Sports 2.0 | How digital & social technology are reshaping the sports industry.

SPORTS 2.0 Digital and social technology are dramatically reshaping the way consumers watch, play, share, and shop for all things sports-related. Is your brand ready?

Introduction Reality Check The New Playbook Ready. Set. Inﬁltrate! 2

Introduction. Five years ago, the only way for a sports enthusiast to get her barroom and living room reverberated across continents and fix was the old fashioned way: watch it on TV (or in person), echoed throughout the social web, reminding every viewer listen to it on the radio, read about it in a newspaper or how truly connected our world has become. magazine, discuss it with friends and neighbours, or participate in it yourself. As the agency that coined the term brand infiltration™, Espresso is acutely interested in understanding how consumer But that was before social networks like Facebook, YouTube, expectations are changing in step with evolving technology— and Twitter became mainstream. That was before Wii Fit, not to mention the demographic shifts, economic factors, and RunKeeper, MiCoach, and NikePlus started competing for a cultural phenomena that challenge our clients to rethink, share of our fitness focus. That was before the proliferation of revisit, and reinvent the way they engage with their customers smartphones, instant messaging services, 3G networks, and both on and offline. broadband turned a decades-old media distribution model inside out and upside down. That was before sporting event Sports 2.0 examines the challenges and the opportunities ticket prices began outpacing inflation and in-person facing sports brands as they adapt to new consumer attendance began a precipitous decline (in sync with the global expectations, and highlights new plays, sharp moves, and a economic crisis). That was before the first generation of digital game plan that ensures success in a Sports 2.0 world. natives came of age, TIVOing and multi-tasking their way through the world like a pack of Tasmanian Devils. Because if you’re going to play the game, you’d better know all the rules. That was Sports 1.0. Game on! Sports 2.0 is a whole new ballgame. Digital and social technology have dramatically and undeniably altered the way fans and athletes alike discover, experience, access, participate in, and share their love of the game. We saw this transformation play out on a global stage during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Not only was the 2010 World Cup remarkable Jacquelyn Cyr because it was (cumulatively) watched by 26 billion people, Chief Executive Officer making it the most watched sporting event in human history— Espresso but also because it was watched across so many platforms and so many devices simultaneously. The cheers and boos of every 3

“ The stadium is ﬂattening. We're all part of a new genre in content creation and consumption called ‘fanned media.’ The fan voice is louder, inﬁnitely more networked and viral, more inclusive, and unquestionably —and wonderfully—global." —Pete Blackshaw, Executive VP of Nielsen Online Digital Strategic Services 5

5 billion. The amount o f individual pie (links, news sto ces of content ries, blog post etc.) shared on s, photo album Facebook eac s, h week. 6 DATA: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

3.5 Million. The number of status updates posted on Facebook during the ﬁnal 25 minutes of the 2010 gold medal Olympic men's ice hockey tournament between the U.S. and Canada. 7 DATA: http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/01/facebook-olympic-status-updates/

20 Million. The number of people that become “fans” of Pages on Facebook each day. 8 DATA: http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

$71.84 The average additional amount Facebook fans spend on products for which they are fans compared to those who are not fans. 9 DATA: http://mashable.com/2010/06/12/facebook-fan-value/

41 percent. The increased likelihood that recommend a a Facebook fan fanned produc will compared to n t to their friend on-fans. s as 10 DATA: http://mashable.com/2010/06/12/facebook-fan-value/

“ To be successful with today’s consumer, a strategy of mass production or mass marketing is no longer sufﬁcient.” —adidas Group 11

50 MILLION. The average number of “tweets” per day on Twitter. 12 IMAGE: thesweetg / photocase.com DATA: http://blog.twitter.com/2010/02/measuring-tweets.html

7 HOURS. The amount of time it took LeBron James to amass his ﬁrst 150,00 0 Twitter followers. 13 IMAGE: elsone / photocase.com DATA: http://mashable.com/2010/07/06/lebron-james-twitter-2/

“ Whether it’s Tweetups or Facebook apps, social is deﬁnitely something our teams view as a ‘must have’ fan touch point. —Michael DiLorenzo, Director of Social Media Marketing and Strategy, NHL 14

32 percent. of Twitter users th at make speciﬁc once a week. The proportion a Twitter at least ndations vi product recomme 15 DATA: http://www.briansolis.com/2010/09/twitter-is-home-to-the-most-inﬂuential-consumers-online-are-on-twitter/

“ Many large sports franchises are still just dipping their toes in the social media ocean, and are missing an opportunity to capture fan enthusiasm as a result.” —Mashable, June 2010 16

1 in 4. The number of fans that follows statistics from other live games while watching a game, match, or race. 17 DATA: http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=123022

“ When it comes to media selection, we focus on investing in those media channels that deliver high return on investment, therefore our focus on digital.” —Antonio Lucio, Chief Marketing Ofﬁcer, Visa 18

29 minute The averag TV and we s. e length o b users du f time spen ring the 20 t online by 09 Super B simultaneo owl. us 19 IMAGE: madochab / photocase.com DATA: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/14-multi-tasked-and-got-social-on-the-web-during-super-bowl/ feb, 12 2010

Facebook. The second most popular online destination during the 2009 Super Bowl (after Google), visited by 34% of all simultaneous TV and web users. 20 IMAGE: luxuz::. / photocase.com DATA: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/14-multi-tasked-and-got-social-on-the-web-during-super-bowl/ feb, 12 2010

Meanwhile… —— NIELSEN RATING —— COST OF A 30 SECOND AD 21 DATA: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/01/18/historical-super-bowl-tv-ratings/11044

“ While 100 million saw [our] Super Bowl ads air once, online interactions with the ads now number more than 500 million.” —Coca Cola 22

26 billion. The cumulative viewing audience of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, making it by far, the world’s largest sports broadcast in history. 23 DATA: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31751_162-20007587-10391697.html

One-th ird. ie wing aud ience tha t n of the v content Estimat ed portio orld Cup 10 FIFA W d their 20 . consume rm 24 TV platfo IMAGE: secretgarden / photocase.com DATA: http://tvbythenumbers.com/2010/07/18/world-cup-ratings-out-of-home-viewing-adds-14-non-tv-platforms-add-32/57429 on a non-

“ For all the talk about fragmentation, fans are forgoing the DVR, ﬂipping on Facebook or Twitter on a side device and tuning in to sports, en masse. New technology is enabling phenomenal new and exciting levels of interaction between fans and sports (with marketers ﬁnding a place within the medium).” —Dan Shanoff, Founder, Quickish 25

The New Playbook. Back in the day, marketing was pretty straightforward. Then the web came along. TiVo. DVR. Smart phones. Social networks. Everything became sped up and ampliﬁed. And consumers—including even the most avid sports fan among us—became increasingly tired of being marketed at. We may love the sports, the athletes, and the brands they are associated with, but the last thing we want is more ads. Today’s savvy consumer won’t be won over simply with great creative. But we sure will respond to a great experience. We continue to long for real value, real relevance, and real connection. So surprise us. Inspire us! And for heaven’s sake, stop trying to “think outside the box.” In fact, forget the box. In a Sports 2.0 world, there is no box. But there are some smart plays and some proven guidelines. On the following pages, we’ve shared our favorites among them. May they help your team make all the right moves in the coming year. 27

1. Create Experiences, Not Ads. Picture this: a bouncy, inﬂatable megaslide in the shape of a Nike swoosh appears at the world’s coolest beaches. Beach go-ers can’t resist trying it. Photographing it. Posting it to Facebook. And Flickr. And Twitter. And YouTube. Telling their friends online and ofﬂine. Pretty soon bloggers start featuring it. Major media starts covering it. It becomes a print ad; a TV ad; a viral phenomenon. All the while, reinforcing the brand image Nike has worked for decades to cultivate. There’s nothing timid or ordinary about it. It’s not an ad, it’s an experience. And it’s the kind of dazzling, memorable experience that people love talking about. That’s Sports 2.0. 28 IMAGE: http://www.thecoolhunter.net/article/detail/1797/nike-extreme--just-experience-it

2. Cultivate Community. Picture this: A major league baseball team is experiencing its their passion for the home team—the same way they already lowest attendance in years. Do they slash ticket prices? Ramp do. up their ad spend? No. Instead, they roll out the red carpet to sports fans with big social graphs, as part of their “Tribe Social To augment the physical Social Deck, the Indians also rolled out Deck” initiative. an online version dubbed the “Social Media Clubhouse,” where fans gather to share their love, their frustration, their hopes, What’s a Social Deck? For now, it’s a 10-seat section on the left their photos, and so much more. side of Cleveland’s Progressive Field that’s earmarked for fans and “inﬂuencers” who love to tweet, post, and generally share That’s Sports 2.0. 29

“ As technology becomes more pervasive, the world becomes more interconnected and word-of-mouth travels further. Outsized marketing budgets become less impactful, compared to building great products and fostering passionate, loyal communities.” —Jason Jacobs, CEO, RunKeeper 30

3. Engage Your Fans. Picture this: an NFL team wants to drive fan engagement and boost merchandise sales during a challenging holiday season. Instead of relying on coupons, annoying email blasts, or gimmicky ads, they create a campaign that’s all about the fans—a photo contest that invites fans to vote on/submit photos of themselves wearing team gear. Daily and weekly prizes, including autographed memorabilia, tickets to games, and premium merchandise are awarded. But it’s the team—the Oakland Raiders—that is the real “winner,” amassing over 1 million votes, 2000 submissions, and a 20+% increase in site trafﬁc in just a matter of a weeks—and at a fraction of the cost of a traditional holiday campaign. That’s Sports 2.0. 31 IMAGE: http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/51035737977@N01/3923303152/

n The Barriers. 4. Break Dow u’re at a Toronto Bl ue Jays game and ing you tweet your seat location. t retweeted ts handed a “I go iguing 140-character Moments hirt” from the Picture this: Yo st pitch and be t intr ing out the fir while your mos nal “historical tweets” late r, you’re throw and Fan Act ivation Intern, ongside fictio This otions field, al ntasy? Nope. Blue Jays Prom tron in centre arter. Just a fa sted to the Jumbo g_O ut) and Joe C ll fran chise update gets po t (@in_the_Dou loved baseba ons Doug Aul e Toronto’s be in Canada in fro m Blue Jays ic ppened th is season sinc Trending To pic on Twitter of what’s ha own as the No. 1 is but a taste sdays—also kn instituted #tweetingtue s. recent month 2.0. That’s Sports 32 IMAGE: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25652598@N06/4511808861/

e . 5. Enhan ce The Fan Experienc duke it out in the post- season. You don’t want izens Bank Pa rk watching the Phillies r iPhone, ﬁre up the ML B Picture this: You’re at Cit ng. So you whip out you action, bu t your stomach is growli card, and sit tight until your to miss a second of the tions, pay with a credit one of several tasty op At Ba t app, place an order for t to your seat. food is delivered—righ -centric on iTunes. But with fan -related apps available e of the most expensive sports ds, live scoreboard, and now the At $14.99, At Bat is on e roster and player car of eo streaming, interactiv No. 1 top grossing app featur es like live audio and vid in-venue location, it’s no surprise that it’s the sions to your baseball fans across the U.S. ability to order conces t is being used daily by all time and one of the few apps tha That’s Sports 2.0. 33

6. Dive In. Picture this: You’re a major sports beverage brand. You know this social media demanded content, address product concerns, increase engagement (by 250%!) ‘thing’ isn’t a passing fad, so instead of treating it as a side project, you utterly and reduce exit rates (from 25% to 9%). embrace it. You create a Social Media Mission Control Center—a war room of sorts—where ﬁve members of the brand’s marketing team use six big monitors Sound amazing? It’s all in a day’s work for Gatorade, the brand with a mission to to track everything consumers say, think, blog, and tweet about your brand, your “take the largest sports brand in the world and turn it into the largest competitors, your athletes, and your industry—and then respond in real-time. participatory brand in the world.” You use the data that’s collected to optimize landing pages, create fan- That’s Sports 2.0. 34

7. Give ‘Em Power Tools. Picture this: You’re training for your first marathon. A friend recommends Nike+, a community of over 3 million runners who are collectively logging, sharing, competing, and musically-augmenting their training thanks to a little bit of technology that collects in-activity fitness data and lets you monitor progress and get coaching so that you improve. Now imagine this inspires you to quit your job and pour all of your passion and energy into building a mobile service that enables GPS-based fitness tracking, eliminates the need for a separate sensor or pair of shoes, and works for not just running, but sports like cycling and skiing as well. 2.4 million downloads (and just two years) later, imagine your little Boston-based company (RunKeeper) has a Top 10 iPhone app on the books and is fostering real competition from global brands like New Balance and Adidas. 35 That’s Sports 2.0. 35

8. Play! d some 2 millio n Tony Hawk fa ns are s to Ea ster Sunday an stream, looking for clue Picture this: It’s legend’s Twitter have been ateboarding other cool mer ch watching the sk cks, guitars and easure Hunt, where skat eboards, backpa S. Part of Haw k’s 2nd annual Tr sites across the U. tradition, while hidden in 60+ a decade’s old tag has put a fresh spin on rate, and share the #THTH hash te, play, collabo e audience a way to compe giving a captiv g. their love of skateboardin 0. That’s Sports 2. 36 IMAGE: http://www.ﬂickr.com/photos/12325410@N00/395028468/

“ I will predict that location-based mobile services are going to be a huge new connection point between sports marketers and sports fans, combining the reach of a platform like Foursquare with the individualized (or ‘in-the-bar’) access to fans at a key point of purchase. In other words: Get ready for ‘Coorsquare.’” —Dan Shanoff, Founder, Quickish

9. Location, Location, Location! Picture this: You need a new pair of sneaks. So you head down to your favorite local sporting goods store, and upon arrival, you “check in” via FourSquare. And since you’ve checked in so many times, you unlock the Mayor badge—which happens to come with a $10 electronic gift card that is instantly redeemable. Now imagine your status as Mayor is projected on a 50” plasma screen near the store entrance, challenging other frequent shoppers to oust you as Mayor and win their own gift card. In June 2010, this very scenario played out at hundreds of Sports Authority locations across the U.S. The concept is simple: location-based mobile services now make it possible for sports brands to connect with sports fans wherever, whenever, and however they want. From the social network to the in-store/on-site activation, geo-social platforms like FourSquare, Gowalla, Facebook Places, Loopt, Wiﬁtti, and SCVNGR (among others!), are combining massive reach with an individualized touch… and opening the door to a slew of exciting new opportunities. That’s Sports 2.0. 38

10. Experiment. Picture this: The president of the fastest growing sport (who has 1.2 million Twitter Within two (2) hours, over 15 million directly accessible impressions of this event— followers) tweets that he’s headed to a bar, has free tickets to give away, and will and all three brands that participated (UFC, Bud Light, and Dave & Buster’s)—are bestow them upon the fan who beats him at Pop a Shot. Twelve (yes, 12!) seconds made across Facebook and Twitter. Then NBC and Heavy.com show up to cover the later, the first fan shows up at the bar. Within minutes, 200 more arrive. Bud Light, story. And one lucky fan scores a 60 at Pop a Shot and a seat next to Dana White at the strategically-chosen marketing partner for this social media experiment, kicks in the next UFC match. free beer for the first 100 fans that arrive and say “Hey UFC, give me a Bud Light!” That’s Sports 2.0. 39 IMAGE: http://www.flickr.com/photos/37552189@N06/3492372604/

“ Twitter is amazing. You can talk directly to your fans instantly… Why would I not want to talk to somebody who loves what I do just as much as I do? I could sit there and hang out and talk with the fans all day.” —Dana White, President, UFC 40

Ready. Set. Infiltrate! Sports have always been a social medium. One might say that the rise of social To thrive in a Sports 2.0 world, brands will have to look beyond the tried-and- platforms like Facebook and Twitter is simply a natural extension of how we’ve true marketing strategies that worked in a pre-2.0 era. They’ll need to be experienced sports for eons. They’ve amplified our passion and enthusiasm, nimbler, bolder, and ever more innovative in the products they produce, the sped up our ability to discover, share, and participate in the conversation, and services they provide, and the stories that they tell. connected us in ways that no medium—not even broadcast TV—was able to in the past. Because let’s face it. The days of marketing at people are over. The time has come to start marketing with them. Instead of wasting precious dollars building From creating active communities of fitness enthusiasts to turning live events brands and campaigns that people ignore, why not create inspiring, inventive into massive yet intimate global experiences, digital and social technology are consumer-driven experiences instead? Around here, we call that brand making the sports industry more social, more participatory, and more personal infiltration™. than ever before. So get ready. Get set. Infiltrate!

Hi, we’re Espresso. We’re an organization that firmly believes it’s time to stop wasting precious marketing dollars creating ads that people ignore, and focus instead on creating fully integrated experiences that infiltrate all channels to drive sales. We’re super-committed to doing it in the most [cost-]effective way possible – while never losing sight of our relentless pursuit of being Amazing at Life™. STAY IN TOUCH, WHY DON’T YOU? TORONTO Jacquelyn Cyr, CEO + Owner 416 620 6773 jacquelyn@brandinfiltration.com BOSTON Marta Kagan, Managing Director, US 617 477 5811 marta@brandinfiltration.com THE STATS Founded: 1996 Staff: 30 Key clients: Callaway, Carlsberg, City of Toronto, eBay, Koodo, Samsung, Pearson brandinfiltration.com

Inﬁltrate Now! www.brandinﬁltration.com

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Sports 2.0 | How digital & social technology are reshaping the sports industry.

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