Our review of the London Olympics. How brands used social media and a few opportunities that may have been missed.

1. The SocialOlympics
Image Credit: Cadbury

2. Communica wanted to define best practices within social media during the London Olympic Games. We
also wanted to investigate any opportunities that may have been missed as brands struggled to create
connections during the first Social Olympics.
Focus points: Occasions to celebrate original ideas. Response strategies that may have enabled people to
feel a part of the Olympic experience. Truly engaging social content that inspired sharing and
connectedness.
Key Learnings
Defining an effective use of Real-Time media during the games…
McDonalds was one of the most social brands, but negative comments made up most of
their 24 % share. At times McDonalds seemed unprepared to respond to the level of
negative comments.
-Brand reputation requires immediate and consistent response.
For Cadbury responding and co-creation enabled marketers to leverage natural people-to-
people connections.
-Amplify use of real-time media with creative social content in existing community spaces.
Coca-Cola, Samsung and Adidas nurtured enthusiasts wanting to connect with
peers, encouraging them to share their emotions with the rest of the world.
- Added benefits: emotional connectedness, contributory data and organic growth.
Source: Interpublic Group's Momentum and Radian6

3. What brands were really ready for London2012?
Fans did not seem to be captivated by "branded discussions” during these Olympic
games. Brands that created emotional connections seemed to be experiencing the
games, right along with the fans. Content and messages not only engaged fans, but
also enabled encounters that made people feel like they were personally a part of the
Olympics. They became reporters, storytellers, and their heart-felt excitement
reached every corner of earth.
Moving from a “the-Games” to a “my-games” mindset…
With less than 400 days till the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, brands must learn to
nurture, not force, social interactions and with earned media winning the Gold.

4. Facebook reports over 116 million
posts and comments relating to the
games and athletes. 12.2 million
Likes.
Usain Bolt [most liked athlete]
Facebook likes increased by more
than one million reach more than
8.9 million connections.
Inspired fans wanted to connect.
Brands should have interacted, and
in real-time, celebrating with fans.
When athletes posted real-time and
behind the scenes content, fans felt
close to the action. Fans shared
content, frequently tagging athletes
and brands.
Opportunity missed: We noted few
80,000 Tweets
instances where brands responded.
per min as he
A need for more images from the
won the 200M
athletes/brands, not just of the
Gold
Source: Twitter athletes/brands.
Image Credit: http://usainbolt.com Stats Facebook

5. When the Athletes and
the Fans were front and
center the messages
seemed REAL

6. Authenticity: Fan-generated images became an emerging
source of content and people around the world couldn’t
get enough.
Some of the most compelling images came from fan’s
real-time perspective.
The rest of the world:
We wanted to feel like we were there… and social media
gave us a real-life, vantage point.

7. Sentiment via emoto
People “celebrated” connected: People
wanted to participate, be a part of the
the games. In person or via real-time
media fans, wanted to
discover, connect, report/inform and
share…
Opportunities missed:
Celebrate the global reach of the Olympic
games, thorough the unique perspective
of local stories
Respond to comments of global fans
wanting to know more.
Reward with reposting / tweeting
original content and creative dialogues
Offer meaningful real-time resources

8. “The brands that led the Sociagility PRINT™
rankings were those that used social media
to focus on engagement not just brand
awareness.”
The Relative Status and Potential of The London 2012 Sponsors
Our Points of total agreement…
• Most campaigns did not take real-time media seriously. Many used social media as a channel to simply echo
advertising campaigns but failed to interact or enable people to use the content creatively.
• Authentic messages and content seemed to help smaller brands move up in the Sociagility PRINT™ rankings

9. Findings suggest:
Status dimensions of social media performance (awareness and
reach) stayed “relatively constant” across brands
Brands that focused on engagement
and interaction were able to build
trust, offer relevance and support
lasting emotional connections with
fans. Integration within social media
was critical.
Sociagility’s PRINT™ findings confirm
that some brands may have missed
opportunities to connect with fans
due to the lack of social integration
and the ability to move beyond lead
generation and awareness as an Potential dimensions (engagement and interaction) moved about
as “social” interaction defined new leaders
underlying communication goal.
Source: Sociagility followed 25 brands from
18, April to 12, August 2012, They study
looked at 4 social networks and 5
dimensions of social media performance. In
the process they collected 43,500 individual
data points.

10. When marketers elected to "humanize”
Olympic brands they were able to
connect in more meaningful ways.
Lesson learned: Sustainable one-to-one
connections requires
authenticity, emotion, conviction and then… a
response.

11. Viewers had rather strong opinions to
share during the closing ceremony and
they expected to be heard…
Negative sentiment hints
to the need for brands
and media to pay closer
attention to viewers
before the winter games.

12. This Twitter comparison of BMW and AUDI reflects BMW’s
ability to maintain a good share of the twitterverse during Communica mined Vigiglobe to reflect
the games. Still, the ability to leverage this attention for share of Twitter for BMW from 20, July to
stronger connections may have been missed. YouGov's 9, September 2012
BrandIndex service reflects BMW experiencing a sharp
decline in U.S. brand perception during the games.
Americans were not in London. Perhaps “social-friendly”
experiences designed to satisfy those abroad, wishing for a
BMW Olympic view, would have helped. Or, simply
recognizing and responding to fans-at-home would have
encouraged them to feel a part of the games.
Sponsored “social” content and occasions seemed to be
missing…
BMW offered little opportunity for fans-at-home to truly
connect with and share the BMW or MINI brand. Even the
grand BMW Olympic Pavilion had relatively small traction
across social media. At the same time, fans were
discovering the now famous MINI Minis, and asking for
more. MINI Minis was not scripted, but soon the fan
generated social content enjoyed organic growth and
attention across social platforms.
Source: Vigiglobe teamed up with Kantar to monitor Tweets “specifically”
mentioning the Olympic sponsors and their key competitors.
Source: YouGove| U.S.-facing London 2012 Olympics sponsors were
measured with YouGov BrandIndex’s Buzz score, which asks “If you've
heard anything about the brand in the last two weeks, through
advertising, news or word of mouth, was it positive or negative?

13. Immersive Shopping Experiences
We would have loved to see
MINI UK support shopping with discovery.
For instance, mobile interaction that encouraged people to seek
out hidden elements within the store. Use of augmented
reality, check-ins and social media to curate user-generated
content. This would allow fans to feel a part of the environment.
Advantages: Shopping becomes more of an occasion, worth social
sharing of the space and of course, the MINI brand.

14. Discovered, Viewed and Shared Hey look what I found “MINI Minis”

15. “Turns out some of the best stuff is the things that
you don’t usually see on the TV coverage. The
hammers (and the shot, discus and javelins) are all
returned to the athletes in radio controlled mini
Mini Coopers, operated by some of the 70,000
games maker volunteers – had I known this could
be part of their job, I would have definitely applied”
NATHAN BARRY Wired

16. “I’m On It” Fan’s responded
A cycle-of-courtesy was naturally
created as fans enthusiastically begged
for more images of the MINI
Minis, those attendance, were thrilled
to respond and accommodate their
wishes.

17. Surprise Connections and Data Driven Destinations
Our favorite example of naturally discovered and naturally shared content.
Real-time connectedness came into play as a result of MINI’s mini remote control cars. The MINI Minis
were created to assist with the javelin and discus retrieval, but fans fell in love with them.
The result: Relevant branded, but still original content that supported positive sentiment, awareness and
enormous levels of data. MINI will need to transition this data into insight, offering what’s next (e.g.
content / positioning) and ensuring relevance and targeted response scenarios.
MINI branded content and original content united.
Opportunity: Responding to original content becomes a form of celebration and creates strong
connections.
Fan posted image
via Facebook

18. Moving from engage to connect
MINI UK connected with on
Facebook via “Hear the Roar”
Driven by “Emotion” MINI wanted to bring
fans into the cheering section creating
unique connections with enthusiasts via
Hear The Roar.
The co-created, roaring content was
naturally prone to sharing, but may not have
created the lasting emotional triggers MINI
was hoping for.
Smart: MINIUK has done an outstanding job
with responding to comments within the
MINIUK YouTube channel.
MINIUK via YouTube click image or copy url http://www.youtube.com/user/MINIUnitedKingdom?feature=watch

19. Cadbury
Celebrated
along with
fans…

20. Case Study: Creative, Immersive, Emotional Social Media
Cadbury’s Goals:
“Social networks are a place to talk about
friends, family and the things that interest • Break boundaries and go places we haven’t
you – for an event which interests the gone before e.g. pushing our digital marketing
nation in such a powerful way, being a expertise
sponsor has allowed us to remain
• Bring an entrepreneurial spirit to the
meaningful and relevant.”
Jerry Daykin, Cadbury London 2012's business
social media /community manager • Do things differently with our
customers, consumers, colleagues and
communities
Cadbury's sponsorship took full advantage of every
opportunity to include people within their
message. The brand co-celebrated the games.
Measured Social media success:
Other activity: Spots v Stripes, the Crème Egg Goo
Games and Keep Team GB Pumped. ROI – Connectedness, insight and understanding
Cadbury House offered interactive experiences for • SM channels quickly reaching more than 7.5
Olympic Fans with the advantages of hyper-social million during the Olympic Games
sharing built in. RFID technology enabled visitors to • 2.5 million fans / followers UK SM
effortlessly share the fun with friends as they
naturally moved about the Cadbury House. The Noted Growth:
messages became co-created, emotion-driven • 25,000 followers added @CadburyUK
content for the brand. • (Total) 75,000+
• 40,000+ images tagged #Cadbury - Instagram
• 2.5 million Google+
Source: Inside the Games

21. An ideal mix of original and branded content was shared via Social Media,
including immersive in person experiences via Facebook

22. Source Cadbury via Instagram

23. Opportunity missed:
Meaningful use of the emotion-driven content that fans shared
and curated during the games.
Brands had the ability to strengthen ties with fans by
rewarding fans with their attention. A powerful incentive and
a very personal form of response.
Co-Curate the story! Along with fans…simply repin and share
creating a contextual fan-driven, branded
view of the Games.

24. How the World consumed and shared #London2012 via YouTube
Across the US and 64 countries including Africa and Asia
people watched 231 million total streams. Of those, 72
million total streams came from IOC YouTube Channel.
YouTube saw more than half a million livestreams at the
same time.
• The U.S. Olympic Committee YouTube Channel
uploaded a behind the scenes video reaching 6.75
million views
• More original content came from 50 YouTube
creators who “Invaded” London and shared their
views
In the States
YouTube partnered with NBCOlympics.com.
• More than 159 million total streams
• Through NBC’s native apps, 37 percent of views
came from mobile devices, and more than half were
in HD
Source: YouTube Click image or copy url http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=UcmoRy444MY

25. The New York Times shares a collection of favorite professional images
Benefits from sharing original images (Instagram/Twitter):
• Celebrate along with Fans
• Authentic content
• Real-time view
• Viral content
Tagging content owners leverages social sharing

26. Be Global… Reach Local
Celebrate the Olympic Spirit via original or
branded content across real-time media platforms
using local hash tag strategy and local positioning.
South Korea is certainly becoming a nation of
champions across many sports, and they continue
to be leaders in the adoption of technology.
South Korea's Hyeonwoo Kim
Image Source: Chung Sung-Jun/Ge y Images AsiaPac)

27. We shared more than 150 million Tweets about the
Olympics during the 16 active days of the Olympic
Games.
P&G’s “Thank You Mom” campaign created
emotional connections that remained strong even
after the games had ended.
Telling the Olympic story through the eyes of our
Olympian moms created emotional connections that
moved across Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Source: P&G’s YouTube channel
Click image or copy url: http://youtu.be/HbhzLI-vNjE

28. The surprise of a lifetime
Adidas created
emotional connections
at Westfield Stratford
City by simply having
David Beckham drop-
into fans live photo
sessions. The events
created social content
that touched the world.
Click image or copy url http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0OzSpzYe6I#

30. @deannalawrence
dlawrence@communica-usa.com