Content
Sound Advice
17 October 2009
The Recognised International Sports Federations were represented at the XIII Olympic Congress held from 2 to 5 October in Copenhagen, DEN. Click here!
On the final day of the congress, the chief excutive of the media group WPP, Martin Sorrell, urged the sports movement to generate more and better new media content in order to appeal to the young generation.
“Allow young people ready access to the content that you create for them. The young people take their media habits with them, so if you are not part of their habit now – you most definitely will not be in the future,” Sorrell delivered the keynote address on the theme The Digital Revolution. “You need to be present in these (new media) environments and have a credible voice, not restricting access through copyright. Let the children play.”
“You have to let them play with your content, your assets in their own way.”
“Give content to young people in formats they want – short and fast, customisable and easy to share,” he said. “Extend the franchise through music and cultural partnerships to leverage fresh support and momentum, and learn from franchises such as The X Factor and Pop Idol.”
He also recommended better utilizing the new generation of sports heroes, such as Usain Bolt, to increase the appeal of the Olympic Games for the young generation.
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Sorrell elaborated on the huge impact of mobile technology and called on the Olympic Movement to be “dynamic and entertaining” in promoting the Olympic values.
“The key audience with whom these digital opportunities resonate most is, of course, young people. They are a valuable and massive audience – and at their peak their generation will exceed the number of baby boomers in the US. Globally they impact over USD 600 billion in consumer spending. They are the most socially active generation, and digital culture is their culture. Their desire to create content and use it as social currency amongst their networks and communities has profound implications for how media owners and sports rights owners behave amongst them,” Sorrell concluded.
Sorrell’s advice is taken up in the recommendations (59 through 66) coming out of the XIII Olympic Congress. Recommendation 66: “The IOC and all other constituents of the Olympic Movement should explore all possibilities offered by the digital revolution; ensuring the broadest coverage of the Olympic Games, including the Youth Olympic Games, as well as of all other games and other major international sport competitions recognised by the IOC or to which the IOC has granted its patronage.”
Recommendations coming out of the Congress: here
