The Olympics represents the pinnacle of international sporting events, symbolizing a spirit to inspire and motivate the youth in the world to strive for the best. It seeks to build a better world through friendship, solidarity and fair play. With this full understanding of the Olympic mission, Madcradle Online took up the task as the integrated digital marketing partner of the Nanjing Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014. The Games were held on 16-28 August 2014. Over 3,000 young athletes from over 200 countries participated. Our objective was to connect the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games with the global audience through an integrated digital marketing and public relations campaign. We set out to inspire tens of millions of young people around the world to participate in sports and live by the Olympic values.
The Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games is an all-encompassing campaign that requires a highly coordinated O2O (online-to-offline) marketing and public relations strategy. Meticulous planning and strong project management skills are integral to the success of the campaign. Our integrated services of social media, digital advertising, Video and KOL marketing, public relations, media events, news publication, and crisis management were mobilized. The task required not only a creative and experienced team but also a dynamic team with global vision and a strong global network. We organized our global network to oversee the production of multi-language press releases and the coordination of news publication and media events on the global stage. The campaign called for creative and vigorous marketing efforts to inspire youth communities throughout the world.
Further to being the ultimate multi-sporting event, the Youth Olympic Games highlighted the energy and dynamism of youth. We connected themes of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games and the global young audience with creative simple gestures such as “1,2,3, YOG!” along with a selfie, and “1,2,3 YOG Dance” which demonstrated youth and the Olympic spirit. Social media played an unprecedented role to engage with young audience worldwide. We carried out active marketing campaigns on the “6+1” platforms of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, Google+, Pinterest plus YouTube. We set in motion a stream of creative and engaging content across social media platforms. Leveraging on our extensive reach on social media, we created a series of fun and interactive videos featuring the Nanjing 2014 mascot LeLe to generate buzz.
We implemented comprehensive public relations efforts to share the news and excitement of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games with the global audience. Our longstanding relationship with global media and sporting agencies made it easy for us to organize interviews and publish stories related to the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games. Our experienced team located across different continents organized series of public relations and media events to promote the Games and the Olympic values.
Our integrated digital marketing campaign for the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games was an unprecedented success. The impact of our social media strategy was far-reaching. The #YOGselfie campaign reached over 400 million people in the first 24 hours after the International Olympic Committee President mentioned it at the Opening Ceremony. Over 56 million people in China have posted #YOGselfie and 147 million #nanjing2014. The social media pages of Nanjing Youth Olympic Games across all platforms generated over 400,000 followers and the total number of posted and interactive comments reached over 20,000.
We organized six major media events across the globe and the messages reached 80 global media agencies in 30 countries. Our capacity to produce multi-language press releases saw us delivering 36 news publications, including 2 TV interviews. From the flame lighting ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Greece to the 30-Day Countdown Celebration at the City Wall in Beijing, we organized public relations events across the world in Argentina, USA, Singapore, mainland China, Greece, and Hong Kong.
1 Highlighting the energy and dynamism of youth culture, we connected themes of the Nanjing Youth Olympic Games and the global young audience with creative inputs such as “1,2,3, YOG!”, “1,2,3 YOG Dance” and “YOG DNA”.
2 Our dynamic team organized public relations events across the world to promote the Olympic spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.
3 As part of our public relations effort, we organized a 30-Day Countdown Celebration event at the City Wall in Beijing, inspiring young people around the world to participate in sports.
4 Social media marketing builds lasting bonds with global audience through interactive content. The “6+1” social media strategy of Nanjing Youth Olympic Games across platforms generated over 400,000 followers worldwide.
5 Videos paired with social media marketing promises high traffic flow. Series of fun and interactive videos featuring the Nanjing 2014 mascot LeLe were launched on YouTube to generate buzz.
6 Building on our global network, we delivered 36 multi-language news publications to 80 global media agencies across 30 countries.