Active Insights   at work

By Mike Wisniewski, Hanson Dodge Creative Social Media Strategist

Illustration by Jack Hargreaves at HDC

The rapid evolution of social media has allowed us to connect with sporting events in ways no one could have imagined 10 years ago. With the rise in social media’s popularity among both fans and players, it’s no surprise that professional sport leagues have created social media policies for their teams, players and coaches to follow.

While Major League Baseball & National Hockey League social media policies have evolved with the changing landscape, there is some thought that such guidelines have been put into place to discourage the use of social media in order to protect certain interests, and that such policies will not drive further engagement in meaningful ways.

Which brings us to the role social media will play in the biggest sporting event of the summer…the 2012 Olympic Games. HDC Social Media Strategist Mike Wisniewski explores the International Olympic Committee (IOC) social media policy, its far-reaching implications for athletes and business, and the question of just how social the 2012 Summer Games may or may not be.

The First Social Media Olympics: Will Olympic Committee guidelines inhibit social media interaction?

By Mike Wisniewski, Hanson Dodge Creative Social Media Strategist

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games are just a few months away. The spirit of the Games will remain the same, but the way in which viewers experience the competition will differ vastly from all previous Olympics. While the 2008 Games of Beijing and Vancouver laid the groundwork for social media interaction, London 2012 will launch a new and far-reaching digital connection between fans and athletes.

Just how social will the Summer Games be?

Recognizing the opportunity presented by the first Social Olympics, brands such as Samsung, Citibank and Coke have launched several social media campaigns to connect fans to both the Games and its athletes. But brands aren’t the only ones ramping up social media efforts. The IOC, lead by Alex Huot, has made a concentrated effort to engage fans around the world.

Months of planning have gone into the development of keen content strategies, platform integrations and connecting the Games to a younger demographic. A solid content strategy is where this year’s Olympics social media strategy begins. Leveraging what Huot and his team call the YouTwitFace Strategy (YouTube, Twitter, & Facebook), they are looking to create a richer experience around each of the platforms.

And initially, the strategy has worked. According to Huot, well over 65% of their Facebook community is under the age of 24.

A focal point of the IOC strategy is centered on the Olympic Hub — a place where fans can connect with athletes, follow their social media streams and engage with them. Built as a social media directory for Olympic athletes, the Hub will serve as a gathering place for content, activity and gamification/sweepstakes.

Imagine being able to experience the Olympics from a new perspective — connecting to athletes and having access to rich dynamic content. But along with this strategy, the IOC has implemented some strong policies that might be viewed as anti-social.

Game-changer: Will the Olympics set a new social media precedent?

While encouraging the use of social media, the IOC has also put a strong policy in place that restricts the content of athletes, officials and volunteers inside the Olympic Village and other venues (e.g., audio or video posts). This also includes promotional posts and “no comment” restrictions on competition.

Having a strong social media policy is key for any organization, but the IOC could be sacrificing the potential essence of social media to protect their business goals and objectives.

Is the Olympic committee missing the opportunity to leverage social media to reach new audiences and build excitement?

The Games revolve around the athletes. Many have worked to build a great fan community that will help draw interest. But now, with a stringent social policy that Olympians must follow, will this discourage athletes from sharing their experiences via social channels? And, if they do post, how genuine will the content be?

Athletes could view this policy as a deterrent to using social media. This is where the IOC needs to provide additional clarification on expectations. They need to think about if they’re limiting their total potential through social media.

If athletes have to get clarification or ask permission before posting, it may take away from the goal of bringing fans and Olympians together in a meaningful way. Here at HDC, we’re following this issue closely as it could have a profound impact our relationship with Nick Symmonds and his voice via social media during the Olympics.

Policing and monitoring all the activity is another issue. It may be hard to police all athlete/fan content during the Olympics. The IOC has asked everyone to monitor and report any policy violations. We will see how it goes.

Regardless of policy restrictions, athletes still need to be cognizant on what they decide to share during the Olympics. A smart phone is just like the microphone.

The 2012 Summer Games should be exciting. The possibilities of connecting via social media can be limitless, but only time will tell just how truly social these games will be.

What do you think of the IOC’s policy? Are these policies fair for athletes to follow? Leave your comments below.

Mike Wisniewski, HDC Social Media Strategist

Mike Wisniewski, HDC Social Media Strategist, helps to lead and implement strategic social and digital programs for HDC clients. His areas of specialty include content creation, event execution, and sports and entrainment marketing. With more than a dozen years experience, Mike has worked with large national brands throughout his career including PowerBar, New Balance, Major League Baseball and Coca-Cola. An active lifestyle enthusiast, Mike has completed several marathons, ultra marathons, and adventure races and is always looking for his next athletic challenge.

Hanson Dodge Creative is America’s leading active lifestyle agency. The full-service firm was established in 1984 and specializes in helping global brands attain market leadership through the strategic integration of world-class branding, relationship marketing, social media, e-commerce and advanced interactive technology. Clients include Wilson Sporting Goods, Trek, Wolverine, Briggs & Riley Travelware, Thule and Kmart.

Hanson Dodge Creative recognizes the incredibly unique and brilliant minds in our studio. We want to showcase these different personalities with our Facebook cover photo. Every few weeks, a member of our crew creates a new cover photo design that represents who they are as a person, their interests, their design style or what is important to them.

For the third photo in this series, we chose Tabitha Krug, our expert Concierge. She took a handcrafted approach and embarked on this sewing project. One of our designers then photographed the scene and added the typography to create this beautiful cover photo. See the photo in its environment on our Facebook Timeline.

Tabitha explains her inspiration:
“I was sixteen the first time I experienced being looked down upon for something I believe in. It hurt, and I knew there were two ways to deal with the hurt–strike back, or open my heart.

Opening your heart doesn’t necessarily mean changing your mind, it means learning to love and respect those with opposing views. Since then, I’ve had my share of tense conversations that ended in smiles and understanding.

I’ve made it my life mission to build bridges between points of view–internationally during my time abroad, locally between different Milwaukee subcultures, and personally between friends.

I’ve noticed the ones who strike out the most aggressively are often the ones who were hurt in the past. They pass the hurt on. Someone needs to take a step to end the cycle.

You might be surprised at the respect you get back when you pour out a little love, or the new things you can learn and experience when you take time to understand.

Let’s spread some cuteness. Who can stay mad with a fuzzy bunny in their presence? (Plus, “cute” is an international language!)”

Great creative work involves crossing bridged opinions daily and sometimes hourly. At Hanson Dodge Creative, we try our best to open our hearts to all opinions. Luckily for us, Tabitha Krug is a shining example of positive energy and open-mindedness.

By Bridget Butch, Hanson Dodge Creative, User Experience Director

Illustration by Jack Hargreaves at HDC

At HDC, we believe that brands are like people – emotional connection happens over time through meaningful conversations. We are dedicated to making brands more successful by helping them make those connections with their audience. Cookies – small files that enable websites to track what visitors want or need – are a useful tool in helping conscientious marketers maintain a meaningful conversation with consumers and deliver greater value in the process. Continue reading “The Trouble With Cookies: Will your website be illegal in the UK in May?”

By Hanson Dodge Creative Staff

Hanson Dodge Creative recognizes the incredibly unique and brilliant minds in our studio. We want to showcase these different personalities with our Facebook cover photo. Every few weeks, a member of our crew creates a new cover photo design that represents who they are as a person, their interests, their design style or what is important to them. Continue reading “Facebook Cover Photo by Walter Bloch, “Greater amazement by fitting together small pieces.””

By Ken Hanson, Hanson Dodge Creative, CEO

Facebook Timeline for Brands will give companies the opportunity to communicate a more human story. And brands that have the most human, authentic and fully dimensional story will be rewarded with consumer loyalty. Continue reading “Now, more than ever, brands need to be more like people”

By Dave Racine, Hanson Dodge Creative, Director of Social Media & PR

The world’s most popular social network is evolving…to the benefit of your brand. Hanson Dodge Creative has been researching the new functionality and best practices of Timeline, the smartest and most significant development Facebook has ever put forth.

Facebook is more than an online destination; it very well may be redefining the future of marketing. Continue reading “Facebook Timeline – Every Moment Counts”

By Rachel Pluto, Hanson Dodge Creative Digital Strategist

Rachel Pluto recently attended the South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin and shared our HDC point of view from the event.

At SXSW Interactive last week in Austin, Texas, our very own Sara Meaney presented with Al McWilliams of Quack!Media on the poignant and controversial topic of the debatable impact of the Internet on today’s marketing formula. The talk was entitled, “Leif to Bieber, The Web Has Changed Nothing”, and the point-counterpoint style presentation used Leif Garrett and Justin Bieber as one of four examples to demonstrate that—regardless of channel—successful campaigns and brands have always relied on the trifecta of brand, message and distribution. Continue reading “Sara Meaney presents “Leif to Bieber, The Web Has Changed Nothing” to SXSW”

By Rachel Pluto, Hanson Dodge Creative Digital Strategist
March 14, 2012

Rachel Pluto recently attended South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin and shared our HDC point of view from the event.

Last night I returned from SXSW. It’s very hard to wrap up my experience in Austin this past week. It was equal parts illuminating and overwhelming. There were new apps like Highlight that continue to push our personal privacy envelope while innovating the way we connect with those around us. Continue reading “The Wrap Up: Not Such a Neat Little Package”

By Rachel Pluto, Hanson Dodge Creative Digital Strategist
March 9, 2012

Rachel Pluto recently attended South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin and shared our HDC point of view from the event.

While flipping through the hundred-page guide to SXSW Interactive, I was excited when I saw a session called “The Page is Dead” which focused on how responsive design is changing the definition of a web page. This topic is currently top of mind at Hanson Dodge Creative.

Continue reading “The Responsive Design Revolution”

By Rachel Pluto, Hanson Dodge Creative Digital Strategist
March 12, 2012

Rachel Pluto recently attended South by Southwest Interactive Conference in Austin and shared our HDC point of view from the event.

As I’ve become more immersed in SXSW over the past few days, I’ve noticed a particular trend that keeps coming up again and again. Maybe it’s just the sessions I’ve been drawn to, but it appears that location-based communication is the hot topic this year. Continue reading “Location, Location, Location”