The intersection of business and sport.
2011 Canadian Little League Championships Social Media Case Study Goals: 1) 2) 3) 4)
Sponsorship outreach and acquisition Community engagement and media partnership development Drive attendance (this will become more prevalent closer to the event) Sponsorship Activation – during event (we eventually need enough followers and friends to successfully activate online campaigns to the satisfaction of sponsors)
Challenges:
Short one-off event with minimal public exposure pre-event Very geocentric level of interest
Everybody has some level of connection to community sport, and often Little League in particular (something in it for everyone). Well-regarded and attention-grabbing event leading up to the internationally televised World Series (positive sentiments and strong recognition with potential sponsors & spectators, great for media partners). Opportunity for local business community, as well as regional and national partners to participate given the profile of the event. Kids at focal point (terrific advantages for sponsors at a reasonable participation cost)
@2011LL_NVan Case Study
Biggest Opportunities
1 17 February 2011
Solution: Developed “brand voice” and presence built out around supporting the kids. Positioned the event as hugely significant to the North Shore community as a whole. This built on the community’s view of the 2010 Olympics as a large draw that benefitted the entire community. Build out of twitter lists to promote the communities assets, such as local tourist attractions and popular restaurants. This positioned the event as a catalyst that would benefit and showcase the community Conducted offline community media partnership development to seed and lend authority and reach to initial online presence Targeted follows in North Shore area including, local small businesses, families (mothers and fathers), sports fans, baseball players with much more to come. Outreach, follow blast and listing of all retailers and businesses in the city Connect with key influencers in the area to gain their support, voice, and reach Plans to coordinate offline outreach driving people to connect via Twitter and Facebook closer to the event. Banner, in-school signage, VIK media placements directing traffic online.
@2011LL_NVan Case Study
Results: (pre-event as of February 17) In only a few days’ of focused work supported with relatively low involvement maintenance: o Connected with 5 target sponsors and have moved them into the sponsorship sales funnel o Initial online activity and commitment was included in decision criteria when signing both the Blue Jays and other sponsors to the program. o Earned over 120 highly targeted twitter followers already and are well on track to earning over 2000 by the time of the event. According to twittercounter.com. o Developed an extensive list of media partners and contacts via online outreach including Bloggers, Twitter influencers, Sports Journalists, Television personalities and more. o Earned a significant level of pre-event publicity with CityTV, the NorthShore Outlook, and the NorthShore News. NorthShore News partnership to be leveraged on and offline leading up to event for maximum, exposure and reach. o Already connected with 60 friends on Facebook including players, alumni, and last season’s championship coordinators to provide feedback and direction to organizing staff of the 2011 Championship.
2 17 February 2011