I started writing this post a week before the Olympics and a month later I have finally gotten around to finishing it.
Social Media in 2010
The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were the first games that focused on social media as a tool to push content. Facebook was the main platform used; the Vancouver 2010 page has 1.3 million likes. Twitter was a bit of a dark horse in the social media scene, but was on the rise. Personally, my Twitter account was created during the games, and I don’t think it was the only one. I believe that with February 2010 being the first time over 50 million tweets were being posted per day, it is fair to say that Vancouver 2010 was a catalyst for Twitter in Canada. However, I don’t think the IOC or its networks and sponsors were ready for its eruption. Teresa Basich highlighted three things in a Mashable write-up that could have been done better with social media in Vancouver 2010. There could have been more:
- Engagement
- Collaboration
- Community building
Learning from London
We definitely saw the London 2012 games (aka the “Socialympics”) use social media successfully, but we know that Canada is a winter games country. I’m sure partners of the Canadian Olympic Team had been waiting to seize the opportunity of the winter games for quite some time. So at the end of 2013 and the beginning of 2014, I was keeping my eye out for these partners to start activating their marketing campaigns to see how they would use digital media this time around.
Molson Canadian
One partner I had my eye on was Molson Canadian and how they would tie hockey into their activation. During the 2010 games they were the official beer partner of the Vancouver Canucks and an official supporter of the Canadian Olympic Team – who can forget the Molson Hockey House? However, in 2011 Budweiser took over the Canucks partnership, leaving Molson with the Edmonton Oilers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens. Sochi 2014 was Molson’s first opportunity since 2011 to reach the central and western Canadian markets using hockey.
So what did Molson do? They launched the #AnythingForHockey campaign. The campaign started with this commercial:
Note how Molson used official team jerseys and places their logo next to the Canadian Olympic Team logo at the end of the piece; these are some of the benefits of their sponsorship.
In comparison, this video was Budweiser Canada’s attempt to tie the Canadian Olympic team into its creative (with the goal of increasing red light sales). You’ll notice it was much less powerful because it did not have the rights to use any official logos or player names:
The play-by-play guy said “Williams with the overtime goal”, but there was no Williams on the Canadian team. For me this made the commercial much less credible and in turn made me less likely to connect to the brand.
Why it Worked
Scott Gerber predicts 9 ways that social media will change in 2014. Two of these changes were clearly visible in Molson’s Olympic campaign: (1) Content was bigger and better, and (2) content was interactive. Molson’s content achieved a deep connection with Canadians in its initial commercial with a slightly hyperbolized hockey story. From that commercial, Molson asked Canadians what they would do for hockey using tweets, pictures, and videos with the hashtag #AnythingForHockey. These submission were posted on a Tint-like social media stream that I found very pleasant to use. Right away you can see that Molson had more engagement, more collaboration, and built a community.
My Thoughts
I attended a BCAMA event recently and the focus was digital marketing. My major takeaway from the event was a comment made by one of the panelists/speakers. He mentioned that marketers often get caught up creating content that is appealing to them rather than the consumer. Sometimes this can work if the marketer is part of the target market, but it isn’t always the case. It is clear that Molson focused on the interests of Canadians not only when they created the initial commercial, but also throughout the course of the games. They posted pictures like these to strengthen the connection with Canadians and got great responses:
Overall, I thought this partnership was activated tremendously. The benefits of the partnership are always used and Molson brought Canadians together with its personal, interactive approach.
What do you think Molson did or didn’t do well in this activation?
Sources
Teresa Basich – http://mashable.com/2010/02/26/social-media-olympics/
Scott Gerber – http://mashable.com/2014/01/27/social-media-marketing-2014/
Keanen Buckley 
I agree. Engagement is key.
It’s also about authenticity. The Molson commercials really “hit home” (no pun intended) and made me feel patriotic. I’m sure others feel the same emotion when they watch the various beer fridge and #AnythingForHockey commercials. Budweiser, on the other hand, comes across as phoney – like they’re trying too hard. You’d almost think the team writing the creative brief had one insight: hockey (“Just make an ad about hockey…that’ll sell in Canada”). Every time the Budweiser commercial aired during the Sochi Olympics, I cringed. Whereas the Molson ads I’ve shared with friends again and again. Is it a coincidence that Molson is a Canadian brewery? I don’t think so. Their ads are authentic, and reflect deeper insights about Canadian consumers than their American counterparts.
Sponsorships are an incredible tool that have the ability to place your brand at a different level than your competitor’s. They require very deep pockets, but, more often than not, bring high rewards. As you mentioned, it allowed Molson to make an authentic campaign which may have been its biggest selling point.