Team Sky commercialises online chatter for sponsors
Team Sky is looking to monetise the high profile it has enjoyed since the success of riders Sir Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome by using a tool that allows sponsors to see in real-time how their branded content is being shared.
The cycling team is working with advertising services business RadiumOne to roll out the “Po.st” tool which mines data – using an embedded link in posts – from shared content and pictures on social sites such as Facebook and Twitter during upcoming Tours – Vattenfall in Germany, Colorado in US, World Championships in Italy.
The analytics are served to Team Sky’s commercial team who can use the insights to advise sponsors on how to deliver ads on digital, mobile and video channels as well as drive higher engagement and lower customer acquisition costs. It provides commercial execs with real-time access to audience insight in an attempt to encourage more responsive online campaigns from its sponsors.
Fran Millar, head of business operations, Team Sky says the added insight will help lift the international profile of the brand. The team hopes to steal a march on rivals in the online arena.
Millar adds: “We’ve now won the Tour de France twice consecutively, maintaining our position as the leading professional cycling team in the world and helping inspire millions of people to ride their bikes.
“With that comes massive digital engagement and a need to understand who makes up our global audience, to provide them with relevant content on the right devices and at the right times, and also to have the facility to provide both current and potential partners with real insight into that audience, ensuring they understand and use that information to deliver return on investment.”
The launch follows a successful trial during this year’s Tour de France race. The team claims the tool helped increase its Facebook and Twitter following by 10 per cent and 16 per cent respectively during the event. It also generated over 1.2 million clicks of shortened Po.st links shared on social networks.
Team Sky has seen its commercial value swell over the last two years and is looking to put in place a long-term sponsorship strategy to maximise its appeal. It penned a multi-year sponsorship deal with News International in June and delivered more advertising value – $550m (£351m) to its partners than other other professional cycling team last year, according to Repucom.
