Comparing the digital performance of the Olympic 2012 sponsors

This article was originally written by me for The Platform Blog.

Every fortnight at Fishburn Hedges, we hear from two FH-ers who tell us why they love a campaign, a website, a product or a piece of work.

This week was the turn of Director Judith Moore and I (Social Media Consultant Ben Fox), who focused on the Olympic Games and how brands and corporate organisations have creatively crafted communications around the events.

Sociagility and the Olympic sponsor comparisons

Sporting activity aside, there are 25 corporate brands powering the 3-week tournament with various sponsorship deals – all using social media in different way to improve their corporate reputation both in the UK and globally.

Sociagility have pulled together a remarkably intelligent tool that measures the impact (and ultimately success) of the sponsors within owned social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the corporate website.

The software used focuses on 5 key attributes of each brand in relativity to their performance online; popularity, receptiveness, interaction, network reach and trust. At present, Coca-Cola, Adidas, British Airways, Visa and EDF Energy are the top performers, but looking to the near future, the data suggests that Cadbury, General Electric and P&G have the greatest potential for improvement as the Olympic Games develop.

Stand-out campaign

British Airways really grabbed our attention with their #HomeAdvantage online hub. Beautifully simple, but technically brilliant, the campaign website is a perfect example of ‘mass personalisation’.

The concept of an aeroplane moving through the streets of London doesn’t sound particularly innovative on the surface. But putting your postcode into the campaign website transforms this perception as a giant BA plane moves through your street and past your house.

It’s proved a fantastic way for the aviation brand to connect with their audience through a unique experience and encapsulate the positivity associated with flying and the Olympic Games, as well as being virally shareable.

Even better for BA is the resonance that this campaign overall is generating on Twitter – triggering thousands of tweets.

More great campaigns

A neat summary of Olympic 2012 campaigns can be found in this blog post, commending the likes of Samsung, Panasonic, P&G and Visa for their efforts.

With a new year comes new opportunities to shine…

With a new year comes new opportunities to shine. That’s what I’ve been thinking about over the holiday season. Saying that, I haven’t thought of any New Year’s resolutions, and probably won’t. But I really love the feeling I get when a fresh year begins.

I can remember the countdown to 2000; stood on the riverbank of the Thames and watching the fireworks unfold. I remember the Y2K meltdown that was supposed to have ended the Earth [never happened – shocker!], the Millennium Dome [now the O2 Arena] that sprung up and The London Eye [However for me, the most iconic parts of a city will always have organic characteristics; i.e. South Bank culture].

In the Year 2000, not to be confused with the Year 3000, I was 16. Well, 16 and a half. I’d finished my GCSEs [do they still exist?] 6 months earlier, and had just started adapting to life at Sir George Monoux College. Those were weird days. The kind of days where I thought music compilations like ‘Cream Anthems‘ were amazing and dressing like a 60 year old businessman were ‘cool’.

Thinking back to those days, they seem like literally minutes ago. The Year 2000 seems like a few years ago anyway; but 12 years? No way, it can’t be can it? Oh shit, it was.

And now, in the Year 2012 [despite what the Mayans might say], we have another year and a chance to start afresh. Not with everything, but with some things, and that main thing for me will be my new role as a Social Media Consultant at Fishburn Hedges. I also want to be closer with my parents, something I’ve avoided since nineteen-ninty-something, and really get to know them. I want to look at my life and external circumstances with more positivity. Finally, I want to be a better friend to those around me and, hopefully, meet a few new people along the way.

We’ve also got the European Championships in Poland/Ukraine, as well as the Olympics in London [super proud] to look forward to!

I think that’s it for now. And I was saying that I didn’t have any New Year’s resolutions… Lie!

Do you have anything you would like to change? New Year’s resolutions? Desires for the New Year? Or would you love for everything just to stay the same?

p.s. Look back at the picture at the top. I wonder how the 1’s decided which one was going and staying. Also, maybe the two 2’s from 2012 will battle it out next year. Weird, no?