Opinion: Six Things From The Rbs 6 Nations
As the 2017 RBS 6 Nations drew to a close last weekend, with Ireland ending England’s pursuit of a world record 19th consecutive victory and England Women sweeping to a Grand Slam, a few questions rattled around our head.
Namely, how does a Championship, with the weight of 134 years of history and tradition on its shoulders, use digital and social to continue to engage fans and reach new audiences? And what digital trends and innovations can we spot within the activities of the major stakeholders around a competition which consistently generates a huge buzz?
LiveWire Sport spoke to the tournament’s digital manager Shane Whelan about the challenges and opportunities faced by the role of the rightsholder and the shifting terms of engagement for Rugby’s Greatest Championship.
LADIES FIRST
Dedicated social accounts covered the Women’s Six Nations for the first time in 2017 – growing to a combined audience of 35K followers across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in two months.
For Whelan, the emphasis has been on “creating a strong database, and channels that are of interest and stand alone”.
In a major step, all 15 games were broadcast live on Facebook and YouTube in geo-blocked and TV-quality streams, a “massive development” in promoting the women’s game and reaching new audiences as well as opening up insights into the who, when and where of engagement with match content.
In some cases, the streams were shared and posted by unions, which resulted in large boosts to viewing numbers. For example, England’s victory over Scotland in round 4 has so far garnered 132K views on Facebook from the Championship account (26K page likes) and 272K views from England Rugby (1.8m page likes).
THE (CONTENT) BREAKDOWN
“Our competition is five weekends. We want to make as big an impact as possible in that window, build our database, and showcase the things people require: video, in-depth news & features, statistical information and fixtures.”
Ahead of the 2017 Championship, the emphasis was placed on “using social to create a sense of always building, from Saturday morning to Sunday night”, and pushing key moments in a near-live fashion.
For a competition with more than 100 years of history, YouTube plays a “massive part” in exploiting the rich archive and offering near-live clips – a “really strong channel” for Whelan with nearly 25m views and 100K subscribers.
One of the lessons of 2017 has involved taking that key strength of available match footage and settling on the right mix of video content to engage audiences at the right time. “Facebook is proving very effective for build-up and cinematic pieces, leading up to the weekend’s action, while Instagram has been great for historical moments,” says Whelan.
Aside from video, the RBS 6 Nations bet on Fantasy as a means of maintaining engagement across social and website, “attracting a whole range of age groups and giving players a reason to watch every game,” growing to 50K active users over the tournament.
Preview animated GIFs were designed to catch the eyes of a younger audience, creating a shareable asset for both sides of each fixture.
IT’S HERE!
The #WomensSixNations Grand Slam decider kicks off NOW!
Watch @IrishRugby v @EnglandRugby LIVE https://t.co/TFHYNhowio pic.twitter.com/B4kj4h9qo2
— Women’s Six Nations (@Womens6Nations) March 17, 2017
The team also identified a need to be able to convey “what the world is talking about” – publishing live blogs for the first time to capture the online sentiment of a live match experience.
Ultimately, the guiding principle, says Whelan, is to “think of the mind of the user when approaching social. Everyone has a certain requirement – whether that’s a great try, showcasing their knowledge with Fantasy, or people who want to see the scores, news and stats after the weekend.”
AUDIENCES ENGAGED
A challenge faced by the RBS 6 Nations is the need to represent and engage its six members fairly – making sure “the content we’re serving is relevant to those audiences” – while looking further afield to ensure the ongoing growth of the Championship and its channels.
The rbs6nations.com website is translated into French and Italian, with posts in both languages going out on the main social channels each week.
“We’re also developing our features offering – quickly identifying the players that fans want to know about and producing pieces to feed that desire to know more,” adds Whelan
Taking data from public analytics platform socialbakers, just shy of half of the RBS 6 Nations’ Facebook audience is based in the UK; with a further 10% in Ireland, and a 14% split between France and Italy. 12% of Facebook likes come from fans based in Argentina, USA, Australia and New Zealand. There is certainly potential to use social to reach more of that global audience and enter wider conversations, with the unique spotlight of a Lions tour to New Zealand just three months away.
“Fans outside of the competing nations represent massive potential for us” notes Whelan. “We know the discussion in rugby currently is around northern vs southern hemisphere, as well as the development of rugby in the States. Outside of the Championship, we won’t shy away from keeping the channels engaged. If the rugby content is good, rugby fans will go and view it.”
REMIXING THE RBS 6 NATIONS
Both the RBS 6 Nations and its official broadcasters will be aware of the need “to serve longstanding fans while also reaching new, younger audiences”.
BBC Sport’s approach has tapped into the increasingly prevalent trend of enhanced highlights footage and animation with its Six Nations Remix produced after each round – eye-catching and shareable to the casual fan, teased on social with the full edition hosted on the website among further related content to explore.
Fellow broadcaster ITV Sport partnered with Peugeot UK to maximise the impact of its live rights, delivering match clips on Twitter via SnappyTV. The value of inserting yourself into the real-time conversation like this is played out by their most retweeted Tweet of the Championship, as referee Romain Poite sets the record straight for a confused James Haskell, Dylan Hartley and viewers at home…
“I’m a referee, not a coach” – referee Romain Poite sets the record straight with a brilliant one-liner! #ENGvITA https://t.co/orVMnuXHZc
— ITV Rugby (@ITVRugby) February 26, 2017
WHERE TRADITION MEETS TECHNOLOGY
“Our partners are very proactive with different styles. And they’re very strong in producing content which suits different channels of ours.”
Accenture – official technology partner of the RBS 6 Nations – adds value alongside the Championship channels with its #SeeBeyond campaign, delivering unique real-time insights for stats-hungry fans which fits the fast pace of Twitter, with branded graphics appearing across the channels.
The company also powers the Momentum Tracker for each fixture, hosted within the app as a method of mapping the flow of each game through performance data and promoted on social – with all-time app downloads and updates in excess of 3.9m.
A formula taking into account various performance data points is used by the technology supplier to rank all 181 players, while a website vote powered the Player of the Championship award and was promoted by both partner and rightsholder.
Despite their loss in Edinburgh, a series of individual performances see Ireland dominate the #RBS6Nations Team of the Week. #Seebeyond pic.twitter.com/dAiYctxXvB
— Accenture Rugby (@AccentureRugby) February 7, 2017
The relationship works beneficially both ways: RBS 6 Nations integrates the partner’s content into its own coverage as an additional means of fan engagement, leaning on the authority of data provided and an enhanced app offering; while Accenture Rugby is able to join the conversation on its own accounts, at the same time gaining a platform for a “visual showcase of digital expertise”.
Tissot’s #TopMoment campaign concentrated on Facebook and Twitter interaction with promotion from @SixNationsRugby, driving engagement with fans and influencers alike sharing their highlight from each round for the chance to win a watch from the official timekeeper.
The #RBS6Nations weekend in emojis =
What was your #TopMoment? Tell us and you could win a @Tissot_Sport ! pic.twitter.com/pj6gWawDT6
— RBS 6 Nations (@SixNationsRugby) February 26, 2017
Contributions were led by a different rugby ambassador each round and came from as far wide as Ray Parlour and Ross Kemp, among others, to reach outside a core rugby audience – though whether they need a new watch is a different question…
Well that really did turn out to be a game changer #TopMoment @TISSOT @Tissot_Sport https://t.co/S7lFQMj6lW
— Ross Kemp (@RossKemp) February 25, 2017
A STORY TOLD ON SOCIAL
“We’re focused on showcasing the best of what our unions do and being a support network. Social can be a great way to show values when done in the right way.”
Congratulations @EnglandRugby on being crowned @SixNationsRugby champions 2017 – worthy winners. #Respect
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) March 18, 2017
Successful social media = great storytelling.
And the 2017 RBS 6 Nations had no shortage of stories to tell.
For a rightsholder, the role can become one of supporting the best work of its partners and stakeholders on social in order to grow wider conversations, engaging fans through inventive content and strong calls to arms.
At the conclusion of 2017’s tournament, England Rugby converted their run of back-to-back Championship victories into a video that merges illustrated content and match footage, a show of thanks to those who #CarryThemHome.
It’s been an amazing run…
THANK YOU for your incredible support pic.twitter.com/iHDJvvTdLT
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) March 19, 2017
An annual event like the RBS 6 Nations attracts fans with a wide range of knowledge, from diehards to passive. The ongoing task for your digital and social offering is to target these different groups in the right fashion, utilising new platforms and technology, to grow the sport and make its history and values attractive to old hands and newcomers alike.
What content and activations did you enjoy around the 2017 #RBS6Nations? Get in touch at @LiveWireSport and @SportIndustry.
LiveWire Sport has helped manage the Six Nations’ social media channels and worked with England Rugby and its commercial partner O2 during the 2017 Championship.
