For
the upcoming games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has set
guidelines allowing persons at the games to get involved in social media by
promoting its usage and by requiring that messages are sent with good taste.
The main requirements are 1) the message sent is not for commercial/advertising
gain and 2) the message sent does not imply/create an unauthorized association
with the IOC. Through this encouragement, we are likely to
experience the highest use of social media among all sporting events.
There
could be risks associated with large use of social media. For example, as
mentioned in Ecommerce Times, the companies that pay large
sums of money and sign major contracts to get exclusive rights with the event,
might have been able to get a lot of exposure without the large marketing
expenditures. It is possible other companies will be able to get the same reach
through the amount of social media likely to occur from the event. This brings
me to a tough marketing question: how does a sporting event choosing to
integrate social media, make sure sponsors get what they paid for? Are there
boundaries that need to be set in order for sponsors to gain a certain amount
of exposure?
I
think that social media use could actually benefit everyone. All sponsors
promoted at sporting events pay for say banners, broadcast videos, and signage
displayed somewhere within the grounds of the event. Persons then spread
messages about them via word of mouth, so having exclusive rights at sporting
events could make brands even more talked about by sport goers. We are also in
an age of smarter consumers, so most consumers will likely realize what brands
have donated in order to be seen at the ceremonies and respect them for that.
I am
also wondering whether social media access will devalue the amount companies
are willing to pay for advertising in the long run. Will live online video
streaming have an effect on what companies pay for television commercials as we
move toward an internet-savvy time? The article mentioned in Ecommerce Times also suggested that the
large amounts of social media could actually benefit broadcast networks by
spreading hype about events and driving viewers to watch their shows. But there
has to be a balance. Many companies are already marketing most of their
products online through display ads, online videos, and social network sites.
So how does a company then decide what portion of their advertising budget
should go to online advertisements opposed to other forms of advertising that
are currently used? My suggestion is that marketing executives should watch the
trends after a social media-sporting event. The upcoming Olympic Games will be
a great place to start and a great test for advertising. We will be able to
gain a lot of knowledge on the effects of social media and its impact on
marketing.
In
the meantime, one way practicing managers can benefit from the widespread use
of social media at sporting events is by selling smartphone Apps that allow
users to quickly get updates on what everyone is talking about. This will allow
companies to reach consumers through mobile marketing to fit their fast-paced
lifestyle. As we go through this transistion, companies should start asking,
where are consumers and how do we reach them there?
Nicely done Kim.
ReplyDeleteSo, at the Olympics, they are going to allow the Olympians to tweet and use other social media while they are getting ready to perform? Interesting! I am not really too sure that that is a good idea. Sure, it will provide fans some insight to what the athletes are thinking about before race time and it will provide athletes a chance let fans know what is going on before race time, but it could also provide some valuable information to the wrong types of people. By wrong types of people, I mean gamblers or bookies. For instance, Usain Bolt might tweet, “feeling a little tight right now”, that could be a sign for a gambler to not bet on him or for the house to make Usain Bolt more attractive to gamblers, knowing that we may not go all out and just try to qualify. It will be interesting to see what effects the use of social media has on gambling.
As far as advertising, one of the rules stated by the IOC, is that athletes may not use the opportunity to promote a product. For advertisers, I don’t think this would be a good way to advertise. If an athlete does tweet about a sponsor, I’m pretty sure that athlete would be fined or even worse, stripped of a possible medal. However, if something like that was to happen, it would be a good thing for the company the athlete tweeted about. All publicity is good publicity.
Thank you.
DeleteYou bring up good point about whether or not an athlete will get fined if they mention a product in a tweet or some other form of social media. I think there is a fine line between what is considered promoting a product as well. The athlete's penalty might be higher depending on the strictness of the deal points in their sponsorship contracts.
I completely, agree that the use of social media networks will affect everyone in some way. But, the important question is how it will affect different groups of people in the society. It is beneficial for sport loving people to get accurate and speedy information, but it will attract people to misuse such information. It raises some important questions for companies sponsoring the events, such as is it worth spending huge amount of money as sponsors, will they get some extra benefits in comparison to companies not spending huge amount of money, and the like. The increasing use of social media networks arouse another area of study for companies to think about their advertising plans in future, while distributing their budgets on different streams. The exact benefits or disadvantages about the increasing use of social media network cannot be judged in advance, but it requires more study/research.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good question. I do not know how the use of social media networks will affect different groups of society, especially the people that are not accustomed to using these networks. It will be interesting to see the impact its use has on older generations. The use of social media at sporting events might actually draw new users into these networks.
DeleteThere is no doubt that there are some people who will misuse the social media network and there are going to be some challenges in preventing confidential information from leakage. However in terms of getting extra advantage for sponsor companies, I think they will have extra advantage over the companies that does not sponsor because they will get a lot more publicity than that they paid for. The sponsoring companies will pay for the time of their publicity during the Olympic game but whatever travels through the social media will all be free publicity for them.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that there will be challenges in preventing confidential information from leaking. As mentioned in one of the comments above, there are already guidelines that prevent athletes from promoting products through social media networks at this event. If a company has confidential information it does not want released, there might come a time where they have to start paying athletes what not to say.
DeleteI completely agree that social media has brought the world closer and made it a more tightly knitted place to live in. Social networking has expanded horizons and given rise to new possibilities. Because of technology, time and distance has been killed. what used to take weeks or even months to complete could be completed within hours or a few days for that matter. For example, connecting with someone over a social networking site can be done in a matter of minutes.
ReplyDeleteYes, technology and social networking have definitely made distance and time less of an issue for us. We no longer have to wait seven to eight days before receiving information through the mail. Companies such as IBM, whose value focuses on connecting people worldwide via technology, have been instrumental in guiding us in this direction.
DeleteKimberly,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your review. I agree with you that many companies are going to benefit greatly this year through social media. Many people will Tweet, Facebook and message each other photos and comments regarding their experience at the Olympic Games. This is a chance for managers to take advantage of free advertisement and invest in smartphone apps. The easier it is for someone to connect the more likely they will.
Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed my post. I like the last statement you made. I had not thought about how social media has made it easier for people to connect with these events, and furthermore, how more people are likely to get involved the easier staying connected becomes. This really highlights how social media can be used positively to bring more people together.
Delete