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Helping BT become a football ‘player’ Cool Content 21 September 2012

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Introducing Zone Zone is a digital agency with a unique content heritage

Our team of 110 includes planners, creatives, developers, account managers – and journalists

Our editorial expertise makes us uniquely well placed to help brands connect with audiences in an always-on digital world

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Today

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challenge Our

approach The content The results Key learnings

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1. The challenge

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June 2010

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The challenge

Can I play with you?

Run along, squirt

Can BT establish itself as a credible player in the football market?

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In the pre-digital world…

Hi, I’m Kevin Keegan and football on BT is ace!

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Marketing used to be a doddle • Brands static • All touchpoints controlled by brand manager • Purchase media • Interrupt consumers

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Marketing used to be a doddle

BUY  THIS  YOU  IDIOTS!  

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But in the digital world… • Brands are alive • Distribution is open to everyone • Touchpoints out of brand manager’s control • Conversations happen 24/7 • A small number of people can make a vast amount of noise about a brand

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The role of content • Content can become part of these conversations by giving people something of value • Brands need to move from telling one big story a year to continual engagement

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“If we as businesses deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information, customers ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.

Content Marketing Institute ”

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2. Approach

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The insight

In digital, you cannot divorce the content from its method of distribution

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The insight

Hello, I’m really credible

Whatever

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Zone’s approach 1. Appoint a full-time editor with a deep understanding of the football audience

2. Identify and leverage key influencers within the digital football community 3. Optimisation and distribution of content for appropriate digital channels

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1. Living and breathing the brand • Full-time editor • Commissioning budget • Support from wider Zone team:

- Subs - Developers - Designers - Picture editors

Dan

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2. Identify and leverage key influencers

6% of online adults

80% of impressions

about a brand or issue

Source: Forrester Online Survey, 2010. Base: All US Online Adults

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2. Identify and leverage key influencers • Instinctively understand how to connect in a digital world • Understand how to build and nurture audiences • Fresh eye on stories rather than formulaic approach • Bring their own audiences with them

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2. Identify and leverage key influencers • Instinctively understand how to connect in a digital world • Understand how to build and nurture audiences • Fresh eye on stories rather than formulaic approach • Bring their own audiences with them

Create and distribute content

 

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2. Identify and leverage key influencers • Instinctively understand how to connect in a digital world • Understand how to build and nurture audiences • Fresh eye on stories rather than formulaic approach • Bring their own audiences with them

The distribution is integral to the content

Create and distribute content

 

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3. Optimisation for key channels • Understanding how football fans behave in digital • Where they source content? • How they source content?

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3. Optimisation for key channels

= 47% of all traffic

• Understanding how football fans behave in digital • Where they source content? • How they source content?

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3. The content

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Considerations • It’s a hugely saturated market • Fans source match previews / reviews from trusted sources • Impossible to compete on news • Footballers are genetically boring

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Considerations • It’s a hugely saturated market • Fans source match previews / reviews from trusted sources • Impossible to compete on news • Footballers are genetically boring BUT fans do seek out high quality, highly opinionated content

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The role for Life’s A Pitch

“Original opinion from the best football

writers on the web”

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What works? Profiles of new and youth players that could potentially transform a club’s fortunes

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What works? Provocative tactical analysis of teams and players

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What works? A sense of perspective amid all the hysteria

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What works? Gentle poking of fun at millionaire footballers

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What works? Criticism (or praise) of popular (or disliked) figures

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What works? Picking up the baton on an issue fans feel ignored on

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Video • Influential bloggers alongside national newspaper journalists • Seeded through their networks and our own social media platforms • Same editorial principles

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4. The results

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Instant impact • In the five months after Zone took over Life’s A Pitch in April 2011, compared to the five months the site was live beforehand, weekly visits increased by 1,465%

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Building on the success • Comparing August 2012 to March 2011 (the final month before Zone took over) we’ve achieved a 16,315% increase in visits

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Distribution • Over 1.7 million views on YouTube with nearly 3,000 subscribers • Over 5,000 Twitter followers

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Value for money

£3 million Much, much less

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The challenge Can BT establish itself as a credible player in the football market?

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The challenge Can BT establish itself as a credible player in the football market?

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A phased approach

1.  Establish platform for ongoing conversation ✔ 2.  Create, ongoing valuable content to feed conversations ✔ 3.  Build audience ✔ 4.  Build relationships ✔

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A phased approach

Convert 1.  Establish platform for ongoing conversation ✔ 2.  Create, ongoing valuable content to feed conversations ✔ 3.  Build audience ✔ 4.  Build relationships ✔

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“If we as businesses deliver consistent, ongoing valuable information, customers ultimately reward us with their business and loyalty.

Content Marketing Institute ”

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5. If you remember three things…

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If you remember three things… 1.  Don’t think about digital content in isolation of its method of distribution

2.  It’s about target influencers, not just target audience

3.  Quality actually matters

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Thank you