In just one week’s time the curtains will raise on the Rio Olympics and for marketers, the opportunities to communicate with an engaged audience will increase across all platforms. According to research from Rocket Fuel, 92 per cent of Australians are planning to engage with Olympic-related content online during the Games.
Australian’s consider the Olympics to be the ‘most prestigious sporting event in the world’ and our viewing of the XXXI Olympiad is set to reflect this with nearly half of Aussies planning to look at more content online during the Games than they would usually.
On top of that, more than a third are saying their need to be connected increases while the Olympics are on.
The big screen is still the best
While the 2012 Olympics was considered the first ‘social and mobile’ Olympics it also saw more Australians watching traditional broadcast coverage than previous Games.
Similarly, in 2016 two thirds of Australians say they’ll use TV more to view Olympic-related coverage, while the 13 hour time difference means many will rely on catch-up video – 51 per cent said their video consumption will increase.
“For the Rio Olympics most viewing is likely to continue to be on the best (and biggest) screen available,” said JJ Eastwood.
“However we must remember that the proportion of TV sets connected to the internet is growing and television can become a mainstream choice for catch-up viewing that was previously the domain of the PC.”
Social sport becoming more popular
The number of people embracing social, mobile and online media to follow the action in Rio is also expected to grow – 37 per cent of people said they’d engage with more digital content during the Rio Games than they did during the previous Olympics.
Viewing on the go will be popular with 40 per cent of respondents saying they’ll access Olympic content wherever they are.
Marketing to the individual not the device is most important
“Australians are very much a part of the significant and on-going global change in how people follow major events like the Olympics, with greater multi-screen viewing allowing for convenience and opportunities to connect with other viewers,” said JJ Eastwood.
“Understanding consumer patterns – what people are watching, how they are watching and when – is vital to help us as an industry plan ahead and anticipate changing consumer demands.
“Marketers need to keep in mind that the way someone interacts with content will differ depending what situation they are in. Over half of the Australians surveyed said that the way they consume Olympic content will be different when they are at work or at home.
“Successful marketing during the Olympics won’t be focussed on the device being used, instead focussing on the specific moment in time and the likelihood that an individual will engage with the marketing content.
“Through the application of artificial intelligence at big data scale Rocket Fuel’s technology performs in real time to determine the likelihood a consumer will engage in a desired action, driving higher-performing campaigns.”
