporting events has evolved in this 2021, what prospects we can expect in the future, and what insights you can glean from it for your strategy. Here are the topics in detail:
- Traditional sports and e-sports: two worlds coming together
TikTok & Euro 2020: cheering goes social
The main sponsors of the last European Football Championships included TikTok: this is the first time a digital entertainment platform has sponsored a UEFA international tournament. This move by the Chinese social giant gives us several food for thought.
First, it shows how the rapid rise of TikTok shows no sign of stopping, thanks to more than 100 million in Europe-a number that has doubled in the past year. On the other hand, the mere fact that a social platform can now afford to be the main sponsor of an event of this magnitude shows how digital companies have now become an important part of people’s lives. In particular, during the 2020s we have all become accustomed to interacting with the outside world through digital channels such as social networks and video calls, and we will most likely continue to use these tools more than before once the emergency is over.
To support the sponsorship, the company naturally created an integrated communication campaign across all channels, conveying a simple message: TikTok allows you to experience Europeans in an even more engaging way. For example, the TV spot shows some of the most famous episodes from past editions of the competition overlaid with effects, choreography and videos taken directly from TikTok. A cage soccer tournament with world champion soccer players Materazzi and Zambrotta was also featured, where the goals had the 9:16 format typical of the app’s native videos.
Then there could be no shortage of an official Euro 2020 TikTok channel, which has reached more than 48 million likes in a short time, an official hashtag linked to a hub with news, videos and results, as well as filters and special effects to entice the community to make content and support their national team.
The motivations for this partnership are not hard to grasp. TikTok is proposed as a key platform to reach users who are highly interested in an event, able to offer brands spaces for great loyalty and engagement. Indeed, data show that 71 percent of the platform’s users decide to purchase products they did not previously consider after seeing them in the app. At the same time, organizing bodies such as UEFA have now recognized the importance of digital channels to engage fans and gather in-depth data on their habits and behaviors, especially regarding Gen-Z and Millennials: the consumers of the future.
Technology and digital at the Tokyo Olympics
The Games of the XXXII Olympiad being held in Tokyo at this time will go down in History as the first (and hopefully the last) without spectators. This out-of-the-ordinary situation has forced the Olympic Committee to find innovative ways to engage sports fans around the world, thus accelerating the digital transformation. Here are some of the most important innovations and technologies deployed:
- With the “Olympic Channel” internet TV service, the goal is to transform the simple broadcasting of competitions into opportunities to create communities of users to interact and give input in the creation of content. This is made possible by the integration of all available platforms, from Facebook to TikTok to Snapchat and Weibo.
- The #StrongerTogether communication campaign aims to promote the Olympic values of friendship, respect, and excellence through authentic storytelling aimed directly at athlete communities. Through videos showing athletes in their daily lives, moments of difficulty and sharing the joys of success, the goal is to reveal the more human side of sports.
- With the support of 5G technology, it was possible to prepare immersive experiences of enjoying the events. For example, ultra-realistic 12K video panels were used to broadcast sailing, swimming and golf competitions in outer space. In other cases, Augmented Reality glasses were used to provide information about the races in real time.
- The live broadcast of the races is even more important for this edition of the Olympics. Images are recorded in 8K and native HDR, also taking advantage of artificial intelligence to capture athletes’ movement and apply real-time data and statistics to the video. The broadcaster Discovery’s Cube technology then allowed images of the athletes to be placed in seven different studio settings to relive the competitions and analyze performances, as well as allowing viewers to choose shots and zooms.
Traditional sports and e-sports: two worlds coming together
Among the entertainment sectors that have grown the most in recent years is certainly that of video games, a market that will reach more than 474 million viewers in 2021.
The International Olympic Committee has also shown interest in digital competitions, including in its Agenda 2025 the goal of developing virtual sports and creating a connection with communities of video game fans and professional gamers. In this way, the IOC aims to engage the audience of the younger generation, which is looking for a more dynamic and interactive type of entertainment, far from what Olympic sports have offered so far.
Already in Tokyo 2020 there was an initial attempt to unite Olympics and e-sports with the Olympic Virtual Series, which took place from May 13 to June 23. These were five events for as many virtual test disciplines (Baseball, Sailing, Motor Racing, Cycling and Rowing) streamed on the official Olympic channels. Although we are still far from the official inclusion of e-sports as an Olympic discipline, this event demonstrates a strong rapprochement between them. On the other hand, signs of winking at the world of video games were not lacking: from the use of the soundtracks of famous Japanese titles during the opening ceremony (Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, PES, etc.), to the interactive Doodle inspired by 16-bit games of the past.
Many experts actually still have several doubts about the possible inclusion of e-sports in an Olympic context, especially since there are no “standard” competitive video games. Where a virtual race in car racing, cycling or soccer would not be too far removed from what people expect from the Olympics, it would instead be difficult to imagine the Italian national team winning a gold medal in League Of Legends, Fortnite or Overwatch. More likely, the development of e-sports will continue to follow a parallel path to that of traditional competitions. However, this does not detract from the fact that following the competitions of one’s favorite video game will become a common form of entertainment for many people, radically changing the field of sporting events.
To conclude
In this article, we have seen how the sports events industry has been going through a revolutionary phase in recent years, partly due to force majeure, partly due to people’s increasing familiarity with using digital communication and entertainment channels. Not coincidentally, for the first time a social platform sponsored a major football tournament: in the future it will be increasingly common to follow sports from one’s smartphone, or with mixed interactive experiences such as augmented reality. In all this, the line between sports and e-sports is thinning, and new generations are seeking an even more engaging and ever-changing type of entertainment.
What does this mean for your company?
The change in consumer habits that is taking place and will become even more evident in the near future will certainly open up new opportunities for brands to leverage digital channels to insert themselves into the dialogue between sports and consumers. At the same time, the digitization process that is taking place in professional sports will soon come to affect all sectors: the mantra is therefore not to be caught unprepared.
