It pays to be social

The Olympic Games are famous the world over for showcasing the best of human achievement and inspiring future generations to emulate the stars of today. Digital platforms are more important than ever in helping take advantage of this engagement, as they allow fans to follow their favourite athletes year-round, and at any time of day – essential if they’re competing on the other side of the world.

Taking it to the next level

Fans can have an overwhelmingly positive effect, sometimes even inspiring stronger performances from the athletes they follow. Social media has been the game-changer here, allowing the stars to share what they do in real time, developing bonds with their fans and being able to thank them for their support.

Last year, with an eye to PyeongChang and beyond, the British Olympic Association (BOA) recognised it needed to take its digital and social media offering to the next level, so it worked with Deloitte to define a clear strategy to make the most of the power of the Team GB brand and bring fans closer to the action.

Deloitte assessed the BOA’s digital maturity across five key areas: vision & leadership, customer engagement, products & services, organisation & structure, and digital operations. We then developed a long list of opportunities based on best practice in the digital world, consumption trends for sport content, and wider technology trends generally. We then prioritised these opportunities in the resulting strategy, which we translated into a roadmap for implementation.

A record-breaking strategy

It was a great success. As with Team GB’s historic performance in South Korea, the social stats also broke records, with 163 million social media impressions, a reach of 85 million and 37,000 downloads of the Team GB Games-time app. Team GB also had the second-highest total reach across all National Olympic Committees, and even had higher engagement rates than Team USA, based on population and social following.

Meanwhile, we also used the digital strategy to help Team GB develop a more compelling commercial proposition. Our work included creating a pricing ‘playbook’ of sponsorship packages for prospective commercial partners, alongside a number of initiatives designed to support Team GB in developing its digital channels and campaigns.

Now boasting more than three million fans across seven social media channels, the BOA has secured its first digital marketing packages with three powerful commercial partners – delivering reach in the millions for their campaigns and generating invaluable funds for athletes.

Bill Sweeney, BOA CEO, commented: “We look ahead to Tokyo 2020 with enhanced confidence in our ability to support Britain’s best athletes and the strength of the Team GB brand. Deloitte continues to play a critical role at the heart of our operations, both in preparing to take Team GB to the Games and in strengthening the sustainable business model we’re developing at the BOA.”