Panasonic Activates Team GB Partnership Via Social 'Can You Hear Us' #Superfans

Panasonic aims to celebrate the fans and whip up support for Team GB ahead of Rio 2016 with an athlete ambassador fronted campaign called ‘Superfans’.

Led by Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams, the long-term official partner to the British Olympic Association (BOA) is rolling out a multi-media campaign

The activation is spearheaded by a photo-led social media drive – called ‘Can You Hear Us In Rio’ – that aims to give British athletes extra motivation and to help them match their London 2012 achievements.

This integrated initiative asks fans to show their Team GB support by posting their own ‘fun and passionate, wild and wacky’ pictures using the #superfans hashtag.

These fan photos will be tagged and curated on Panasonic’s Superfans webpage.

The initiative is pushed with a promotional video, launched in the last week of April, claiming that there is a Superfan in everyone

and featuring Amy Williams trying everything from face painting, to dressing up, and from baking to art in order to demonstrate her support for Team Gb athletes as Rio.

The brand is calling on UK sports lovers to show their support for the nation’s athletes and the ads urge the use of the campaign hashtag #superfans and drives fans to the campaign microsite at www.panasonic.co.uk/superfans

Panasonic brand ambassador Williams, who won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics believes that ‘fan support really does make a difference for athletes’.

‘I’m so proud of being the Superfans ambassador for Panasonic’s campaign, because fan support really does make a difference for athletes,’ explains Williams.

‘Studies show that home support boosts performance, but Superfans is all about giving Team GB that support despite it being an away Games. It will mean so much for the athletes in Team GB to know they have Superfans cheering them on and really rooting for them back in Britain when they are competing far away from home, as I was in Vancouver.’

‘London 2012 was really the first social media Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the digital world has advanced so much since then,” adds Panasonic UK’s head of brand communications Gaele Lalahy.

‘The Olympics unites people around the world like no other sporting event can, and we are excited about capturing the Olympic spirit and championing Britain’s Olympic fandom through this campaign.’

Comment

In addition to this creatively straightforward (some might say ‘basic’) sponsorship work for Team GB, Panasonic (which has been an Olympic partner for 25 years) is also an official ceremony partner for the Rio Olympics and Paralympic Games.

The umbrella brand, who’s overall objective for Olympics partnerships is to showcase its technology and products to deliver the visual and audio content around the world, is also aware that the Rio Games is a lead-in to planned blockbuster activation around its so-called ‘home games’ in Tokyo in 2020.

The ‘Superfans’ approach of this activation is part of the growing sports sponsorship trend for focusing on fans rather than stars.

Other current examples of this approach, revolving around supporter engagement and praising fans for their contribution to the event, include both the Euro 2016 campaigns from Orange and fellow Team GB sponsor Nissan.

‘London 2012 was really the first social media Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the digital world has advanced so much since then. Panasonic is embracing this opportunity to connect Team GB fans and celebrate everything about the Games, both on and offline,’ explains Panasonic UK brand communications head Gaele Lalahy.

This tactic has the added advantage of not entirely linking a brand’s fortunes with those of a particularly athlete, team or property owner: a form of protection against defeat, scandal and corruption.

Links

Panasonic ‘Superfans’ Site:

www.panasonic.co.uk/superfans

Panasonic UK YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/user/PanasonicUK

Panasonic UK Website:

http://www.panasonic.com/uk/

Panasonic UK Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/PanasonicUK

Panasonic UK Twitter:

https://twitter.com/PanasonicUK

#superfans