Tag: Insights
The growth of women’s football worldwide in recent years is to be celebrated. There are a lot of great initiatives ongoing to engage girls and women in football, new competitions as well as a growing number of women playing and watching football. For example, the Women’s World Cup in Canada was the second most-watched FIFA competition after the Men’s World Cup, with it’s record-breaking 750 million TV viewers.
Media has contributed a lot to this growth. In fact, there has been strong support for Women’s sport from traditional media owners, such as BBC and ITV in the UK who have included female experts and commentators in their coverage for the first time. This could be one of the reasons there has been a 7% increase in the female audience on YouTube for the World Cup 2018 content compared to Euro 2016, based on figures from the OMD EMEA & Tubular’s World Cup 2018 Wrap Up.
Source: Tubular Labs data
Today the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is kicking off, and in light of the event we posed ourselves a challenge – to investigate what makes someone a football fan and if this experience is different for men and women.
There are several valuable lessons to learn from the FIFA World Cup held last year in Russia. Here at OMD EMEA, we conducted research around the competition in collaboration with our research partners Blis Media and Dynata. Within the study we combined surveyed perceptions with the behavioural data from mobile users who had been in certain key locations during matches in Russia and the UK (stadiums, fan parks and pubs). This was supplemented with social listening across the whole period of the World Cup. Our insights are informed by these proprietary studies and further desk research.
Women have traditionally been stereotyped as passive viewers of football, interested only in the peripheral aspects of the game. However, we saw no significant difference in motivations between men and women when it comes to following an event such as a World Cup. For men and women, support of their national team was the main motivation to watch the matches and the feeling of belonging to a larger group of their country’s supporters.
Moreover, according to the passive data we collected, more women were watching the World Cup matches in pubs in the UK (58% vs 42% male audience), while there were almost the same number of women and men watching the matches in the fan parks in Russia (51% men and 49% women). As social listening revealed, women also talked about the event sharing the excitement of watching the matches and the big moments of the playing teams.
Source: OMD EMEA/ Blis Media
Generally, people love football. The study proved that in fact, both female and male fans claimed to love football largely to the same extent. All the differences we found were related to intensity of interest (high interest fans vs. low interest fans) and commitment, not gender.
From the levels of commitment to football we identified two types of fans: social fans who usually follow games for the social and entertainment factor and vested fans who tend to be more passionate. They attend games at stadiums, participate in initiatives, such as fantasy football, buy merchandise products and consume sport related media. Vested fans are more likely to remain loyal over time, but crucially from our findings, they can be men as well as women. Interestingly, our research revealed that in some cases the female fans showed an even greater interest in the World Cup than the male fans.
We had the opportunity to discuss this with Raquel Rodriguez, a Penn State graduate and professional footballer, who scored Costa Rica’s first ever World Cup goal in 2015. Raquel’s experience confirms the importance of passion over gender. Moreover, when people are involved in a sport or a sports event, the players’ gender becomes less relevant to fans. These findings suggest a huge potential of the Women’s World Cup, which many brands may undervalue.
Exploring the fans’ dynamics and how passion impacts the behaviour of fans, we concluded that this is a question of acceptance not only of inclusion. Unfortunately, the environment is still not always welcoming for the female fans despite the progress mentioned earlier.
There are several findings pointing in this direction. For example, how fans were watching World Cup matches. The figures reveal that women are much more likely to watch football with family or small groups of friends.
Source: OMD EMEA/ Dynata
In other words, they are more likely watch matches where they are already accepted. We also found that there were less women watching games at the stadiums compared to men. This signals an important implication: if context and environment is not friendly towards passionate fans, a massive audience can be missing.
Source: OMD EMEA/ Blis Media
It is also true that there is an effort being done to make male football games at stadiums more family inclusive. Many fathers bring their children to the games, with seating areas often allocated specifically for families. However, this is not always the case. At the same time, the women’s matches are always family oriented.
From reviewing academic research on why people engage with sport we furthered our understanding of motivations amongst football fans. The motives are entertainment, escapism, achievement, inspiration and bonding with other fans. Using these territories applied to women’s football we see a broad opportunity for connection and bonding territories. While the male tournament carries more of the tribal element, both can appeal through the aesthetic appreciation of participants and deliver key moments for communal celebration. These will appeal to ALL with an interest in football, including male fans, who will be important to engage in an authentic way to deliver on the potential of the women’s game.
The situation is clear: the brands promoting inclusive football environments are likely to benefit. Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Adidas and Nike are the strongest players on this field. Many brands have a real potential to play a significant role in normalising the environment due to their capabilities and millions of loyal consumers worldwide. It is also an opportunity for the brands. There is still no strong brand association with the women’s football, in other words the space is not owned by any brand.
Speaking about international sports events, brands in this environment are visible to a large, passionate audience. Though at a smaller scale compared to the Men’s tournament, the Women’s World Cup also provides a great opportunity for brands to reach the audience, but it is not enough just to be seen. With inclusivity being the key, the generated engagement will drive ROI in both the short and long term.
It is crucial that we do not try to compare women’s and men’s tournaments, neither in terms of importance or priority, nor in terms of physical strength and abilities of male and female players. Making comparisons of this kind are misleading when the results are applied from a gender perspective – whatever sport event is compared to the Men’s World Cup will not deliver at the same scale.
The Women’s World Cup and the female football in general should not be in the shadow of male football. It should be treated as a sport on its own. We see the potential and we believe that the Women’s World Cup can be hugely engaging for fans whether they are female or male. It is important to understand that it is not just about more women watching the women’s World Cup. We hope to continue to see a change in the attitude towards women’s football without referencing the male one. Maybe more mums will be inspired to bring their daughters to the football class and more fathers will be sharing moments with their daughters at the women’s tournaments.
In conclusion, it’s all about perception. If football continues to be associated with male players, it will be organic implication: women’s football will remain at the same scale. There are still many girls leaving football at the age of 14 due to lack of opportunities and stereotypes still existing, as well as professional female players giving up their football career due to low wages. Raquel also underlines that support and resources need investment. Female football is a growing phenomenon and represents a big arena for brands and investors to promote themselves commercially, above and beyond the positive associations with inclusivity and equal opportunities, in one of the most followed entertainment categories.
Thanks to the OMD Insights team -Scott Nelson for their invaluable contributions and Pete White for his inspirational guidance and persistence. Special thanks to Raquel Rodriguez for her unique insight from a player’s perspective.
The growth of women’s football worldwide in recent years is to be celebrated. There are a lot of great initiatives ongoing to engage girls and women in football, new competitions as well as a growing number of women playing and watching football. For example, the Women’s World Cup in Canada was the second most-watched FIFA competition after the Men’s World Cup, with it’s record-breaking 750 million TV viewers.
Media has contributed a lot to this growth. In fact, there has been strong support for Women’s sport from traditional media owners, such as BBC and ITV in the UK who have included female experts and commentators in their coverage for the first time. This could be one of the reasons there has been a 7% increase in the female audience on YouTube for the World Cup 2018 content compared to Euro 2016, based on figures from the OMD EMEA & Tubular’s World Cup 2018 Wrap Up.
Source: Tubular Labs data
Today the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup is kicking off, and in light of the event we posed ourselves a challenge – to investigate what makes someone a football fan and if this experience is different for men and women.
There are several valuable lessons to learn from the FIFA World Cup held last year in Russia. Here at OMD EMEA, we conducted research around the competition in collaboration with our research partners Blis Media and Dynata. Within the study we combined surveyed perceptions with the behavioural data from mobile users who had been in certain key locations during matches in Russia and the UK (stadiums, fan parks and pubs). This was supplemented with social listening across the whole period of the World Cup. Our insights are informed by these proprietary studies and further desk research.
Women have traditionally been stereotyped as passive viewers of football, interested only in the peripheral aspects of the game. However, we saw no significant difference in motivations between men and women when it comes to following an event such as a World Cup. For men and women, support of their national team was the main motivation to watch the matches and the feeling of belonging to a larger group of their country’s supporters.
Moreover, according to the passive data we collected, more women were watching the World Cup matches in pubs in the UK (58% vs 42% male audience), while there were almost the same number of women and men watching the matches in the fan parks in Russia (51% men and 49% women). As social listening revealed, women also talked about the event sharing the excitement of watching the matches and the big moments of the playing teams.
Source: OMD EMEA/ Blis Media
Generally, people love football. The study proved that in fact, both female and male fans claimed to love football largely to the same extent. All the differences we found were related to intensity of interest (high interest fans vs. low interest fans) and commitment, not gender.
From the levels of commitment to football we identified two types of fans: social fans who usually follow games for the social and entertainment factor and vested fans who tend to be more passionate. They attend games at stadiums, participate in initiatives, such as fantasy football, buy merchandise products and consume sport related media. Vested fans are more likely to remain loyal over time, but crucially from our findings, they can be men as well as women. Interestingly, our research revealed that in some cases the female fans showed an even greater interest in the World Cup than the male fans.
We had the opportunity to discuss this with Raquel Rodriguez, a Penn State graduate and professional footballer, who scored Costa Rica’s first ever World Cup goal in 2015. Raquel’s experience confirms the importance of passion over gender. Moreover, when people are involved in a sport or a sports event, the players’ gender becomes less relevant to fans. These findings suggest a huge potential of the Women’s World Cup, which many brands may undervalue.
Exploring the fans’ dynamics and how passion impacts the behaviour of fans, we concluded that this is a question of acceptance not only of inclusion. Unfortunately, the environment is still not always welcoming for the female fans despite the progress mentioned earlier.
There are several findings pointing in this direction. For example, how fans were watching World Cup matches. The figures reveal that women are much more likely to watch football with family or small groups of friends.
Source: OMD EMEA/ Dynata
In other words, they are more likely watch matches where they are already accepted. We also found that there were less women watching games at the stadiums compared to men. This signals an important implication: if context and environment is not friendly towards passionate fans, a massive audience can be missing.
Source: OMD EMEA/ Blis Media
It is also true that there is an effort being done to make male football games at stadiums more family inclusive. Many fathers bring their children to the games, with seating areas often allocated specifically for families. However, this is not always the case. At the same time, the women’s matches are always family oriented.
From reviewing academic research on why people engage with sport we furthered our understanding of motivations amongst football fans. The motives are entertainment, escapism, achievement, inspiration and bonding with other fans. Using these territories applied to women’s football we see a broad opportunity for connection and bonding territories. While the male tournament carries more of the tribal element, both can appeal through the aesthetic appreciation of participants and deliver key moments for communal celebration. These will appeal to ALL with an interest in football, including male fans, who will be important to engage in an authentic way to deliver on the potential of the women’s game.
The situation is clear: the brands promoting inclusive football environments are likely to benefit. Coca-Cola, McDonalds, Adidas and Nike are the strongest players on this field. Many brands have a real potential to play a significant role in normalising the environment due to their capabilities and millions of loyal consumers worldwide. It is also an opportunity for the brands. There is still no strong brand association with the women’s football, in other words the space is not owned by any brand.
Speaking about international sports events, brands in this environment are visible to a large, passionate audience. Though at a smaller scale compared to the Men’s tournament, the Women’s World Cup also provides a great opportunity for brands to reach the audience, but it is not enough just to be seen. With inclusivity being the key, the generated engagement will drive ROI in both the short and long term.
It is crucial that we do not try to compare women’s and men’s tournaments, neither in terms of importance or priority, nor in terms of physical strength and abilities of male and female players. Making comparisons of this kind are misleading when the results are applied from a gender perspective – whatever sport event is compared to the Men’s World Cup will not deliver at the same scale.
The Women’s World Cup and the female football in general should not be in the shadow of male football. It should be treated as a sport on its own. We see the potential and we believe that the Women’s World Cup can be hugely engaging for fans whether they are female or male. It is important to understand that it is not just about more women watching the women’s World Cup. We hope to continue to see a change in the attitude towards women’s football without referencing the male one. Maybe more mums will be inspired to bring their daughters to the football class and more fathers will be sharing moments with their daughters at the women’s tournaments.
In conclusion, it’s all about perception. If football continues to be associated with male players, it will be organic implication: women’s football will remain at the same scale. There are still many girls leaving football at the age of 14 due to lack of opportunities and stereotypes still existing, as well as professional female players giving up their football career due to low wages. Raquel also underlines that support and resources need investment. Female football is a growing phenomenon and represents a big arena for brands and investors to promote themselves commercially, above and beyond the positive associations with inclusivity and equal opportunities, in one of the most followed entertainment categories.
Thanks to the OMD Insights team – Scott Nelson for their invaluable contributions and Pete White for his inspirational guidance and persistence. Special thanks to Raquel Rodriguez for her unique insight from a player’s perspective.
Chrissie Hanson is our Chief Strategy Officer, OMD Worldwide
SXSW is one of OMD’s sources of signals that our teams use to inform how we make Better decisions, faster on behalf of our clients. This year, a team of OMD strategists from around the world descended upon Austin to be inspired, excited and surprised. We each took a different track to make sure we covered as much as possible and with the mission to write about our learnings to share with our teams and our clients.
The three insights from my Day 1 were:
- Consumers have a more fluid and nuanced view when it comes to value; increasingly, they will trade convenience in favor of quality content and curation
- There is a rising need for authentic experiences and a rejection of brands and individuals who jump on the bandwagon of meaningful moments for the sake of a selfie
- The value of Design on the bottom line has been proven but the path to implement design principles is lacking at many organizations
My 4th SXSW experience began with the fascinating panel: The Next Form of Storytelling: The Future of Technology-Enabled Entertainment from the storyteller Jeffrey Katzenberg and analyst Meg Whitman. They shared their vision for bringing together the best of Silicon Valley and Hollywood to disrupt the current form of storytelling to create an entirely new category of short form content.
Their goal is to reach people between 7am to 7pm and steal 50% of the 40 mins that Americans currently spend on their mobile devices consuming average quality content. The reason they believe they can take this large share of time is the point of differentiation of their service Quibi; it delivers premium quality content. When you consider that the average YouTube creator earns $3,000 per minute versus Hollywood Directors who might earn up to $100,000 per minute, the output from the latter will inevitably be of a superior quality. And people are willing to pay for that. Whitman explained that there’s a rising preference for people to pay for what they want, rather than be locked in expensive bundled offers, to the point where they’ll sign up to 6 different subscription services to craft their own viewing experiences. With the advent of 5G, this sector is expected to grow.
The implication for marketers is that consumers are prepared to trade convenience for curation. As the ecosystem for quality content widens, so the incentive for consumers to be more deliberate in their choices rises, and the value equation becomes more nuanced. Disruption to business models happens fast, within ‘a matter of seconds’ according to Whitman, and we need to be prepared to make better decisions, faster.
Next up was Pop Ups: Designing for Emotional Experiences, a panel which brought together the organizers of Burning Man, Color Factory, and the Brooklyn Museum. They agreed that the desire for real and shared human connection is more urgent than ever. Brands and organizations that create spaces where meaningful, quality experiences can occur will be the ones that become points of inspiration and destination. However, they cautioned the role of social media and how, while used as a record of these experiences, that the act of recording should not be the goal. With US National Parks now facing an over-crowding crisis caused by people making the trip for the selfie rather than enjoying nature and camp under the stars, perhaps brands can do more to be advocates for real, authentic experiences. To become trusted curators of moments of meaning, rather than contributors to broader bucket list mentality propagated by Instagram? The casual share has more ramifications that we initially realized. The fact notion that we need to be more aware and purposeful in our actions is a theme that later panels would echo.
Moving over to The Business Value of Design: A New Global Study, we heard from McKinsey on the results of a 5-year study they have conducted on over 300 publicly listed companies, using over 100 design actions and 2 million pieces of financial data. As you might expect, companies that make design a true strategic priority outperform their competitors from a revenue perspective.
The four factors which must all be present for success were laid as out follows:
- Design must be more than a feeling: it’s analytical leadership
- Design is more than a department: it’s cross-functional talent
- Design is more than a phase: it’s continuous iteration
- Design is more than a product: it’s a seamless experience
Whilst we have implicitly known about the importance of design, there are now data points to back it up. What’s challenging for companies though is that 95% of leaders feel they can’t make objective business on design. Without having a process for sharing prototypes with end users, or not involving users prior to the launch of new products, the inputs that would guide those decisions are lacking and organizations do need to consider their process for putting more objectivity into the decision-making process, so that better business outcomes can be achieved.
As I reflected upon OMD’s end-to-end process which takes inspiration from Design Thinking, where we’re committed to the practice of empathy and make rapid prototyping part of the way we work, this session served as a helpful affirmation of our efforts in this space.
In recent years, big luxury brands have been shifting their ad spend to digital channels and we are now seeing print trends like the ‘September Issue’ emerge across social video. The insights were revealed today in the joint study, New Video Code of Conduct in Luxury Marketing, between OMD EMEA and Tubular Labs, uncovering social video insights across select sectors of the luxury industry.
“The exclusive and crafted nature of luxury brands meeting the open accessibility of online video was always going to be a challenge,” said Blake Cuthbert, Chief Digital Officer, OMD EMEA. “The most successful luxury brands have embraced the opportunity by allowing their followers to be truly immersed in their unique stories, building authenticity and equity in this redefined category.”
GETTING THE BACKSTAGE PASS – UNEDITED & UNFILTERED
Adverts and premium content currently deliver the lowest return in engagement compared to the volume uploaded. Mystery is no longer enough, consumers are craving more access into the world of luxury. It is the ‘real’ content – fashion shows, montages and behind the brand access – that is driving 74 per cent of all luxury video engagements. In response creative directors are taking the lead, opening up their world and sharing what’s happening behind the scenes in real-time.
THE NEW INFLUENCER AUTHORITY – AUTHENTICITY & ORIGINALITY
The rapid adoption of influencer strategies for categories from FMCG to luxury automobiles has also left consumers more sceptical of the true relationship between brands and influencers. As a result, only 16 luxury lifestyle influencers made The Sermo Digital Influencer Index cut. The balance brands need to strike is between humanising their influencers and still driving views and engagement with topical content, such as unboxing which accounted for 72 per cent of the luxury watch topics viewed in 2017.
PASSION HAS NO AGE – JUST COMMON GROUND
Nevertheless, how different audiences engage with luxury video content is unique. Looking specifically at the luxury watch category, as expected 73 per cent of YouTube engagement is driven by those under the age of 34. Perhaps surprising, luxury watch videos are also generating 18 per cent of their engagements from those over 55 years old, which is 14 times the YouTube average over the last 365 days.
THE COUTURE CONTENT SOLUTION – DYNAMICALLY SERVED BY AGE, INTEREST & BEHAVIOUR
Those under 35 years old focus on beauty and entertainment influencers, concentrating on how luxury brands make them look. While the older audience engages with influencers who concentrate on craftsmanship and in-depth luxury product reviews. There is an opportunity for luxury brands to deliver content solutions dynamically, serving more relevant videos based on data such as age, interest and behaviour.
“With the growth of online video, brands are increasingly leveraging video to create and distribute content online,” said Denis Crushell, VP of EMEA, Tubular Labs. “Results of the luxury industry and social video study confirm this with luxury brands accumulating over 500 million cross-platform views in Q4 2016 alone. It’s commendable when leading organisations like OMD recognise the importance of this transformation and take action to provide their clients with powerful actionable insights.”
In recent years, big luxury brands have been shifting their ad spend to digital channels and we are now seeing print trends like the ‘September Issue’ emerge across social video. The insights were revealed today in the joint study, New Video Code of Conduct in Luxury Marketing, between OMD EMEA and Tubular Labs, uncovering social video insights across select sectors of the luxury industry.
“The exclusive and crafted nature of luxury brands meeting the open accessibility of online video was always going to be a challenge,” said Blake Cuthbert, Chief Digital Officer, OMD EMEA. “The most successful luxury brands have embraced the opportunity by allowing their followers to be truly immersed in their unique stories, building authenticity and equity in this redefined category.”
GETTING THE BACKSTAGE PASS – UNEDITED & UNFILTERED
Adverts and premium content currently deliver the lowest return in engagement compared to the volume uploaded. Mystery is no longer enough, consumers are craving more access into the world of luxury. It is the ‘real’ content – fashion shows, montages and behind the brand access – that is driving 74 per cent of all luxury video engagements. In response creative directors are taking the lead, opening up their world and sharing what’s happening behind the scenes in real-time.
THE NEW INFLUENCER AUTHORITY – AUTHENTICITY & ORIGINALITY
The rapid adoption of influencer strategies for categories from FMCG to luxury automobiles has also left consumers more sceptical of the true relationship between brands and influencers. As a result, only 16 luxury lifestyle influencers made The Sermo Digital Influencer Index cut. The balance brands need to strike is between humanising their influencers and still driving views and engagement with topical content, such as unboxing which accounted for 72 per cent of the luxury watch topics viewed in 2017.
PASSION HAS NO AGE – JUST COMMON GROUND
Nevertheless, how different audiences engage with luxury video content is unique. Looking specifically at the luxury watch category, as expected 73 per cent of YouTube engagement is driven by those under the age of 34. Perhaps surprising, luxury watch videos are also generating 18 per cent of their engagements from those over 55 years old, which is 14 times the YouTube average over the last 365 days.
THE COUTURE CONTENT SOLUTION – DYNAMICALLY SERVED BY AGE, INTEREST & BEHAVIOUR
Those under 35 years old focus on beauty and entertainment influencers, concentrating on how luxury brands make them look. While the older audience engages with influencers who concentrate on craftsmanship and in-depth luxury product reviews. There is an opportunity for luxury brands to deliver content solutions dynamically, serving more relevant videos based on data such as age, interest and behaviour.
“With the growth of online video, brands are increasingly leveraging video to create and distribute content online,” said Denis Crushell, VP of EMEA, Tubular Labs. “Results of the luxury industry and social video study confirm this with luxury brands accumulating over 500 million cross-platform views in Q4 2016 alone. It’s commendable when leading organisations like OMD recognise the importance of this transformation and take action to provide their clients with powerful actionable insights.”
Arab Luxury World, the region’s largest conference on the business of luxury, took place on 1-2 June, 2016. OMD was present throughout the event with speakers participating in numerous panels and seminars. Here, we bring you all the insights and driving themes from this year’s edition.
Luxury across generations in the Arab world
What are Arab Millennials looking for when it comes to luxury and how do they differ from Generation X? This was the focus of a private break-out session hosted by OMD, featuring key insights from our research study on the subject. Maya Bou Ajram, OMD’s Senior Director-Planning on the LVMH portfolio, presented the findings and then introduced a panel discussion with marketing leads from Infiniti and Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons. “We wanted to understand key differences across generations – how they differ in terms of consumption, motivation, influence and media triggers – and ultimately learn how we can better influence desire for luxury,” said Ajram about the study. “Millennials do make more emotional purchases while Gen X is driven by a need to replenish or enhance their existing collection. Millennials are about aspiring to be who they are while Gen X are validating who they are.”
Effective data management
The conference featured a panel discussion on the effective use of CRM and omni-channel planning to develop smooth customer journeys. OMD’s Head of Analytics, Walid Hadid, was one of the speakers and he opened the discussion by describing the transformation of data across the decades, from slow-moving data collected in a notebook in the ’60s to the rapidly changing data we collect from digital platforms today. “Social engagement with content changes massively and rapidly. The role of us as marketers today is to decipher that data and link it together in order to allow brands, and particularly luxury brands, to compete more effectively in a crowded marketplace,” said Hadid.
Digital trends for luxury
This year’s digital strategy panel featured Stanislas Brunais, OMD’s Head of Performance Marketing, who explained how digital now acts as the first touch point in the purchase journey for luxury consumers. Francesca Ciaudano, Deputy General Manager Marketing & Public Relations at Infiniti Middle East, further emphasised that 96% of consumers start their search online, hence the importance of adopting a multi-channel approach in today’s environment. Jean-Pierre La Calvez, Head of Global Alliances, Partnerships and Customer Marketing at HP Inc. added to this, stating that technology impacts the whole value chain today, including product creation, supply chain management and consumer engagement. “Luxury brands have prided themselves on personal relationships and technology enables that personalization on digital,” audiences heard.
The rise of influencers in the region
Given the massive rise of influencers in this region, the conference featured a dedicated panel to discuss the value and ROI generated from this channel as well as best practices. OMD’s Senior Director, Maya Bou Ajram, was one of the panellists and shared key insights from regional campaigns she has executed for brands such as Sephora. “It’s not about the number of followers an influencer has but rather, it’s about marrying brand values with that of the influencer,” stated Ajram. “The influencer should reflect exactly who I am as a brand. Authenticity is key and brands should not force content on influencers; this is something we struggle with in luxury. Instead, we need to share our DNA and co-create content with them.”
Originally posted at http://uaeblog.omd-mena.com/omd-insights/omd-arab-luxury-world-2016/