Everyone knows it now: Snapchat is definitely the top social trend of these last few months. With more than 200 million new users in one year, 6 billion views and 400 millions snaps sent per day, the little ghost is a giant on social media and has found its way into companies’ social strategies, the fashion business (Burberry) and even politics (The White House).
In the sporting world, the analysis is just the same. Sport is a major key for success for the platform. One of the first organisations which signed a partnership with Snapchat was the NFL.
The biggest and best fixtures accross the world (NBA All-Star Game, big Premier League clashes, El Clasico, The SuperBowl…) all have their own live story on the platform.
But now, sports brands, clubs and athletes themselves are including Snapchat in their communication and marketing strategy. So how is the sporting world using Snapchat?
A new way for brands to offer exclusiveness
Snapchat is a great platform for sharing content in “real-time” and gives users an insider view of a brand. In this way, brands can easily give followers an exclusive on products, projects and services. Nowadays, customers who are social users want to be informed quickly and made to feel special, which is why this exclusiveness is so important.
A few sports brands quickly grasped this idea and began sharing interesting content on Snapchat, starting with Nike Basketball. In partnership with its ambassadors, Nike Basketball used to roll out some activations on the platform including young players at an event or the launch of new products. The American brand in fact did it twice, first with Kobe Bryant to unveil his shoe and secondly with Kyrie Irving.
Let’s focus on Kobe Bryant. After announcing his retirement, the latest line of shoes from the superstar was hotly anticipated by all fans. To increase the hype even more, Nike shared a Snapchat live story featuring a variety of content including historic player pictures, an unveiling of the shoe, and of course Bryant’s reaction. In this way, the story become a real edited video offering varied and exclusive content to fans, and still in almost real-time.
The Mamba’s about to strike and we will be there to Snap it. #KOBE11
Follow: nikebasketball pic.twitter.com/j9j3waFp1c
— Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) December 14, 2015
Yooo shoutout @nikebasketball for these dope new wallpapers for my phone from their snapchat story of the Kobe XI!????????pic.twitter.com/qA0ZB8mbV9
— Habad (@habad95) December 15, 2015
The North Face did much the same, showcasing how its products face up to the wild in pretty cool stories including models, ambassadors and awesome landscapes. Another account worthy of mention is Reebok France. The brand’s French account often immerses users in the everyday life of the brand, showing employees’ style on Fridays, new products or events backstage. Recently the brand gave followers a look backstage of a shoot during two days across diferent places in Paris, in order to unveil the new collection and to show how the brand is working with its ambassadors like the UFC fighter Taylor Lapilus.
Check out @ReebokFR on Snapchat, the new collection is incoming and should be great!!!
Suivez bien le snap de @ReebokFR , la nouvelle collection arrive, et elle va faire mal!!! (Capture #snapchat ) #MMApic.twitter.com/qoAoMzd5Ej
— Taylor Lapilus (@LapilusTaylor) February 15, 2016
A new place for clubs to communicate
“We created our Snapchat account in May 2014. We were the first one in Ligue 1 to be present on the platform. Our purpose was to be in a new place to interact in a different way with fans including Snapchat’s codes. The idea was to be a bit less serious than on the others social platforms” said Jean-Philippe Dubois, AS Monaco’s Social Media Manager.
Almost 2 years after AS Monaco and others, sports clubs across the world have started to open Snapchat accounts. After winning over teams in the US, all football clubs in the MLS are now on Snapchat as well as the majority of NBA, NFL and MLB franchises. In the Premier League, more than half of clubs are active on Snapchat as well as the biggest European teams (Real Madrid, FC Bayern, PSG, Inter…). But what are clubs doing on Snapchat?
Basically, all of them aim to immerse fans in life at the clubs, a bit like brands, showing what happens during game days including warm-up or teams entering the field, and what happens during the week with players at the training center, journeys or marketing activations. However, like on any social platforms, clubs are looking for innovation – creativity. Clubs are allowing more and more players or social influencers to take over the account to surprise users and produce more enticing content. The most recent example comes from West Ham United, the latest PL club to join Snapchat, who let the famous YouTuber Spencer Owen manage the account for one match day. A good way to diversify content and reach young social users (81% of Snapchat audience) which identify themselves with this kind of figure.
SNAPCHAT: @SpencerOwen is taking over our Snapchat account tonight! Follow us at whufc_official now! #WHUFC#COYIpic.twitter.com/ghSlCkCIFh
— West Ham United FC (@whufc_official) February 9, 2016
Introduced as a fun platform, Snapchat has also proved it can be serious. New organisations from new fields are joining the platform, notably in politics with the launch of The White House’s account or more recently the arrival of the French Government. What does this mean for sports clubs? Snapchat could be a new channel to share important and breaking news like the lineup or a transfer deal. Bayern Munich was one of first clubs to share major news on Snapchat first, officially unveiling the signing of Serdar Tasci. As the exclusivity is the most important on Snapchat, we should in the future see clubs sharing more and more content like a new jersey or new players which fans are all waiting for.
Interesting way for Bayern to introduce their new signing via snapchat… #btefspic.twitter.com/ZEOtRL8IRg
— Evonne O #888 (@f1lover75) February 1, 2016
Athletes are more and more present
Today, the majority of athletes are active on social media, especially on Twitter and Instagram. But now, some of them are starting to use Snapchat to share their everyday life – something that all fans are keen to see. One leader in the Snapchat game is David Alaba of FC Bayern Munich. Active on the platform for several months, the Austrian player has used it to let people know what he’s up to outside football: an appointment with the barber or a Munich tour during a day off, for instance. This kind of content makes the star feel more human and closer with fans. Another example comes from Liverpool and Mamadou Sakho. The French defender has recently launched his account to talk with his French and English fan community. As well as Alaba, he immerses users inside his life sharing moments with his chidren or what music he is listening to before training, but also time spent hanging out with the Liverpool squad like José Enrique’s birthday or a snooker game.
Shoutout to @David_Alaba for the “I ❤️ NY” sweater. Check him out on Snapchat at “da_twentyseven” pic.twitter.com/xBDluZIXHN
— FC Bayern US (@FCBayernUS) January 29, 2016
Sakho’s snapchat makes my day. Look at him absolutely feeling that Whitney Houston song @mamadousakho3pic.twitter.com/evloFk1E9Z
— Joe (@JoeScott_) February 11, 2016
However, being this close to fans on social media can be dangerous for professional players. Take PSG defender Serge Aurier on Periscope, for example. Clubs and sponsors should help them to “frame” their content and avoid misconduct, in order to protect both parties.
This is why, like on other social platforms, sponsors could soon be present in sports ambassadors’ content on Snapchat. We saw how athletes are important on social media for marketing. As the ghost is a key target for brands, players’s audiences are a way for brands to reach new consumers. But could this mean the end of Snapchat’s charm?
