RFU Labs

Back is the future

Optimism is high among England fans and around the RFU offices. Regardless of who gets the head coach job full time, Lancaster, Rowntree and Farrell have set England on a new path, but as the players and media look ahead to the summer tour and ultimately a home world cup in 2015 I’ve spent this week looking back at the 140 year history of the RFU.

We’ll be rolling out our new Facebook timeline in the coming weeks and we’re not doing it by halves. By go live we’ll have images, ‘as live’ status updates and the odd video dating all the way back to 1871.

To a digital comms geek like me it’s an intriguing proposition; Taking a communication channel that is seven years old, which we started using so that we could reach a younger demographic and more casual fan, and filling it with black and white photos and 140 years of rugby heritage.

There’ll be nothing else like it for England rugby on the web and if we nail it it’ll help us create a deeper engagement between the fans and the game.

Much of the culture that Lancaster has instilled in the current squad is around playing for the sake of the game and the pride in the shirt and we’re attempting to share some of that with the fans by laying England rugby’s history out in front of them.

Here are a few other brands who are using timelines well. Let us know if you’ve seen anymore you like or if you have any ideas for using Facebook timelines.

www.facebook.com/olympics
www.facebook.com/nytimes
www.facebook.com/manchesterunited

We like Liverpool FC’s new Tumblr blog

With the odd exception, less is more when it comes to social media initiatives. The simpler you can make them more likely people are to engage, it’s why I’ve never been a fan of Facebook apps – permissions tend to get in the way of engagement.

This premise throws up a tricky little challenge though. How do you make an easy, casual engagement into something meaningful for your brand? Enter Liverpool FC’s new Tumblr image blog and a shining example.

The club has a huge archive of images dating back decades, useful for a brand whose history forms a big part of its identity. They are posting one or two of these images each day with a couple of paragraphs explaining the picture, and the result ticks a load of boxes for the social media marketeer.

•It is bang on brand, reinforcing the history of success at the club
•It educates fans around past icons and stories, giving them a deeper engagement with the club
•The content is great and utterly shareable. My experience on the RFU’s social channels has shown that images are consistently the most viral type of content
•Because its dealing in archive footage fan engagement is not so dependent on the vagaries of team performance
•It’s very Pinable
•Thanks to a link to the clubs online print store the content can be immediately and directly monetised.

All-in-all, not a bad return for posting a few pictures on Tumblr!

http://theredsgallery.tumblr.com/

Our new homepage is in development

Sport and social media in 2012

This is a post I originally wrote for the excellent UK Sports Network site a couple of weeks ago, but as we’re looking ahead to the RFU’s upcoming projects, here’s a broad sweep of what 2012 may hold for sport and social media:

Let’s start with a safe bet, while the planet’s finest are setting records in east London this summer, the social sphere will generate a record amount of noise around a single sporting event. Sports fans will get unprecedented Olympic access from athletes, journalists and volunteers alike (sorry BOA, but you can’t control 70k of them!). It will be one of those events that throws so much into the social sphere that what works will quickly find its way into other sports.

More broadly, there are a handful of significant trends set to hit in 2012, but the two that will have most visible impact for fans are Social TV and online Stadium-Based Services.

New devices and software will start to put social media at the heart of the home-viewing experience. I think we can expect broadcasters to roll match specific hash tags at the start of all games and events, instantly creating a way for brands to engage with very focussed groups of sports fans for the duration of an event.

As wifi and 3G coverage improves in stadiums, the sharing of live match experiences through social media will become easier and sponsors and organisers will focus more on harnessing these opportunities. The eager ones will troop off to live events with tablets and promo staff to capture data and social sign-ups. The integration of offline content, like programmes, with social media and online commerce should also make a step change.

Finally, a couple of personal thoughts around social and sport for me in 2012: firstly how, as a Governing Body, the RFU can best use social media to increase participation; and secondly what would an organised F1 assault on social media look like? The sport is ripe for it and 2012 may finally be the year they nail it.

Tell us something

The birth of RFU Labs

It was the day of the student protests in London, thousands marching because they wanted something different. I remember because we got 200m from the offices of Aqueduct, the RFU’s digital agency, when we hit the path of the march and had to make a two mile detour.

We were late, Aqueduct were full of ideas.

“What about starting a blog?” they pitched moments after we sat down.

“We could use it to source ideas and feedback on upcoming digital projects,” we said.

“Yes,” they said.

“We could use it to show people what actually goes on in the RFU offices,” we said.

“Yes,” they said.

“The RFU’s never done this before,” we said.

“No,” they said. “So how about it?”

A helicopter thudded overhead, keeping an eye on the placard-waving mass outside.

“Let’s start it soon,” we said.

So here I am a few weeks on, travelling to a social media seminar on a packed commuter train, tapping this out on my phone.

Over the coming months we’ll show you how we develop our digital projects, we’ll give you a first look at some works in progress and we’ll show you into the RFU and Aqueduct offices.

Most importantly we’ll be asking about your needs and ideas for the RFU’s digital projects so we can work them in wherever possible.

Here goes then, something different from the RFU and Aqueduct.

Welcome to RFU Labs

Hi There, 

Welcome to RFU Labs…..

What is it? 

RFU Labs is an open door for digital gurus to interact directly with the RFU, specifically around a few select themes, such as:

1. RFU.COM (likes / dislikes)

2. The digital landscape

3. What your likes / dislikes are in the world of digital

4. Up and coming innovations for RFU.com

This blog will be flexible and fun and we want you to get involved as much as possible.  

Why not ‘meet the team’ from the link in the right hand module.  

Why?  

We feel it is important to be open and take into account your views and opinions

about what makes our digital world tick and how sports, rugby and digital fit

together. With our digital agency friends at Aqueduct, we’ll

comment, post and grow this blog with your best interests at heart.   

When?  

The blog will grow organically over time, but we don’t want it to be arduous,

we need your help in pushing this forward. Ideally, we aim to make weekly

posts….so keep coming back.

We really hope you find it interesting. 

Team RFU and Aqueduct.