Everyone seems to be talking about ‘Periscope’ and ‘Meerkat’ this month and Adidas Football became the first major sports brand to activative on Twitter’s recently-launched vehicle when it live streamed Real Madrid soccer star James Rodriguez penning a new deal with the brand.
The real-time, 20-second event was streamed live from Adidas HQ in Herzogenaurach, Germany and enabled fans to watch the Colombia attacker ink his name on his latest blockbuster sportswear brand contract.
The film snippet was posted onto the @adidasfootball Twitter page with the text ‘Here he is!@jamesdrodriguez has signed a contract extension with adidas. #therewillbehaters’
Vine: James signing a contract extension with adidas pic.twitter.com/vyGUvwbLmf [@adidasfootball]
— Real Madrid Info (@RmadridInfo) March 26, 2015
The Periscope part of the activity enables Adidas to embed the video into its Tweets and the move further spearheads the sports apparel outfit’s objective of leverage the role of video in its media mix.
For Adidas, this new platform debut builds on its ongoing global Twitter partnership that provides the German sportswear giant with priority access to new services and insights.
This alliance also saw adidas benefit from being the first brand to debut Twitter’s ‘Group Dm’ feature last month when it used the tool to let supporters of its #ThereWillBeHaters campaign hold a private group conversation with Real Madrid and France striker Karim Benzema.
Rob Hughes, global PR &and social media director at Adidas Football, said:
‘By capturing the signing of one of the world’s most high profile players in James Rodriguez, and posting the video in real-time, we have not only rewarded our fans and our communities with great content, but we have demonstrated once again that adidas is at the forefront of building brand advocacy through social channels,’ trumpeted Adidas Football global PR and social media director Rob Hughes.
‘Industry leading initiatives need to be complemented with exceptional marketing concepts and this is no different as we continue to raise the bar when it comes to breaking new ground with technology-inspired fan engagement.’
Comment
It might only have lasted 20-seconds, but it could offer a glimpse of things to come in the sports and sponsorship world as live video event vignettes become a greater part of the activation mix.
It could be seen as the first step in bringing sport, music, entertainment, arts and culture fans content through live streaming via social media
This is certainly a very quick response to a new platform.
After all, the campaign came just one day after Twitter unveiled the service.
Like adidas, the wider technology industry is increasingly has focused on live streaming
The thinking behind the new technology is that it aims to offer brands the ability to service consumers and fans ‘bite-sized, snackable’ content of greater virility across the micro-blogging site.
Twitter only acquired Periscope in January: a move that also coincided with rival mobile live-streaming app Meerkat come under the spotlight as it passed the 100,000 user barrier and was promoted by high profile users such as Jimmy Fallon and Madonna.
Twitter’s Periscope competes with rival live streaming company Meerkat: a live streaming app that was all the rage at this year’s SXSW festival.
Its app, which features a logo not entirely dissimilar to Snapchat, has many tech watchers and marketers speculating about its usefulness across a wide spectrum, of markets (not just sport).
Links
Adidas Football Twitter
https://twitter.com/adidasfootball/status/581124028653531136
Twitter Periscope:
