Today, 100 days out, the final countdown has begun for the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics and we are starting a social media performance study of the sponsors, using our PRINT™ methodology.
The 25 main global and local sponsors have paid heavily for official rights to the five rings. Estimates of around £1 billion ($1.6 bn) have been widely reported. But these sponsorship rights are just part of the cost. Partners and sponsors will have to spend much more on marketing to gain the full benefit from their involvement. No wonder they are so well protected and jealously guarded.
George Orwell’s dictum that “Sport is war minus the shooting” applies especially to the battle of the Olympic sponsorship brands and social media looks like being a new battleground. So much has changed since the Beijing Games… Facebook for a start.
So how will sponsors use their sponsorship rights to engage with customers via social media and networks?
The medal table below shows the starting positions for the 25 lead sponsors of the main games, ranked by their PRINT Index™ scores. The Performance Profile chart below that shows how they stand based on ‘status’, a measure of social brand power and ‘potential’, a measure of engagement activity (both key elements of the PRINT scoring methodology). We’ll be measuring changes weekly leading up to and during the Games and highlighting any interesting developments.
Comments and suggestions welcome.
Notes on our methodology
- The PRINT Index™ is calculated using our PRINT™ social media performance measurement methodology, which provides an indicator of a brand’s effective use of social media to drive profile and engagement.
- In this study we’re not measuring any brands other than the main games partners listed on the London 2012 website – for example, we’re not tracking likely ambush marketers. But we’re open to offers!
- Whilst we have factored in multiple channels (sponsorship website, Twitter account, Facebook page and YouTube channel), we are measuring only those sites and accounts designated or dedicated to sponsorship activation by the brands themselves.
- This is a quantitative analysis looking at the numbers using the PRINT™ algorithms based on more than 50 sub-metrics. However, there is clearly an opportunity for more detailed study and commentary (including by the brands themselves) about different brand strategies.
- We’ve spent a good deal of time researching and identifying each brand’s sponsorship activation profiles and accounts for each channel (no easy task), but there may be some we’ve missed. If you think that might be the case, please let us know and we will incorporate in our next update.
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