CBC/Radio-Canada is attempting to further extend the reach of its broadcast and online coverage of the upcoming Rio Olympics through a new partnership with Twitter Canada.
CBC is using the social media network’s broadcast enhancement tool, Twitter Amplify, to share what it describes as “near-live” video content throughout the Games. All of the content will feature a six-second pre-roll video ad.
Heather Gordon, CBC’s director of digital sales, said the public broadcaster would have sports marketing staff working around-the-clock during the Games, looking for appropriate content that can be uploaded to Twitter.
“The second they have identified something they deem worthy, it’s near instantaneous,” she said. “If there was a spectacular gymnastics performance, we want users to get to Twitter and see it right away.”
Gordon said the public broadcaster is approaching both Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) sponsors with bronze, silver and gold advertising packages.
The tiered packages are priced via their potential audience exposure, with an event featuring a Canadian medal hopeful or a marquee event like the 100m final commanding premium prices.
Twitter will use its targeting capability to reach out to Canadians who are already engaging with the Games, but are not connected to its dedicated @CBCOlympics and @RC_Sports accounts.
“That level of targeting was very appealing to us, and we felt it was a wonderful complement to the sponsorship and ad opportunities we’re already offering,” said Gordon. While the CBC only formally announced the partnership this week, Gordon said it received “positive interest” from both COC and IOC partners.
Errol Da-Ré, the former Shaw Media sales executive who joined CBC as head of its Olympic sales teams in February, said the broadcaster approached the new partnership as a test and learn opportunity in advance of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“Not only do we already reach a mass audience, but Twitter ensures that we capture a young audience as well,” said Da-Ré. “That’s something that is really meaningful and relevant for us.”
While the Olympics already reach an estimated 98% of the Canadian population, Gordon said the hope with using Twitter Amplify and its associated digital platforms was to reach multi-platform users. “It’s about engaging them in different ways, and Twitter is a wonderful real-time opportunity.”
Canadians have already demonstrated a willingness to engage online with major sporting events like the Olympics, with the CBC’s French and English websites attracting more than 256 million views during the Sochi Games. The CBC’s Sochi Olympics app, which had more than 2.5 million downloads, garnered in excess of 380 million views.
“Having the first-ever Twitter amplification in the Olympics is going to blow those numbers away,” said Da-Ré. “The deal is another extension of the digital capabilities that we have. We’re already augmenting the whole digital package in partnership with the linear side of the business [and] it’s going to fill in a few gaps.”
Similar deals between old and new media are popping up around the world, with the U.S. Olympic broadcaster NBC earlier this year announcing a partnership with SnapChat to present “unique perspectives” from the Games. That partnership will feature daily “live stories” and a dedicated NBC Rio Discover Channel.
Da-Ré said CBC’s Olympic sales efforts are going well, but inventory is still available.
“I don’t think the Olympics is ever close to sell-out, but we’re certainly at a really fantastic number right now in terms of the number of IOC and COC partners that are on-board,” he said. “We’ve got four weeks to go, and there’s still a lot of participation and clients we’re looking to bring in.”
Gordon said it was becoming increasingly apparent that clients no longer cared what platform their ad appeared on, as long as they can follow their customers during the Olympics.
“What’s important for us is following the eyeballs,” said Da-Ré. “The eyeballs are with a number of different social platforms, but Twitter is one of the highest, with 12 million unique visitors a month. That’s a big number.
“We’re already reaching a lot of them, but we’re extending the conversation – that’s what is important for us.”
