When Moths Attack: Social Media & Brands Enjoying Cristiano Ronaldo’s Moth Friend

When Moths Attack: Social Media & Brands Enjoying Cristiano Ronaldo’s Moth Friend

Sometimes viral sporting moments can be big goals, tackles or marks; other times its a moth flying onto the face of the biggest sports star in the world-Cristiano Ronaldo.

During this morning’s European Championship final between Portugal and France, the Portuguese captain and Real Madrid star was carried off the field on a stretcher in the 25th minute after injuring his left knee in a collision with French midfielder Dimitri Payet.

As he laid in tears on the pitch a moth landed on his face, which caused social media to go complete crazy. Check out what happens when moths attack:

This moth attack is a perfect example of bite-size content- GIFs and Vines- which Wade Maris, vice president of media at digital sports content and media group Perform Group, argues is the new way fans consume sport

By half time, less than half an hour after the moth appeared- there were more than 50 Twitter accounts for the moth. Jack Watts, CEO of Bastion Collective Marketing ANZ, describes this as a lightning rod moment: “It’s about the lightning-rod moments; whether it’s great goals, shots, tackles, hits, marks, funny incidents, red cards, you can see massive spikes in social conversations in real-time in the 30 seconds to 10 minutes after a moment happens.”

People on Twitter talking about the great moth incident:

Plenty of gambling companies have capitalised on the social media discussion:

Last year, Australian live entertainment service TEG brought Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo to Melbourne. Geoff Jones, CEO of TEG, called the events “a really good recipe for success”. He discusses the secrets behind bring Real Madrid to Melbourne here.

Learn more about sports marketing and capitalising on sporting moments at B&T’s Ministry of Sports Marketing conference coming up at Sydney’s iconic Randwick Racecourse on 19th July. Check out the final program details and make sure you grab tickets to the conference and awards here. Use the code BANDT to save $100 on tickets.




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