Jul 18, 2012

Social Media and the Olympics

Four years have passed since the last Olympics which were held in Beijing China, a lot of things have changed in the world of Social media since then. A new president for the Olympics was elected who used the power of social media to help get elected for the first time. A war that played through social media regulations ended for the first time as well. Social network grew from 100 million users to a publicly traded firm with 900 million users. The point is today’s social media isn’t what it used to be four years ago to the point that this year’s Olympics will be called the “socialympics”.

The growth of social networks has prompted the necessity of renovation the IOC’s social media policies at the games. This growth of social networks and the Olympics coming this summer make a combination that provides a beautiful opportunity for marketers to take part. With over billions of people watching and paying attention to the Olympics, any advertisements that are related to the Olympics will attract attention. This means that marketers will be concentrating on everything that will be going on so they can take advantage of any opportunity they can get to advertise their products. However, the rules on content use surrounding the Olympics must comply with some strict rules which include tweets and Facebook posts. In a post by Rachel Boothroyd, social media platforms needs to be aware of the UK legislation, the author also shared some dos and don’ts for them like:

Not to associate brand with the Olympics;
Comply with the Olympic Association Right and London Olympic Association Right;
Avoid violating restrictions by gathering facts and taking a journalistic approach;
Not to frame marketing campaigns around the Olympics;
Check information about brand protection and statutory marketing privileges.

With so many rules and regulations marketers are left with a few options, taking a journalistic approach to sharing information about the Olympics might be the safest way for them to participate in the conversation. However, there are also many social channels for usage in order not only to stay aware but also to join in conversations and put one’s own journalistic efforts. People can look for online Olympic communities, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, photo/Pinterest, Shazaam. There are many other social networks that can be used, but these are the ones recommended for marketers who want to use social media platforms to participate in this year’s Olympics.