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Thorough analysis of current Social Media platforms, recommendations, and implementation plan.For the City of Windsor & the International Children's Games 2013 Windsor-Essex

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Page 1: International Children's Games 2013 Windsor-Essex: Social Media Strategy & Guidelines for Staff

DRAFT

Page 2: International Children's Games 2013 Windsor-Essex: Social Media Strategy & Guidelines for Staff

Copyright © 2012 OutBRANDish Consulting Group & the City of Windsor. All rights reserved.Content: OutBRANDish Consulting Group.Layout: OutBRANDish Consulting Group.

Page 3: International Children's Games 2013 Windsor-Essex: Social Media Strategy & Guidelines for Staff

Contents

1 To our client the City of Windsor 3 Introduction

7 Strategy development 8 Objectives

10 Situational analysis12 Target profiles17 World internet penetration 201218 World social media rankings 201219 World social media distribution 2012

Key objectives

1,500Facebook Likes

700Twitter followers

5,000YouTube views

100YouTube channel subscriptions

500App downloads

10,000Webpage views

2,300Wikipedia article views

20,000Cumulative Unique Interactions total

20 Platform analyses; yes, no, maybe22 Social media recommended23 Social media recommended for future consideration23 Social media not recommended24 Platform profile reports

48 Recommendations in-depth

57 Strategy financials61 Cost analysis 2012-201363 Assumptions we made

65 Measuring success69 Milestone calendar 2012-2014

71 Appendices

Page 4: International Children's Games 2013 Windsor-Essex: Social Media Strategy & Guidelines for Staff

To our client the City of Windsor

“You will be pioneers in more than one industry!”

Dear Colleague,

Welcome to OutBRANDish Consulting Group’s social media strategy for the International Children’s Games 2013 and the City of Windsor. Addressing areas and decisions related to choosing and using social media for the International Children’s Games 2013 Windsor-Essex. Combining world-class capabilities with dynamic marketing expertise, our unique marketing strategies deliver customized insights to the City of Windsor.

In the following pages, you will find several integrated topics that form the strategy the City of Windsor will follow. We combined the most up-to-date social media statistics available, city policies, and International Olympic Committee policies to form a document that will serve to increase awareness as job number one, but maintain the integrity of the International Children’s Games and the City of Windsor. We begin with a detailed look at the goals the City of Windsor will be aiming for while completing this strategy, we examine in explicit detail almost 20 different social media platforms for fit with the strategies goals, eliminating platforms that did not achieve desirable results or a positive ROI. We also touch on opportunities the City of Windsor has available that would not be classified as social media but will aid the strategy in reaching maximum effectiveness.

We will walk you through each platform recommendation in explicit detail, and provide you with the step-by-step directions you will need to carry-out the strategy over the next 12 months. We conclude the deliverable by offering ways to measure the success of your efforts, and proper techniques we’ve found that achieve desired results without sacrificing your integrity.

Often through-out the strategy you may find there are recommendations that just do not fit with the broader direction the City of Windsor is going in, in these cases the recommendation was formulated for maximum effectiveness and ROI, taking lessons from previous campaigns forward.

Through a co-ordinated effort, we can work together to market the International Children’s Games 2013 Windsor-Essex and make the most of its online opportunities.

Tyler F. ComptonProject leader, OutBRANDish Consulting Group

2 3

©2012, Taylor Global Inc. The trademarks, tradenames and logos used herein are the property of Taylor. No part of this presentation may be used without permission. All rights reserved.

Fans Reveal a New Experience with the Olympic Games26 sports. 205 countries. 10,500 elite athletes. 20,000 media and broadcasters. 7.6 million tickets.

2 3

©2012, Taylor Global Inc. The trademarks, tradenames and logos used herein are the property of Taylor. No part of this presentation may be used without permission. All rights reserved.

Fans Reveal a New Experience with the Olympic Games26 sports. 205 countries. 10,500 elite athletes. 20,000 media and broadcasters. 7.6 million tickets.

1

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ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group3

Introduction

// In recognition of the fast growing ubiquity of social media, the City of Windsor Mayor’s office recognized the role a well designed social media strategy could play for the International Children’s Games 2013 (ICG), In the following pages is a tactical plan for the city’s use of social media going forward that will act as a coveted spoke in the complex ICG marketing wheel.

The international children’s games Windsor-Essex social media strategy

London 2012 young athletes tweet pictures of

their experience.

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To provide some insight into the International Children’s Games event and the challenges before us, OutBRANDish has summarized the most pertinent information about the International Children’s Games as it concerns the development and implementation of this strategy.

What are the ICGs? // The International Children’s Games are an Olympic committee-sanctioned multi-sport event for athletes between the ages of 12 and15. The games were originally created as an event that would foster a better understanding and acceptance among children of different cultural backgrounds, as well as promote peace and harmony worldwide. The inaugural games were held in 1968 in the former Yugoslavia. Since

then, 26 countries have hosted the Games. These games have come in the form of 46 summer games and four winter games. It is now widely recognized as the largest international youth-sporting event in the world with over 37,000 total participants from 411 different cities, 86 countries and five continents.

Windsor’s experience with sports tourism // Windsor 2013 will be the 4th time the event has been hosted by a Canadian city. Windsor-Essex County has had some experience acting as host for large events but the 47th International Children’s Games will be the first time hosting a multinational sporting event of this scale. In 2009 and 2010 Windsor hosted the Red Bull Air Races World Championships. The races attracted

4ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group

Page 8: International Children's Games 2013 Windsor-Essex: Social Media Strategy & Guidelines for Staff

thousands of spectators and were considered to be great successes. The city also played twin host for NFL Super Bowl XL in 2006 and the MLB All-Star game in 2005. The City of Windsor hopes to expand on these successes and increase tourism in the region by capitalizing on the lucrative ‘sports tourism’ sector of the economy. There are bids in to host the 2014 Memorial Cup, FINA 2016 swimming competition, and future Red Bull Air Races. The International Children’s Games are the first step in a series of steps to solidify Windsor’s position as a top sporting destination.

What is social media? // Social media focuses on building online communities of people who share

interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others through two-way communication. Popular methods include Facebook and Twitter.

Is social media new news or old news for ICG sized events? // Only recently have multinational sporting organizations moved away from the traditional marketing mix of one-way conversations, shaking it up with social media which offers a dialogue with your targets. As of yet social media has not been fully utilized in a major sporting event before the likes of the London 2012 Olympics. Before London, examples of social media being used in this capacity are sparse, only the FIFA World Cup

ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group5

Future City of Windsor Family Aquatic Centre opening Spring 2013

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2010 and the Vancouver 2010 Olympics provide examples, these events used social media but only sparingly and did not rely on it to promote the event in any significant capacity, only to support existing traditional communications. London 2012 created apps, social games and profiles on numerous social networks to really attract more attention to the event as a whole. In recognition of their efforts their Facebook page has 1.7 million ‘likes’.

Social media & ICG // Efforts to integrate social media into the International Children’s Games have been largely unsuccessful, poor content selection and infrequent updates mean even the parent Facebook page has only 653 ‘likes’, meanwhile ‘likes’ to the 2011 Lanarkshire, Scotland ICGs total 1,163, the 2011 Kelowna, Canada Winter ICGs have 570, the 2012 Daegu, South Korea ICGs have 80, and the Ufa, Russia 2013 Winter ICGs have 21. In this respect the City of Windsor and the International Children’s Games are part of the early adopter to early majority crowd in making social media part of their game’s marketing mandate.

6ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group

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Section I: Strategy development

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Objectives

// OutBRANDish Consulting has recognized that part of the entire International Children’s Games Windsor-Essex 2013 success story will be its successful use of social media preceding and during the games. This strategy will serve as a learning tool for countless other international organizations and municipalities that may soon face similar hurdles. No longer will event attendance numbers be the sole determinant of a successful International Children’s Games, social media interactions will become one of the success matrices. To meet this vision we have isolated 7 goals and objectives the City of Windsor will be aiming for.

The key target that underpins these aims is:

1. Increase awareness of ICG as a whole, the ICG Windsor-Essex 2013 event especially, while additionally allowing the City of Windsor to be identified as a sport tourism destination.

i. To serve this broader target this strategy hopes to produce at least 20,000 cumulative unique interactions (CUIs), which is the sum of all concrete quantitative interactions; Likes (Facebook), Follows (Twitter), YouTube (views and subscriptions), downloads (Apple App Store, Google Play, Blackberry App World) and webpage views (www.icg-windsoressex2013.com and Wikipedia).

a. 1,500 Facebook Likes

b. 700 Twitter Followers

c. 5,000 YouTube views, 100 YouTube channel subscribers

d. 500 App store downloads

e. 10,000 www.icg-windsoressex2013.com page views

f. 2,300 Wikipedia article views

From this broad goal, awareness and CUIs will be delivered via the proper execution of the following 6 goals and objectives for City of Windsor staff:

ii. Engaging with key influencers; where we target our marketing to specific key individuals (or types of individuals) rather than the target market as a whole. These so-called value-added influencers might include journalists, sports professionals, high profile athletes, ICG representatives and their families, and so on). These influencers will be our word of mouth (WOM) marketers; creating (free) content for us that influence those that follow them.

iii. These key influencers along with City of Windsor staff, OutBRANDish members and many others will comprise the ICG’s Buzz Crowd. The buzz crowd is a group of dedicated people, that will continuously be posting content on any number of the ICG’s social media platforms and serve to keep information fresh, targeted, and

Strategy development

8ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group

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natural (using the combined intellect of many to develop posts over a single source).

iv. The buzz crowd strategy will leverage attending athlete’s existing social media networks (see “Target profiles” for data that quantifies this assertion p. 13 ). It is critical ICG encourage attending athletes and their networks to communicate about ICG on their platforms. ICG must be cognizant of team and coach rules, family restrictions, and ICG/ City of Windsor policies and guidelines, and allow for the movement of barriers that might hinder our buzz crowd from reaching its potential. To this end OutBRANDish has a goal of;

a. At minimum >60% of the attending athletes utilizing social media in some capacity,

b. And >10% of their family member networks on social media platforms.

v. The strategy aims to be effective in reaching these goals by delivering to our target markets content on each social media platform selected that stimulates discussion and interaction (photographs, videos, web-based games), while boosting ICG’s image and awareness amongst their respective communities.

vi. Assisting in this directive will be the appearance of consistent messaging and branding across all social media platforms utilized. This voice will resonate with each of our targets while seemingly originating from a single source. This impossibility will be accomplished through the utilization of a Social Media Guideline for End Users that OutBRANDish has crafted and tailored to this specific purpose.

vii. Search engine optimization (SEO) so that a google search (of ICG, ICG Windsor, or ICG 2013 and so on), will show our recommended platforms and www.icg-windsoressex2013.com in the top 10 results. (Simply by activating the accounts suggested in this strategy, ICG Windsor-Essex’s SEO will be optimized).

viii. Lastly all of the interactions ICG will have with the community will be designed in a way that will draw traffic through the spectrum of our social media platforms to their end at www.icg-windsoressex2013.com. Reference and access to the ICG website should be visible throughout each platform utilized.

ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group9

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Section II: Situational analysis

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Situational analysis

Target audience(s)

// Our target audiences are as diverse as the world is wide, and so it is difficult to isolate demographics that can be carried across regions and the world. OutBRANDish has done our best to prepare a target market analysis that is truly representative of the entire target market.

ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group11

Before we get into any more detail we have to know who is attending before they get

here.

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We’ve identified 6 critical targets, that will be the drivers of social media use and influence for ICG;

1. Athletes & children spectators (aged 12-15)

2. Connected community advocates

3. Family members, coaches, trainers, and

support staff of athletes

4. Connected Moms (aged 25-54)

5. Mobile device users (mobile phone,

smartphone, and tablet)

6. Local Windsor-Essex audience (Event’s

attendance base)

12ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group

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Target profiles

Athletes & Children spectator profile

Key characteristics Age 12-15Male or FemaleAthletic or has an interest in sportsHHI <20k-100k+

Top social media sites Facebook, Moshi Monsters, Club Penguin, Twitter, Google+

Places strategy targets this audience

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Mobile App

Key stats used for strategy* //

➡ 78% of children belong to a social networking site.➡ Facebook has the highest penetration with 49%.

Followed by Moshi Monsters around 25%, Club Penguin around 23%, Twitter sub 20%, and Google+ <10%.

➡ Social networking penetration is higher among girls and older kids. 94% of girls aged 12-15 belong to

at least one social networking site; 88% of boys aged 12-15.

➡ At present 80% of 12-15 year olds use Facebook. The social networking site has become embedded in these children’s lives, with over 70% in this group claiming to login most days of the week. 17% of children aged under 12 claim to be a member of Facebook despite the site’s over-13 policy.

➡ 69% of 12-15 year olds now share links on a social networking site. The majority (64%) usually do click on the links their friends share.

➡ A significant majority of this age group also engage with brands via social media with 41% agreeing that "I keep up with a brand, product or company via a social networking site (e.g. by becoming a 'follower' or 'liking' it on Facebook)". This is slightly more popular among girls (44%).

➡ Among the overwhelming majority of 12-15 year olds who are on Facebook, 75% log on daily and 37% several times a day. Only 8% log on less than once a week.

➡ Half of Facebook users in the 12-15 age group state that they upload photos at least once a week.

➡ The average number of friends children have on Facebook is 205.

➡ 82% of 12-15 year olds have their own mobile phone.

➡ Just over 36% of all 12-15 year olds have digital TV and the internet at home and have their own mobile phone.

➡ Children aged 12-15 who use the internet at all (whether at home, school, or elsewhere) use the internet for a (self-reported) 8 hours per week.

➡ 78% of parents of 12-15 year olds impose rules relating to content.

* THIS DATA IS APPLICABLE TO AND REPRESENTATIVE OF WESTERNIZED/DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ONLY(UK Data), THE STATISTIC THAT 56% OF ALL SOCIAL MEDIA TRAFFIC ORIGINATES OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA HELPS IN FORMING VARIOUS INFERENCES AS TO THE ATTITUDES AND HABITS OF USERS OUTSIDE WESTERNIZED/DEVELOPED COUNTRIES.

ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group13

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Connected community advocates profile

Key characteristics Age 18-59Male and FemaleConcentrated in 25-34 age bracketHHI 50k+

Top social media sites Twitter

Places strategy targets this audience

Facebook, Twitter, Mobile App

Definition // People like University of Windsor Professor Vincent Georgie, who sits on several community boards and brings citywide initiatives directly into the classrooms. These people are not only fans of Windsor, but also want to see Windsor grow.

Key stats used for strategy // The target is too broad or the information currently available is too dated or vague to be included in this publication. Instead, where recommendations were formulated, they were done so based on supporting data from other targets.

Family members, coaches, trainers & support staff profile

Key characteristics Age 8-69Male and FemaleNationalisticPaternal/ MaternalInterested in youth sportsYouth sports industry professionals

Top social media sites Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia

Places strategy targets this audience

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, Mobile App

Definition // This target is wide, but includes the immediate and extended families of each athlete (brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc.), and the athlete’s support staff including but not limited to; coaches and trainers.

Key stats used for strategy // The target is too broad or the information currently available is too dated or vague to be included in this publication. Instead, where recommendations were formulated, they were done so based on supporting data from other targets. Please contact OutBRANDish should you wish we further profile this group. Additionally, contact us for statistics from our research for the age group 8-11 (UK data).

14ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group

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Connected Moms profile

Key characteristics Age 25-54FemaleMothers of athleteHealth conscious MothersHHI <20k-100k+

Top social media sites Facebook YouTube, Twitter

Places strategy targets this audience

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia Mobile App

Definition // Moms 25-54 are digitally connected “social media butterflies” who crave connection and conversation around events like the ICGs.

Key targeting stats used for strategy //

➡ 60% own smartphones.➡ 48% own mobile apps.➡ 15% own a tablet.➡ 67% own music devices.➡ 26% own e-readers.➡ 67% own a gaming system➡ 45% own a portable gaming device.➡ Content generation among Moms are centralized

around early morning and lunch time, 50% using

social media sites to post original content and comments about events.

➡ 87% say they would use some type of social media to watch/follow/get updates on televised events like the ICGs.

➡ When it came to the London 2012 Olympics, 68% said they were likely to use social media to find and share information about the games.

➡ And 52% said social media was going to be the most important source of information for the Olympics.

➡ 32% use Twitter, putting it as the 3rd most used site by this audience after Facebook and YouTube.

Mobile device user profile

Key characteristics Age 8-54Male and FemaleHHI <20k-100kSocial media drivers

Top suppliers Nokia (422.4 million units sold*), Samsung (313.9*), Apple (89.2*), RIM (51.5*)

Android is the top operating system for “New” smartphones sold; 48.8% of smartphones shipped

*Fiscal 2011

Places strategy targets this audience

Mobile App, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia

Key targeting stats used for strategy //

➡ Over 6 billion people on earth, and 5.9 billion handsets.

ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group15

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➡ 87% of the world’s population, 117.8% of developed nations, and 78.8% of developing nations have a cellular subscription.

➡ People in the developing world are using mobile devices to skip the traditional desktop as a way in which they access the network.

➡ Not uncommon throughout the world even for the poorest countries to have 50% of their geography covered by a wireless signal.

➡ One of the poorest countries in the world, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has the following mobile stats that help contextualize the global mobile device user;➡ By 2013 88% of the Congo will be covered

by a wireless signal.➡ 14 out of 100 citizens are mobile

subscribers, it is normal for 3 or 4 users to share a single phone (56 out of 100).

➡ These individuals stand out when it comes to certain social media drivers. They are the most likely of any group to;➡ Meet people with similar interests (35%).➡ Share personal information/photos (33%)

and get recommendations on where to access major sporting event content (32%).

Local Windsor-Essex profile

Key characteristics Population: 210,891 (Windsor)Growth 2006-2011: -2.6% (Windsor)Population density per km2: 1,441.3 (Windsor)

Population: 388,782 (Essex)Growth 2006-2011: -1.2% (Essex)Population density per km2: 210.1 (Essex)

Median age: 40.1Population aged 15 and over: 82.8%English first language: 70.2%AVG HHI: $82,701Major ethnic groups: Arabic, Italian, Chinese

Places strategy targets this audience

Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Wikipedia, Mobile App

16ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group

Data supports connected community members, connected Moms and mobile device users ingest information and spread it via WOM across their accounts. Statistically these will be your key influencers.

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Significance to ICG // OutBRANDish estimates at least 80% of event attendance will be generated through local supporters.

Key targeting stats used for strategy //

➡ 23rd most populous city in Canada.➡ The city’s close proximity to the US border make it

a unique media market; TV and radio are dominated by Detroit signals, making it difficult to reach Windsor residents with Canadian broadcast advertising. Even newspaper readership is strongly influenced by the US. It’s a unique situation that makes Out-of-Home even more impactful than in other markets.

➡ Windsor connects with Detroit, Michigan by the Ambassador Bridge and the Detroit-Windsor

Tunnel, which is the second busiest route between Canada and the US.

➡ The following are statistics for Facebook (inferences can be made for the other social media platforms considering their size in relationship to Facebook) in the Windsor-Essex are;➡ There are 34,360 users, who live within 50

miles of Windsor, ON age 13-15.➡ 195,300 users, who live within 50 miles of

Windsor, ON age 13-99.➡ 116,480 mobile users who live within 50

miles of Windsor, ON age 13-99.➡ 26,580 mobile users who live within 50

miles of Windsor, ON age 13-15.

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78.6%

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World internet penetration 2012

World internet penetration 2012

The above graphic is a representation of the percentage of internet users in each region who has direct access to an internet connection. Thus 78.6% internet penetration for North American, is the average percentage of the population of Canada, United States, and Mexico with access to the internet. We found that

34.6% of the world’s population has internet access, with the fastest growing regions being located in Africa, and Asia, each have internet penetration growth in the high thousands, meanwhile average internet penetration growth worldwide has growing 566.4% since 2001.

ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group17

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7World social media rankings 2012World social media rankings 2012

18ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group

Families are becoming increasingly connected and active on social media

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LegendLegend

Facebook

QZone

Vkontakte

Odnoklassniki

Drauglem

Zing

Cloob

Twitter*

World social m

edia distribution 2012

ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group19

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Section III: Platform analyses; yes, no, maybe

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“The market presents lots of platforms for ICG to stand on, we’ve found the ones you will.”

ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group21

We’ve simplified the endless maze of possibilities into

individual profiles for easy reading.

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Social media recommended

// After extensive research into a wide range of social media tools and establishing our selection based on a return on investment (ROI) criterion (thus eliminating platforms that, although popular in their own right, lack a critical mass of your targets to enable efficient use of staff resources). OutBRANDish is recommending that a single corporate account or channel be established for use of the following social media platforms and one application;

1. Facebook

2. Twitter

3. YouTube

4. Wikipedia

5. Mobile App

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Social media recommended for future consideration

// Additionally, the following are not part of this strategy and were not considered part of ICG’s critical path for social media. However, it is recommended that ICG further investigate these platforms and be reflexive should a need arise that one of these platforms serve;

6. Google+

7. LinkedIn

8. FourSquare

9. Instagram

Social media not recommended

// During the development of this strategy, over 16 social media tools were examined for their potential application to ICG’s communication and marketing goals and objectives that, for various reasons, should not be pursued any further at this time;

10. Orkut

11. Pinterest

12. Groupon

13. Vkontakte

14. QZone

15. Odnoklassniki

16. Cloob

17. Blogger (Not profiled)

18. Tumblr (Not profiled)

19. Flickr (Not profiled)

! ! ! ! ! ICG Deagu South Korea 2012

ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group23

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Facebook

Logo

Users >1,000,000,000

Growth rate 6.6%

Date launched February 2004

Languages 70+ (English majority 52%+)

Demographics: median age 22 years old

Demographics: gender 43% Male 57% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

United States, Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, India

Geographic reach Global(50.3% of North America, 15% of the Caribbean, 25.5% of Latin America, 27.5% of Europe, 3.6% of Africa, 8.4% of the Middle East, 4.7% of Asia, 37.7% of Oceania/Australia)

Other facts 1.13 trillion likes, 140.3 billion friend connections, 219 billion photos, 600 million mobile users, 45% of global Internet users and 15% of the world’s population are active on Facebook monthly, 37 million Pages with over 10 likes, average 20 minutes spent per visit.

Founded in February 2004, Facebook is a website that essentially represents the digital mapping of a person’s real-world connections.

Users can create profiles, connect with friends, family and co-workers, create profiles for themselves with photos, lists of personal interests, contact information and other personal information. Communicating with friends and other users can also create and join interest groups and “like pages” (formerly called “fan pages” until April 19, 2010), some of which are maintained by organizations, including businesses and government, as a means of advertising, promotion or information sharing.

Some of the organizations that have used Facebook in their marketing:

London 2012 OlympicsVancouver 2010 Winter OlympicsInternational Children’s GamesToronto Pan Am Games 2015ICG Kelowna 2011ICG Lanarkshire 2011ICG Daegu 2012ICG Lake MacQuarie 2014ICG Ufa 2013

Our take on Facebook // Facebook is an extremely valuable social media platform since it is the most popular worldwide. In addition to the high amount of traffic on Facebook, the users spend more time on it than any other social media website. The combination of these two factors means that a Facebook page absolutely needs to be a part of ICG Windsor’s social media strategy. Currently there is an International Children’s Games Facebook page but research on social media campaigns of recent Olympic events has shown that the majority of Facebook traffic will be on the Facebook page specific to Windsor-Essex and not the International Children’s Games page.

Facebook in its most recent public report cited that they have approximately 955 million users. From our research we have concluded almost 18% of users are from the United States. Additionally the top ten countries account for nearly 53% of all users. These statistics impact ICG’s approach to social networking in a major way. Since the social media strategy is attempting to reach a variety of different countries Facebook by itself alone will not be

Social media recommended | Social media recommended | Social media NOT recommendedPlatform profile reports for future consideration

24ICG 2013 Social Media Strategy & Guidelines | OutBRANDish Consulting Group

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successful, but included as a spoke in the wheel of our platform recommendations, is a recipe for success. Many social media strategies fail because there is a belief that simply using Twitter and Facebook will have sufficient global reach. Many countries have their own specific social media websites that they prefer to use. Since it would be otherwise imperative that additional social media platforms be chosen in countries that will be participating in the International Children’s Games, we have profiled several Facebook competitors in the following pages. Facebook will be a good reliable asset in North America and in most of Europe. Its user base does have significant representation in acceptable quantities in the countries that comprise; Asia, Latin America and the Middle East for us not to recommend one or several social networking platforms for these regions due to a less than satisfactory ROI. Unless assumptions as to staff resources or regional priorities for ICG change we remain firm in this recommendation.

In addition, The ICG Facebook page should focus on attracting new people to like the page and facilitating their participation. By posting material and encouraging people’s discussion. The community will hopefully grow support for the initiative. It is crucial to be posting material that stimulates demand and generates participation. Photos have historically been the most popular items, but the inclusion of richer content, (i.e.) videos and social games, will meet the growing demands of your targets.

How to get started //

Processes to follow when Facebook is being implemented:

1. Create an account for the ICG Windsor-Essex 2013 social media account coordinator (must be done before a Facebook page can be created).

2. Create an ICG Windsor-Essex 2013 Facebook page.

3. Add a “Like” button to www.icg-windsoressex2013.com.

4. (optional) connect Twitter account so tweets are shared on the Facebook page, and Facebook posts made by the coordinator to the page are shared as tweets.

5. Create/find a unique targeted “Cover photo” (top portion of profile).

6. Create/find a unique targeted “Profile picture” (main photo that is representative of ICG on Facebook – shows up in searches, posts, comments etc.)

7. Regularly comment on users posts. (reciprocity)

8. Regularly generate content.

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Twitter

Logo

Users >500,000,000

Growth rate 20.7%

Date launched July 15, 2006

Languages 17 (English majority)

Demographics: median age 31 years old

Demographics: gender 45% Male 55% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

United States, Brazil, Japan, UK, Indonesia

Geographic reach Global

Other facts 175 million tweets a day, 251 million mobile users, 13% of global internet users, 36% at least tweet once a day, average 11:50 minutes spent per visit.

Twitter, created in 2006, is a free social networking/microblogging service that enables people to communicate in a short and simple way that can be broadcasted to the world.

The platform enables its users to send and read messages known as “tweets” – text-based messages of a maximum 140 characters displayed on the author’s profile page and delivered to the author’s subscribers, also known as followers. It attempts to tell people what they care about as it is happening in the world.

As of this publication Twitter has over 500 million users registered worldwide and has recognized an increase in users by 372% in less than 2 years.

One of the most significant ways Twitter benefits corporate users, is that it provides an easy way to share information with engaged followers who have selected the International Children’s Games Windsor-Essex as a source of information they value. In fact, research indicates that Twitter – and other social media outlets like Facebook – have overtaken traditional media outlets as a source the public turns to for breaking news.

The benefits of using Twitter include:

➡ It can break news faster than other sources.

➡ It can augment customer service efforts.

➡ It is a quick, simple and cost effective way to communicate with engaged followers who have selected ICG Windsor-Essex as a source of information they value.

➡ Updates can be synchronized with ICG Windsor-Essex’s Facebook page.

Some of the organizations that have used Twitter in their marketing:

London 2012 OlympicsICG Lanarkshire 2011ICG Kelowna 2011

Our take on Twitter // Twitter is a real-time network that connects you to the latest stories, ideas, opinions and news about what people find interesting. Twitter works on commitment especially when it comes to branding a product or event. Conceptually, the technique is easy but because of the nature of the media and audience involved, the advantage lies in the versatility that Twitter can provide for marketing the Games.

Twitter has an unprecedented global scope of influence and market penetration. This makes it the undisputed market leader in micro blogging, a prime tool for spreading the word and the perfect media for the Games. It is free and easy to setup, therefore anyone

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can gain access to Twitter regardless of their age or technological prowess. Young contestants can easily set up Twitter accounts.

Twitter allows you to network efficiently and with large groups of people. Twitter and its third party applications allow you to segregate and interact with your audience effectively pulling back on time constraints. The speed of communication, the ease with which a Twitter account can be set up and the personal touch form the unique environment of Twitter, and contribute to the many features it has available.

Twitter offers a fair share of benefits in contributing towards a healthy marketing campaign and also to improve the visibility for the future Games. Twitter and its applications serve as a strong marketing tool. As you interact with your targets, search Twitter and more, you will learn what people are saying about the Games, the events and the whole experience, and ultimately be able to find ideas that would contribute towards promoting the Games in a better way in the future. Twitter has been known to act as a press release tool that would let you announce to your audience and share news. It is cost effective and your feedback is instant.

Twitter is a wonderful platform to make the young athletes participating in the Games become internationally popular with their own dedicated Twitter feeds and subscribers that will help promote the Games, manage costs, and leverage the networks and resources of others. With its global outreach Twitter can provide the Games the exposure it needs and simultaneously revolutionize the way the Games are advertised in the future. Advertising the Games and having promoted tweets can get companies to share their vision and attach themselves to community involvement programs which in turn would give them an opportunity to become sponsors for the Games in the future. This platform would be able to reinvent the business environment and with strong positive publicity of the ICG Games, it can dramatically reduce the costs of the Games. In fact, it can increase revenue from sponsorships and open the pool to large multinationals.

With the increasing popularity of cell phones among teenagers, and our target markets, it is highly essential to incorporate a social media campaign focussed on networking sites that have apps on the various operating systems on multiple devices. Twitter would become an integrated part of marketing especially with the wide range of tools and applications that help in analyzing user patterns, recognition and technical advancements. Twitter is an easy to use platform for many users and hence to create brand awareness, especially for a huge platform such as the International Children’s Games, it would be highly suggestive to use tools that would help the organization manage all the followers, replies, groups and messages. One of the many advantages to using Twitter is essentially the key factor that Twitter allows for apps that would enable better outreach in a well-organized manner making it highly productive, giving you leverage over the communication channel between the users and your organization.

Some of the many tools for Twitter productivity are:

➡ Bit.ly - Helps in shortening long URLs from blog posts or Websites that have content that you want to tweet or include on your official Games website to your followers. Bit.ly gives you that capability to shorten, share and track the URL.

➡ HootSuite – Has a similar functionality to Bit.ly but offers an add-on feature of tracking the origin of post based on the region of the world. it also lets you view your more popular tweets, as well as how many clicks you have received over a given time period.

Other applications;

➡ TweetDeck – manages followers, friends, replies, direct messages, multiple social profiles, groups and any other feature you could possibly imagine. It also allows for creating groups that can cater to any type of subject. It is an easy to download app on any Apple system.

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➡ TweetMetrics – track and dissect the important network behind your Twitter profile, your followers. Provides average stats, such as replies received per day, replies sent per day etc.

➡ Digsby - A social networking site that alerts you of events, such as when you receive new messages and it gives you a live newsfeed about what your followers are up to. You can keep track of everything your followers are doing and also where they are located (geographically) at any given time.

➡ Monitter - A great Twitter tool that allows you to monitor the Twitter world for when tweeters use a set of keywords, that would describe your organization precisely called hash tags, so that you can watch what people are saying about your product, service or idea.

➡ TwitPic - An application that allows you to share your favorite pictures on Twitter. Various “in the moment” pictures could be uploaded through this application, which intends to promote the Games in a much more efficient way, due to the vibrancy provided by the pictures. It creates a valuable experience for the audience as well as for the organization as a whole, letting the world have a visual representation of what is happening at the Games.

Twitter has been the only social networking site that has been able to attempt parity with Facebook, considering the huge gap in the number of users to the revenue generated over the years. There are many tools and applications that can make the Twitter experience friendly, quantitative and qualitative for both the organization and the target audience. The key idea is that it focusses on how effectively it can cater to the marketing needs of the Games and produce reports on user patters, target user satisfaction, and the marketing reach coverage. In short providing ICG with the numbers for the synopsis of how effective your marketing campaign is. And provides the unique ability to reverse or change direction in your messaging and then apply these findings across the entire campaign. The use of this

platform in synergistic tandem with our other recommendations is a virtual guarantee the ICG will receive results in the categories it values.

How to get started //

Processes to follow when Twitter is being implemented:

1. Re-name @icg_windsor_ess (Twitter account has already been created [May 22, 2012] and in use so there are no previous steps to follow).

2. Follow known influencers and stakeholders in the Windsor community as well as the global sporting community (this will generate awareness as well as reciprocity – how the social media world works).

3. (optional) connect Twitter account so tweets are shared on the Facebook page, and Facebook posts made by the coordinator to the page are shared as tweets.

4. Regularly Retweet followed users posts.

5. Regularly generate content.

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YouTube

Logo

Users >800,000,000

Growth rate N/A

Date launched February 14, 2005

Languages 60+ (English 48.1%)

Demographics: median age 33 years old

Demographics: gender 42% Male 58% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

United States, UK, Philippines, Turkey, Spain, Canada

Geographic reach Global

Other facts YouTube had more than 1 trillion views, 60 hours of video are uploaded every minute, Over 4 billion videos are viewed a day, Over 3 billion hours of video are watched each month, 70% of YouTube traffic comes from outside the US, 20% of YouTube views come from mobile devices on 350 million devices, 500 years of YouTube video are watched every day on Facebook, and over 700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter each minute, 16:40 minutes spent per visit.

YouTube, created in 2005, is a video sharing website where users can upload, watch and share videos. YouTube has grown to become the second largest search engine in the world after Google – today, more video is uploaded to YouTube in one month than the 3 major US networks have created in 60 years.

According to ComScore, Canada is among the top 3 in the world for online video viewing and Canadians view 10 hours of online video on average per month.

With the popularity of YouTube and online videosharing growing exponentially, organizations, including major sporting events around the world, have been taking advantage of its many benefits for years, which include:

➡ Cost effectiveness – registering for a YouTube channel is free. And can even become a revenue generator (see Recommendations drill down).

➡ Innovative way to inform and engage an audience that has sought ICG out.

➡ Interactivity – video viewers can comment on videos or even record and post a video response.

➡ Content accessibility – users can view video on webpages outside of the site (Facebook, Twitter) and on mobile phones.

➡ Unlimited content can be uploaded.

Our take on YouTube // YouTube is a website in which users may upload, view, download, and share videos. The users of the site may upload video content such as: movie clips, TV clips, music videos, video blogging, short original videos, educational videos, as well as any sort of amateur video. This being true, corporations and organizations may also offer some of their material or advertisements via the site as a part of a partnership program. Users of YouTube must be registered in order to post videos, where unregistered users may only view the online videos. With the ever-expanding age of technology we now find that YouTube has a great range of channels in which potential consumers may locate and watch videos of their interest. These channels originated on the desktop computer have advanced to other options which include: Apple products (Apple TV, iPod Touch, iPhone), an app for Android users, TV-based media devices with web browsers or dedicated apps (Playstation, Wii, Xbox Live, Blu-Ray players, Smart TVs etc.). As well, the interface of the

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website is available with localized versions in 42 counties around the world and 54 different languages(including the worldwide version).

YouTube isn't just for entertainment; it's one of the new marketing tools for effectively promoting businesses or products to lots of potential prospects with minimal budget outlay. Lots of firms have caught on to YouTube's potential and are exploiting web videos to touch current and potential customers and business interests. Businesses are constructing more special relationships with the broad intention of growing business leads and marketing their products, using YouTube to obtain the rewards of an inspired marketing strategy. This form of social media not only allows for both a visual and audio demonstration of products and services, but allows for customer-specific questions to be answered under the video where comments are available. This of course will provide great feedback to the organization on how your campaign is doing and what’s more, what the customers are looking for in order to produce the best outcome.

It was imperative to obtain knowledge about previous Olympic campaigns, their strengths and weaknesses using YouTube as a social media platform, in order to improve and move forward in upcoming ICG social media campaign. By having a sound knowledge of the aspects which could be improved ICG is a step further ahead towards a successful campaign and event. Therefore we will look into the London 2012 social media campaign in regards to the use of YouTube and its success/failure. For the first time ever, the International Olympic Committee broadcasted live Olympic content on the YouTube channel in 64 territories including; Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa with on-demand coverage also available. Elsewhere, live and on-demand internet and mobile coverage provided by the rights holding broadcaster within the respective territory, enabling Olympic fans around the world to follow the action wherever and however they take preference. This feature parallels ICG’s plan to live broadcast the games, a feature OutBRANDish highly recommended and congratulates the City of Windsor for their work in brokering the deal.

However, the flaw in London’s campaign was found when the strategy used did not consider social media as

a part of a whole, it was not coordinated in conjunction with other internet media campaigns that were being used simultaneously. A good opportunity was then lost in the London 2012 Olympics social media campaign as they did not test the functioning of their professional quality videos on Facebook and other social media platforms. Therefore, a lesson may be learnt about the synergies between all social media sites. The fact is that relationships on social networking sites are not top-down, but rather operate based on equality and reciprocity, thus each fan or follower deserves to be replied to. Each user should be treated as a unique individual, no matter the mass of followers. Additionally London faltered and was handicapped by the IOC’s “Rule 40 policy” (read more in Appendix III) which greatly limited the content generation capabilities of what would be your buzz crowd. Finally, it is also imperative for ICG to remember to remain consistent among all social media platforms and throughout their marketing initiatives. Taking the lessons learned and combining it with proven strategies YouTube will be a very powerful tool for ICG moving forward.

How to get started //

Processes to follow when YouTube is being implemented:

1. Create a Google account for the social media account coordinator.

2. Login, navigate to YouTube and start a channel.

3. Begin uploading video.

4. Reply to user comments.

5. Submit “video replies” to various relevant YouTube videos i.e. existing ICG videos or London 2012 videos (this generates click through traffic to the ICG channel).

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Wikipedia

Logo

Users >17,600,000

Growth rate N/A

Date launched January 15, 2001

Languages 262 (English majority)

Demographics: median age N/A

Demographics: gender 45% Male 55% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

N/A

Geographic reach Global

Other facts 96.6% of Wikipedia articles rank in Googles top 10 search results, Wikipedia is the 8th most visited site in the world, 14% of global internet users visited Wikipedia last month, 30% of people with less than high school look for information on Wikipedia, 69% of College+ use it to look for information.

Designed in 1995, Wikis are open, collaborative websites on specific topics where anyone can contribute content. Wikipedia is the best known wiki. Created in January 2001, it is the world’s largest free encyclopedia which everyone can collaborate on and edit.

Until recently Wikipedia has been viewed by educators as inaccurate and too risky to source due to its open collaborative nature, and organizations have steered away from creating their own Wikipedia page for the same reasons. But contrary to popular belief Wikipedia articles can be edited by the general public but that third-party is responsible for properly citing their additions. However the bulk of Wikipedia’s 17.6 million articles are generated by its more than 100,000 active contributors. Further Wikipedia has gone to great lengths to ensuring accuracy across all articles, Wikipedia does extensive and regular audits to ensure the information presented by the community can be trusted.

Our take on Wikipedia // Wikipedia serves as a good marketing tool. Wikipedia helps in validating the existence of ICG Windsor-Essex and provides readers with updated information. Wikipedia also helps in integrating all the known components of your marketing into one source and informs your targets about the platforms you are using and if need be relevant information and links for each. ICG will find Wikipedia to be a huge generator of click-through traffic to the website as users in large numbers click on the ICG Windsor-Essex homepage link to contextualize what they’ve just learned. Considering the influence and impact this can create on the Games and the youth athletes, it is recommended to use Wikipedia to serve the increasing popularity of the Games, and the increasing demand for information about it. The platform, also called the people’s encyclopedia, serves as a strong feedback tool especially from our audience and target market. While considering our recommendation, remember our recommendation promotes control as a feature as much as the other benefits we’ve outlined. Making your own article controls by elimination the possibility any third-party can create one as your unofficial representative, subsequently jeopardizing your image. Also as news is created by the Games, people often seek Wikipedia to again contextualize the news they’ve just consumed. The end

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goal of this platform is to serve as a mechanism for creating supremely informed users.

How to get started //

Processes to follow when Wikipedia is being implemented:

1. Create a Wikipedia account for the social media

account coordinator.

2. Create an article by either of 3 ways;

i. Create the article using the Wikipedia:Article

wizard. Your article will need to be reviewed before it goes 'live'.

ii. In the search box near the top right of a

page, type the title of the new article, then click Go. If the Search page reports "There were no results matching the query. You may create the page...." followed by the article name in red, then you can click the red article name to start editing it. When you are done, press "Show preview" to take a look at how the page will appear. Try to fix any formatting errors, then press "Save page". Your article is now part of Wikipedia and may be edited by anyone.

iii. Create the article by creating a Subpage in

your own personal user space (which assumes you have a Wikipedia account). Typically, the name that you give to the Subpage will be the same as that of your intended article. When you have finished creating it (typically after a lot of

repeated editing and saving), move the article from your Subpage to the Wikipedia mainspace (where the real articles are).

3. Continuously update the article as new information

becomes available.

4. Place the link to the article in the information areas

of your social media platforms to ensure every visitor can become supremely informed of the ICG Windsor games.

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Mobile application (App)

Logo

Apps >29,000,000,000

Growth rate AVG 68%

Date launched N/A

Languages All

Demographics: median age N/A

Demographics: gender N/A

Geographic region(s) most popular

United States, Canada, UK

Geographic reach Global

Other facts Android overtook Apple in terms of application downloads with 44% vs. 31% of downloads,15% of all web purchases are made using iOS and Android devices,250+ million iPhones,98% of iPhone users use the data features of their phone,iPhone owners are twice as likely as other Smartphone owners to be comfortable with advertising within the applications on their device.

Also called mobile apps, it is a term used to describe Internet applications that run on smartphones and other mobile devices. Mobile applications usually help users by connecting them to Internet services more commonly accessed on desktop or notebook computers, or help them by making it easier to use the Internet on their portable devices. A mobile app may be a mobile information portal, a mobile-based instant ticket purchasing channel, and many other applications.

Our take on mobile apps // Mobile applications have become a huge industry, growing astronomically, and offering unparalleled interaction between an organization and its target audience. We see an ICG application as the hub of everything ICG, and offers great sponsorship opportunity as well as areas to offer advice to young travellers and families of ICG athletes. Several sporting events and even local area events have designed applications explicitly for their event. Organizations like the UWSA who offered a Homecoming event application through the Apple App Store (although rudimentary it served as a key familiarizer and information portal for the event.

We also see the legacy implications of designing such a tangible product ICG attendees can enjoy, as well as future visitors to the area should a section be included that assists in smooth traveling and pre-planning for athletes and attendees, possibly offering suggestions for food, lodging and activities while enjoying the Windsor-Essex area.

How to get started //

Processes to follow when developing the mobile application:

1. Start the RFP process.

2. Give developers direction and budget.

3. Beta test with buzz crowd and key influencer network.

4. Launch application on each App store (Apple App Store, Google Play, Blackberry App World).

5. Regularly update app with information and content. 6. Utilize notifications, and location based services to inform and draw attendance.

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Google+

Logo

Users >400,000,000

Growth rate 625,000 users per day

Date launched June 28, 2011

Languages N/A

Demographics: age 45.3% of users are 18-24

Demographics: gender 60.37% Make 38.85% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

Napal, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka

Geographic reach Global

Other facts Google +1 button is served more than 5 billion times per day, only 17% of its users are active users.

Google + has been very controversial ever since its launch very early in 2011. With a base that has now passed 400 million users and the integration of Google+ into Google search, it has become clear that Google+ could be a strong platform that would need strategies that enable evolution to keep up with the latest trends, adjusting tactics that create optimized and influential profiles for a business. Considering the efforts by Google and their growing ambition, Google + needs a stronger brand presence and a more engaged user base to compete properly. It has to be much more than just networking, it must create an experience that offers more than just a mere social networking site, serving as more than an upgrade or extension of the immensely popular Google search.

Therefore considering Google + as an addition to our social media campaign would be a pitfall considering the dimensions under which the platform is operating. Incorporating Google+ into a marketing plan considering the comparisons with Facebook and Twitter, on paper may look highly essential because of certain features that can be really cost effective, productive and more quantitative, but ultimately these features were not enough to influence a positive position on this platform. They are;

➡ Search position is influenced and displayed - this feature helps present what your friends have been talking about and searching for on Google search.

➡ Smaller audience means less noise - Compared to the stats of the user population on Facebook, the engagement level is higher, simply due to the fact the (ad) noise is so much lower. The bigger audience contributes to a wider area coverage. Most of the users also find the over sense of the platform to be professional, more so on the Google+ network than on other social websites.

➡ Hangouts are a great feature - This feature makes Google+ exciting and creative to a whole new level. Users share content with others via video hangouts and interact with them face to face. This tool would be beneficial especially among athletes and family, considering the age groups who are our target markets. The athletes could share these video hangouts and promote the games to a whole new personal level, thus broadening the campaign to a whole new experience! Google+ also has an estimated user count of around 400 million users with the top countries being US, India, Brazil, UK, Canada and others. The growth rate of users was earlier seen to increase on an exponential rate influencing the assumption that user traffic on Google+ would provide a broader audience for the Games.

But again, it comes down to size and the key statistic that only 17% of its user’s access with a frequency higher than once a month, its growth and supporting

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numbers have erroneously encouraged organizations to adopt Google+ as an element of their marketing strategies. They were directly attributable to its early exclusivity and “invite only” strategy creating misleading user numbers. Its decline was aided by a lack of any significant competitive advantages over an already dominate Facebook, leaving users an option to split their time or choose between two equivocal networks but with less of their contacts. Ultimately users relegated time, effort and interest to the industry leader; Facebook.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should Google+ be implemented:

1. Create a Google account for the social media

account coordinator (If ICG already has an active one for YouTube, skip this step).

2. Invite people to join you on Google+ (formerly an

invite only platform, the site still would require users to actively recruit and engage new users).

3. Create circles for your specific target groups.

4. Reply/comment to user posts.

5. Create content regularly.

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LinkedIn

Logo

Users >160,000,000

Growth rate 100%

Date launched May 2003

Languages 17 (English majority)

Demographics: median age 43 years old

Demographics: gender 57.9% Male 42.1% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

Netherlands, India, UK, United States, Ireland, UAE

Geographic reach Global

Other facts 50% of LinkedIn’s users are outside the United States, every fortune 500 company has at least one executive on LinkedIn, 55% of people looking for jobs will search LinkedIn, 69% of people on LinkedIn reconnect with an old coworker, 76% of LinkedIn users do not have children, 98% of college graduates received at least one interview for a job they applied for via LinkedIn.

Launched in 2003, LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking tool that enables users to find connections to fellow colleagues and professionals, recommended job candidates, industry experts and business partners. Essentially, the site allows registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business.

Built on these trusted connections and relationships, LinkedIn has established the world’s largest and most powerful online community of professionals. Reportedly growing by a new member every second, as of this publication LinkedIn reports it has 160 million users around the world.

Our take on LinkedIn // The most powerful professional networking website that could build the outline of the entire Games personnel and market the Games in a more efficient way to professionals, and sponsors, and become thought leaders in their niche, provided they construct a group. The essential part of LinkedIn is the groups that have formed on the site that wreak benefits more so than the core website.

➡ Builds around leadership - These groups can be integrated in promoting the games that let professionals join the group and increase awareness of the games, increasing popularity in this niche.

➡ Connects a thriving community - People love to belong to a community that helps in nurturing the thoughts of likeminded people. Hence they tend to appreciate more compassionate events in the community. These groups are where various sponsors and marketing personnel can receive feedback about the games, ask for recommendations that would reap an opportunity which would be beneficial in promoting the Games to a whole new target market.

➡ Drives traffic to your site.

➡ Builds personal networks.

➡ Helps others.

The essentiality of this network lies in its innate ability to have new members join the website every second, making the user traffic over the globe increase to a whole new number every month. As of now, the network plays a host to Fortune 500 companies who can be made aware of the integrity of the Games, hoping for better

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sponsorships, wider network coverage around households whose average annual income is around 110,000 dollars. Ultimately, our recommendation stands on the premise that unless ICG is in need of a recruitment tool, the resources diverted from other platforms with higher ROIs would be a mistake.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should LinkedIn be implemented:

1. Create a LinkedIn account for the social media account coordinator.

2. Create organization/employer profile.

3. Post job positions.

4. Write recommendations for past/current employees (reciprocity).

5. Routinely update content.

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FourSquare

Logo

Users >20,000,000

Growth rate 1,400%

Date launched 2009

Languages 12 (English majority)

Demographics: AVG age 26 years old

Demographics: gender 60% Male 40% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, United States

Geographic reach N/A

Other facts More than 2 billion check-ins, 2000 per minute, 31% of mobile social media users use Foursquare.

Four Square is a location based social network. Users check in to locations earning them points and unique badges. They also are able to add tips to locations, giving other users information about that specific spot. Once checked in users have access to deals and specials offered by nearby locations. Companies can also create their own pages and offer tips and information of their own/ Four Square partnered with the London 2012 Olympics and created a special badge for users who checked into events throughout the Olympics.

Benefits to the platform could be:

➡ Small discounts on tickets may encourage additional spectators.

➡ Tips can provide potential spectators with information about current and upcoming events

How to get started //

Processes to follow should FourSquare be implemented:

1. Create an account for ICG Windsor-Essex 2013.

2. Add Tips and information at locations where

sporting events and award ceremonies will be held.

3. Offer ticket or other discounts to users.

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Instagram

Logo

Users >50,000,000

Growth rate N/A (high 00,000s)

Date launched December 8, 2010

Languages N/A (English majority)

Demographics: age 34.4% 18 - 25

Demographics: gender 31.8% Male 68.2% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

United States, Brazil, Thailand, UK, Australia

Geographic reach Western/Developed Countries

Other facts Facebook owned, Instagram gains one new user every second, 1 billion photos have been taken with the app, there are roughly 58 photos uploaded each second.

Instagram, created in 2010, serves as a strong tool for social media sharing and also allows optimization of your search options on many of the social platforms you will be working on. Due to the considerable amount of effort the company has put into developing Instagram, the effects along with the various features such as hash tags and its presence on other platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and Tumblr helps the audience to track any event or athlete through the social networks of their choice. The wide array of pictures uploaded of facilities available and excitement of the Games on Instagram also help the athletes to portray their experiences at the Games, serving as a strong motivator for future athletes.

The user count on this platform is unbelievably high. Hence it would be apt for the games to build the connection between the athletes, the games and their target market. Instragram also helps in event marketing, by letting people to take photos of an event which generates excitement about the event and creates more interaction. The filters available for each picture uploaded produce unique and exceptionally beautiful pictures versus the posting of an unfiltered photo to other platforms.

Benefits to the platform could be:

➡ Higher than average quality, artistic, highly sharable and likable content generated by users.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should Instagram be implemented:

1. Create an account for ICG Windsor-Essex 2013.

2. Follow relevant local influencers and ICG buzz crowd members and encourage more to join.

3. Take pictures and use Instagram’s filters, then upload them to Instagram.

4. (optional) at the upload stage of the process it is easy to click Facebook and Twitter for uploading to those sites as well.

5. Comment and “Like” other users ICG photographs (reciprocity).

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Orkut

Logo

Users >100,000,000

Growth rate N/A (high 00,000s)

Date launched January 22, 2004

Languages 48 (Portuguese majority)

Demographics: median age 30 years old

Demographics: gender 67% Male 33% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

Brazil, India

Geographic reach Latin America

Other facts Owned by Google

Started in 2004, Orkut is a social networking website that is owned and operated by Google Inc. it works on the same concept of meeting new people, building and maintaining relationships with your online friends as does Facebook.

Our take on Orkut // Stats show just prior to the advent of Facebook, Orkut’s traffic in United States was approximately 52% of entire social networking traffic. Orkut now holds the top spot, but only in the world of Google, followed by Google+. Orkut has a high outreach in Brazil despite the efforts of Facebook to break the number of Orkut users in this region. Orkut grew from 29.6 to 35.6 million monthly unique visitors over the year. Comparatively both have different growth trajectories but the only thing that allows the Orkut team to relax on their efforts in improving their outreach campaign is in their audience engagement metrics.

Orkut isn’t worth looking at in the short term, especially for an event such as the Games, considering the athlete count and the audience strength today.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should Orkut be implemented:

1. Create a Google account for the social media account coordinator (If ICG already has an active one for YouTube skip this step).

2. Reply/comment to user posts.

3. Create content regularly.

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Pinterest

Logo

Users >21,000,000

Growth rate 15.97%Visitors 2,702.2%

Date launched 2011

Languages 8 (English majority)

Demographics: AVG age 40.1 years old

Demographics: gender 18% Male 82% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

United States, Canada, Macedonia, Albania, South Africa

Geographic reach N/A

Other facts 1.36 million visitors a day, 50% of users have kids, 16:40 minutes spent per visit

Pinterest is an online live-stream bulletin social sharing websites. Its mission is to “connect everyone in the world through the “things” they find interesting. Users pin content from the internet onto their “pinboards” and these pins are then available to be seen by other users. Users may “re-pin” content previously pinned by other users. Content that is repined is brought back to the top of the page.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should Pinterest be implemented:

1. Create an account for ICG Windsor-Essex County.

2. Add a “pin it” on the ICG Windsor-Essex County

website to encourage other users to pin content from the website.

3. Pin content from ICG website as well as other

websites to bring traffic in.

4. Re-pin content from other users that relates to

what ICG wants to promote and its values.

5. Follow and comment on other users pins, which

will bring attention back to your profile.

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Groupon

Logo

Users >50,000,000

Growth rate 38%

Date launched February 2011

Languages N/A

Demographics: age 68% of Groupon purchases are18-34 year olds

Demographics: gender 23% Male 77% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, Philippines, Taiwan

Geographic reach North America, some Asia

Other facts 32.5 million Groupons sold, $980+ million saved in North America, average Groupon is a 56% discount, the Toronto Raptors have the most successful professional sports team Groupon.

Groupon is a website that offers discounted deals from local merchants to its users. Its reach is worldwide and is in over 500 markets in 44 different countries. It works by offering discounts on products, services, and events and then taking a percentage (between 30-50%) of the revenue generated from the purchases of the Groupons. There are numerous subscribers across the globe but it is estimated that only 20% of those subscribers actually purchase the deals offered.

Benefits to the platform could be:

➡ Featured deals are emailed to users daily.

➡ Deals are presented to consumers most likely to purchase them.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should Groupon be implemented:

1. Fill out an application on the GrouponWorks.com website.

2. Groupon will contact you within two weeks to begin the process.

3. Determine the deal to be used on Groupon (Half price tickets to one event, two tickets for the price of one etc.).

4. Determine the number of Groupons to be offered to the public.

5. Offer your Groupon to the public!

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Vkontakte - VK

Logo

Users >133,000,000

Growth rate N/A

Date launched September 2006

Languages 3 (Russian majority)

Demographics: age 52% users are 25-34 years old

Demographics: gender 67% Male 33% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

Russia, Ukraine, United States

Geographic reach Russia and former Soviet republics

Other facts 1 in every 625,000 internet users visit VK daily, 54.2% of the Russian online population use VK, 20 minutes spent per visit.

A European social networking service that is popular among Russian speaking populations. It is very popular in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Israel. It has an identical layout and feel to Facebook, while offering services that an international public company cannot legally allow on its site (copyrighted material), which makes it superior to Facebook in its core countries.  VK has approximately 133 million accounts and is available in English.

Our take on Vkontakte // This site would be beneficial to ICG Windsor if a significant portion of athletes are from the above mentioned countries.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should Vkontakte be implemented:

1. Create an account for ICG social media account coordinator.

2. Create profile, upload relevant content.

3. (see Facebook - How to get started for more processes).

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QZone

Logo

Users >480,000,000

Growth rate N/A

Date launched 2005

Languages N/A

Demographics: age 65% users are 25-34 years old

Demographics: gender 71% Male 29% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

China

Geographic reach Mainland China

Other facts Although it has the highest number of registered users in China, its numbers are suspect, and is not the most active social community in China. (RenRen is most active)

The website was introduced in 2005 and is currently the most popular social networking platform in China, especially for teenagers and students. Qzone has an estimated 376 million users in China alone. It has a very colourful and lively style and has several functions that satisfy the needs of its users. Due to western media censorship China does not allow Facebook, therefore Qzone is the social media outlet of choice. That said it does not have an English interface making it difficult to implement.

Our take on Qzone // Not only did we find through our research that although censored, Facebook still has a

massive user base in China. This paired with its stated user statistics often being distorted by the company, ICG Windsor should pass on Qzone unless the Chinese market is in particular an absolutely essential region to target individually.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should QZone be implemented:

1. Create account for ICG Windsor-Essex 2013.

2. Interact with community.

3. Generate content.

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Odnoklassniki

Logo

Users >45,000,000

Growth rate N/A

Date launched N/A

Languages 1 (Russian majority)

Demographics: age 37% users are 35-44 years old

Demographics: gender 78% Male 22% Female

Geographic region(s) most popular

Moldova, Armenia, Georgia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan

Geographic reach Russia and former Soviet republics

Other facts N/A

Odnoklassniki (translated to “classmates”) is one of the most popular social networking platforms in Russia with approximately 45 million registered users. It is predominately used as a networking tool for old friends and current classmates and does have an English version. People who use the website tend to stay on it for long periods of time compared to the social platform average but are traditionally older than 15.

Our take on Odnoklassniki // ICG Windsor should not use Odnoklassniki due to most users being outside the target market of 12-15 year old athletes.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should Odnoklassniki be implemented: (Information unavailable, we believe it would most likely be a combination of the following)

1. Create account for ICG Windsor-Essex 2013.

2. Interact with community.

3. Generate content.

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Cloob

Logo

Users N/A

Growth rate N/A

Date launched N/A

Languages 1 (Arabic majority)

Demographics: age N/A

Demographics: gender N/A

Geographic region(s) most popular

Iran

Geographic reach Middle East

Other facts N/A

A Persian language social networking site that is extremely popular in Iran.

Our take on Cloob // Unless Iran is a specific target for athlete participation and or event attendance, this site is not a priority. The subject is moot for ICG purposes since the website is invite only.

How to get started //

Processes to follow should Cloob be implemented: (Information unavailable, we believe it would most likely be a combination of the following)

1. Create account for ICG Windsor-Essex 2013.

2. Interact with community.

3. Generate content.

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Blogging – Blogger, Tumblr (Honourable mention)

Logo: Blogger

Logo: Tumblr

A blog, short for “web log”, is like an online journal. A blog is a frequently updated, personal website featuring diary-type commentary and links to articles on other websites. Blogs range from the personal to the political, and can focus on one narrow subject or a whole range of subjects.

While there are benefits to corporate blogs including opening the lines of communication between ICG and attendees, developing relationships and engaged followers and receiving feedback, an official ICG blog is not recommended at this time due to the need to identify and address issues including staff resources required to maintain and monitor it.

It is also the general belief of the team that blogs are antiquated in the world of social media, and diversion of resources to either of these would certainly not be detrimental but the benefits are cloudy at best.

Flickr (Honourable mention)

Logo

Launched in 2004, Flickr, owned by Yahoo, is one of the most popular image and video hosting websites and online communities in the world. Flickr offers its users a website where they can create free accounts that let them store, share, and explore digital photos. Flickr is

also an online community – a social networking site – whose members create their own profiles, share and discuss photography, and enjoy mutual interests. Additionally, the platform is widely used by bloggers to host images that they embed into blogs and other social media.

It is the opinion of the pod that Flickr, not unlike blogs, are quickly becoming stale platforms, being replaced by newer, quicker and easier platforms. Although Instagram is not in our immediate recommendations its similarities to Flickr are significant. Its features make Instagram a much better suited photography based platform to satisfy the goals of this strategy, offering an ROI and engagement level for its users that Flickr cannot match.

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Section IV: Recommendations in-depth

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Social media strategy recommendations // After carefully identifying the benefits and the deficiencies of the most popular social media platforms in the market, OutBRANDish has prepared some recommendations for ICG to consider and tactical directives for each platform suggested.

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These are the platforms we like, and how to best use

them step-by-step.

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Reciprocity // A lot of the duties you will be carrying out and their relative successes will have a very high correlation to the reciprocity rule of social media. These are online communities that run on an unspoken agreement to contribute to one another’s position in the social media space.

The majority of your time spent on social media will be monitoring your key influencer’s, competitor’s, and colleague’s social media contributions, seeking posts that would be of interest to ICG and its target audience and engaging with them by responding or commenting, forwarding or sharing. By engaging in this behavior you can amass a following of indebted users who out of politeness and reciprocity will

engage with ICG, forwarding interesting content to their networks, where their 6 degrees will do the rest.

Facebook // When you consider the sheer size and pervasiveness of Facebook, especially the high instances of use in our identified targets, Facebook is a natural choice for the ICG’s social media frontline. When beginning to use this platform, please review both the “how to get started” section of the profile on p. 25 and be prepared with the “guidelines for end-users” p. 71 affixed to this document to guide you in your posting format and decisions.

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1. We recommend that ICG post content to Facebook that stimulates interest and generates participation. Share the latest news, let your fans know about every event and novelty, and publish content relating to ICG. Sometimes finding or generating this content is difficult so we suggest using tools that are readily available in the market like Google Blog Search, Google Reader or Google News, and especially sign up for Google Alerts (which emails the account coordinator each time selected ICG keywords are mentioned on the web) in order to find some interesting pieces of information that engages your visitors. Photos are the most popular, but Facebook is also one of the most popular video sharing sites on the planet, this should be considered when searching for content that targets the audiences ICG values. Don’t over-do it. Repost only relevant unobtrusive content.

2. Whenever possible in your content generation, attempt to include elements that heighten a readers nationalism.

3. Remember to immerse yourself in the conversation on Facebook, take part in every discussion that takes place on the ICG page. If someone leaves a comment on an entry, photo or video on your page you must reply to it somehow. Reply to questions in a timely manner, and display how helpful you can be, which will reflect positively on both ICG and the City of Windsor. If there isn’t a great deal of discussion occurring, start one, ask questions and initiate the conversation, ask opinions or for help in improving ICG.

4. When designing the ICG 2013 Windsor-Essex page, start with the profile picture, and cover photo. The profile is what catches the eye of a potential visitor and lures them inside. Don’t settle for simply inserting the ICG logo, its a rather primitive approach, instead produce something special. If you can’t create it yourself engage a department or a professional to design it.

5. To make your page unique, not just the white-and-blue decor of Facebook, enlist applications, programs and services (often free) that offer templates that fit the purpose of the ICG page. Applications on Facebook (55,000+) are available that will make your page the most engaging possible, for example you can offer your visitors a dynamic game. Doing so helps you win attention, and assists in making your users more involved in your page and thus stay on the page for longer, often inviting other users to join.

Social games // There is enough data to support creating a social game that would specifically satisfy the demands of both ICG’s younger and Mom target markets, serving to not only deeply engage them with our social media channels, but also get them on the Facebook page in the first place. Using the London Olympics social game offered both on mobile and on Facebook we can see that they provided users with the ability to build their own Olympic village, share pictures and tour London, serving both as a catalyst to get people invested in the games, but also invested in the Facebook page often visiting daily. The game meanwhile familiarized players with the Olympic village while also heavily engraining in each players mind that London is a destination not just the host city. All the benefits reaped by the London Olympics with this venture would serve Windsor well also and satisfying a major Mayoral directive. If ICG were to decide that a social game should become a priority the next step is approaching gaming development firms and bouncing ideas off those professionals, then you can arrive at a better idea of how big the ICG social game really needs to be to achieve your goals.

6. Also when considering content for posting remember one of the key attractions to your respective audience is the opportunity that people can attend the ICG games and watch in real-time future Olympians and star athletes being made. This is a key marketing angle that should be applied throughout the duration of the strategy.

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7. Lastly, be active and update on a regular basis, ramping up in frequency leading up to the games. A potential activity that may boost traffic may be promoting that; for every “like” the page receives, one dollar will be donated to the “In Sport We Are One” legacy campaign, the cost of which can be bundled into broader advertising expenses, but the intrinsic qualities of this should promote the page and its “like” count. Remember to thank and congratulate your audience, this will further humanize the profile and image of ICG.

Part of being active in this space will be ensuring you are never more than a few hours away from a delete button. It is important to generate interest and develop a community around ICG that users be comfortable posting. But this “open door policy” does leave you vulnerable to spam and unwanted discussion that may spoil your reputation. Twitter // Twitter, the official number two social media network on the planet, boasts both the size and user base comprised of your key targets allowing it to be a highly effective tool in ICG’s social media arsenal. When beginning to use this platform, please review both the “how to get started section” of the platform profile report on p. 28 and be prompted with our “guidelines for end-users” p. 71 and effective writing pointers attached to this document as a map steering the format of your posts.

1. The first task ICG should tackle on the Twitter front is changing the Twitter name, currently it is @icg_windsor_ess which we feel is not optimized for search results, nor is it the full title of the Games or a common branding theme; Essex = Ess. OutBRANDish is offering suggestions that are more natural to type, especially on mobile keyboards; like @ICG2013 or @ICGWE! or @ICG2013WE!. Common hashtags should be used throughout the duration of the feed, trends like #InSportWeROne or #ICG13 would be acceptable and easy to type hashtags.

2. Twitter’s speed is its biggest asset. Providing the opportunity, and promoting the use of Twitter with your attending athletes and key influencers/community advocates prior to and during the games, will be critical to the platform’s growth. Using the buzz crowd, tweets should be flowing leading up to the games and constant during, feeding followers with updates and first hand descriptions of the Games from the field to the grand stands.

3. A possibly lucrative avenue ICG can use is creating a second Twitter feed for the social media account coordinator or higher ranking city official to simultaneously disseminate information. People like people, not just brands. The personal touch brings along a degree of humanity to the brand. The individual tasked, should be prepared to tweet about their life, because people like that. A variation of this strategy would be announcing who is tweeting possibly be trending #username. This personalizes your Twitter feed, and allows the community to choose their favorite tweeters. Don’t over-think each message that goes out on social media.

Be personal and aim to be true to ICG’s values, creating “wow” posts for your followers while having fun along the way.

4. Another way to really make your Twitter feed pop is by getting other City departments involved, building your buzz crowd.

5. A critical piece of the Twitter strategy is that the platform will be used twice, once as a social media feed delivering information to your targets, and once more as a marketing tool that will help better direct future content to your targets. Administrators will have to monitor the feed and establish what is trending, then use that information to constantly transform and tailor content for what people are talking about across all platforms.

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In this way Twitter will be a valuable tool for analysis of various user patterns, and serve as realtime recognition via #hashtag monitoring.

YouTube // YouTube is a fabulous way to share rich content with your targets, and some might argue it is the only platform that has the critical mass of users to actually offer a fighting chance your videos will be seen by as many members of our target audience as possible. Statistics also support that its users will share content they find interesting on their other social networks, the majority of that sharing happening on our chosen platforms. YouTube, because of its size and user habits will become a major part of this strategy’s content generating arm, placing it in a cyclical ecosystem of your social media platforms. To get started using this platform, review the “How to get started” section of the platform profile report on p. 30 use the “guidelines” p. 71 for posting and forming descriptions in the guidelines section of this strategy.

We have some “must-use” strategies for YouTube that if followed have the highest probability they will become viral in various global markets.

1. The first priority is allowing your key influencers, buzz crowd, attendees, athletes and so on to work for ICG. By allowing the ability to create and share ICG content and footage. This is done by removing limitations that may prevent perfectly acceptable videos being shared out of fear of blow-back from ICG staff and the City of Windsor.

That being said, if you examine what makes a “viral” video go “viral” it’s not content, videos must have decent concepts but ICG should not agonize over determining what is the best “viral” video formula, as the formula isn’t so black and white, there are only tendencies that commonly lead to virality in videos like;

2. Producing short videos between 15-30 seconds is ideal; even if it is part of a larger piece break it down into bite-sized clips.

3. Don’t make an outright ad; although we believe any traditional ads that are made for ICG using traditional marketing efforts (i.e. commercials) should always be posted, ensuring every dollar spent in your traditional marketing is spread out by gaining another free distribution channel. But more generally, if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share it unless it’s really amazing. ICG should invest some effort and resources in making unique just for YouTube content.

4. Use the shock-factor to lure users in, this can be done by making sure you allow users without fear of repercussion the ability to posting shocking video (nothing profane, obviously), but compliment that by choosing titles that make viewers say “Wow, did that actually happen?!”, this is done by generally taking a fake headline format for titling your videos (i.e. “Stolen Nascar”).

5. Significant effort should be placed on getting the videos onto the site’s “most viewed” page, a significant number of views on the site are generated by users clicking the “videos” tab at the top of the homepage, this is where YouTube lists the daily most viewed videos.

Succeeding in this means your video is no longer a needle in the haystack of the other 86,400 hours of videos posted each day. It would be one of twenty videos on the most viewed page, meaning it has the potential to grab 5% of the clicks on that page. The closer to the top of the page the video gets the more views it will receive

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it’s a cycle where views beget more views. So how do you overcome the seemingly impossible task of reaching the 50,000 views needed to get the video onto this page.

6. Share, share, share; not only should each video be posted to each of your platforms, i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Mobile App, www.icg-windsoressex2013.com. The door must be kept open via loose policy restrictions for our key influencers, buzz buzz crowd, attendees, athletes etc. to freely post on their social media accounts as well.

7. Use the “create a video response” option on relevant videos from other users, doing so leverages the views that a popular video has received leading to click-through traffic and subscribers to your channel. The video that you respond with does not have to be a literal response only one of your own videos that may be relevant to the content in the video.

Each video has a shelf life of 48 hours before it’s moved from the daily most viewed list to the weekly most viewed list, so it’s important that action is taken quickly.

8. Ensure the title and thumbnail of your videos are compelling enough to persuade users to click on a video. Titles can be changed a limitless number of times, so ICG has the capacity to create a catchy title for a few days, then later switch to something that is more relevant to the ICG brand. A strong trend has existed for years supporting titling videos with phrases “exclusive,” “behind the scenes,” and “leaked video.”

How do you make sure that your video’s thumbnail is the best of the three choices YouTube gives you? Edit your videos so that frames near the middle (where YouTube grabs

them) are the most interesting. Make sure the thumbnail is clear (suggesting high video quality) and ideally it should have a face or at least a person in it.

9. Another way to promote views is to engage in the conversation that happens in the comments section of your video. Not only does this create a dialogue between YouTube users and ICG, but it allows you to easily monitor the interests and concerns of your viewing audience, the learnings of which can be carried across all platforms. It is important then, that you monitor your video and quickly answer questions or comments users make.

10. Additionally you may make more than one YouTube account, and comment as a member of the public. A proven method of maximizing the number of viewers watching your videos is by creating some sort of controversy (nothing serious, just opinionated) in the comments below your video. Everyone loves a good discussion.

11. Don’t be afraid to delete comments - if someone is being negative or critical about ICG or the content, simply delete their comment. Don’t let one user’s negativity taint everyone else’s opinions. Stats show you’ll receive about 1 comment for every thousand views, since most people watching YouTube videos are not logged in. But a lively comment thread (done well) will engage viewers and will drive traffic through your platform spectrum.

12. Another tip, don’t delay posting videos to build suspense, it has proven in this circumstance to be a less fruitful marketing tactic than taking everything you have available and

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posting it all at once. If someone sees your first video and is so intrigued they want to watch more, why make them wait an indefinite amount of time for the next? If a user wants to watch all your videos right now, there is a significantly higher chance they’ll be persuaded to click through to your other platforms.

13. Also as long as views and comments etc. are well documented for records retention and tracking purposes, don’t be afraid to delete and re-release videos, renewing your 48 hour window to make it on the most viewed page. Using this strategy we give ICG’s most interested viewers the chance to fully engage with a campaign without compromising the opportunity to individually release and market each consecutive video.

14. The last element of OutBRANDish’s winning YouTube strategy is strategic tagging. YouTube allows you to tag your videos with keywords that make your videos show up in relevant searches. This might seem counter productive but in the first week your videos are online it may be beneficial for you to use keyword tags that don’t optimize the video for searches on YouTube but instead use tags to control the videos that show up in the related videos section, the mentality is that it should be easy for viewers to engage with all your content, rather than jumping away to “related” content that actually has nothing to do with ICG.

How should you strategically tag? Choose three or four unique tags and use only these tags for all of the videos ICG posts. Done correctly, you’ll receive full control over the videos that show up as “related.”

Once you notice that daily views are starting to decline, you can add more generic tags, tags that

allow it to appear in search results on YouTube and Google.

Some examples of content ICG could incorporate into your YouTube channel are as we mentioned, initial advertising from the broader campaign, the opening ceremonies are a must-have, and you will find that YouTube videos will be a great channel for ICG news releases.

Wikipedia // The strategy behind this inclusion is fairly simple. Create the page using the “How to start guide” on p. 31 , and begin to develop a detailed article on ICG. This can include as much information as you like including significant wins and losses and profiles of some top athletes.

The idea behind using Wikipedia is that it will help inform users about ICG, but ICG Windsor-Essex specifically. Due to the “halo-effect” this will have, you’ll also see an increase in traffic to the City of Windsor Wikipedia article as interested readers attempt to further educate themselves on the Games and the city. Users will use this information going forward to all your platforms, making the most educated and targeted posts possible.

1. The bulk of the work will be generating the article, but frequent updates will help keep the article fresh and users engaged.

2. Often preceding and during the Games, news stories of great significance will arise, it is during the introduction of these news stories that the Wikipedia article is updated to reflect these events, as people will often seek the Wikipedia article for information and context.

Mobile App // The ICG mobile app will act as a hub for ICG, where downloaders can find pertinent information about the games, the City of Windsor and athletes. There is potential for not only a ticket purchasing channel but also advertising revenues and sponsorship attraction as this space has focused users

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starring at their 4” screen, in close proximity to the device so advertisements can be read for clarity and often multiple times because the time constraints of other advertising forms do not exist. Stats have shown that not only are users more accepting of advertisements on mobile apps, but they are also significantly more likely to engage with the advertisement.

1. Part of this strategy is not charging for the application, although 99 cents per download would generate some revenue, for a public game run by a municipality it is considerably more likely to deter downloading.

Surprise downloaders with a great free app, manage their expectations so when they download it and find it incredibly useful, they’ll walk away with a stronger brand association.

Examples of what the potential app could and should feature; Game/event scheduling, profiles of athletes, a ticket purchasing channel, travel planning information including lodging, eating, and activity suggestions, tips for international travel both for athletes and their families. And of course, videos, photos, and social media integration for all platforms. The potential exists for the mobile app to become a distribution channel for the Live Stream service that is to be part of the Game’s rich-content generation and delivery.

2. Lastly, there are the legacy implications. This mobile application and the costs associated with it have the potential to carry on past the Games and serve a new role post ICG, thus making the best app possible at greater expense translating into a significantly reduced sunk cost, and a dramatic ROI. The coding for the application and some of its features/existing services offered could be adapted to a City of Windsor application which would have significant implications to Windsor’s tourism and tourism stakeholders. Because of this it will become important following the games, that ICG and the City of Windsor engage with key stakeholders and ensure their support for the initiative.

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ICG Deagu South Korea 2012: With this strategy it’s important to just dive in

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Section V: Strategy financials

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Budget planningOur recommendation total is $18,475.73 // When you consult the cost analysis chart p. 61 , we have highlighted what we feel is the best path for reaching the goals of this strategy and ICG as a whole. Our recommendation total is $18,475.73 + $12,000 for a highly suggested social game design = $30,475.73. We feel 4 hours per week is an accurate prediction of the time commitment needed to achieve a Facebook and Twitter presence that will achieve the goals of this strategy and ICG as a whole. We also feel that just 2 hours per week would be needed for YouTube, however ICG should look into ensuring media generated for ICG under the general marketing plan, can and should be available for distribution through the YouTube channel, in this case some content development charges may be associated with this platform. For generating and maintaining the Wikipedia article for ICG Windsor-Essex, we concluded that 9 hours would be a healthy sum of the hours required to ensure a strong and up-to-date article over the next 8 months.

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For the mobile application, considering the high-end of mobile application design ($10,000+) and our relative experience in the area, we believe a strong app can be created for under $5,000 by a local experienced developer. The same can be said for a social game, except that the costs associated with designing a large game (i.e. Farmville) can be much higher $25,000-$50,000. Judging from the relative size and complexity of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and the London 2012 Olympic Facebook and mobile application games we feel that for ICG’s size, $12,000 would be strong figure for total development costs.

For advertising, we believe if the strategy were to go through with developing a mobile application, that it be imperative for the awareness of it, and the Games (halo effect), stationary advertisements in points of entry be utilized. Considering Windsor’s size and depressed advertising costs, we feel our estimates account for the most effective and efficient use of the ICG total budget.

As eluded to earlier, allocating employee salaries to this strategy may prove difficult as the tasked individuals will likely have duties that are unrelated to it, so in consideration of this hurdle we have calculated the total cost of our strategy recommendation excluding salary, which before the

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Being a municipality proper financial planning and asset management is critical.

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costs of the social game design are added amounts to $8,983. Additionally, it should be noted that OutBRANDish does not suggest ICG utilize any pay-for features services on any of the platforms recommended. The statistics that support their use do not contribute to a high enough ROI to be suggested.

Revenues? // We don’t view this strategy as an opportunity to generate massive direct revenues, any revenues that could be generated directly from any of these recommendations are low and the pursuit of them could project an image contrary to your goals, and may inhibit the strategy from achieving maximum effectiveness.

The application does have a large opportunity to generate revenues, possibly even fund 100% of the development costs. At the center of the opportunity is the sponsorship space that is opened up by the application. Studies have shown, that not only are people twice as likely to be comfortable being advertised to on their mobile devices, and have a stronger connection with advertisements due to the size of the screen and their relative proximity to it. Sponsorship like that of the Odette Commerce Society application provides a strong example of the opportunity, where the Certified General Accountant association of Canada funded the application in exchange for the ability to co-brand the application.

Lastly, through the YouTube channel ICG can receive money from Adsense and the YouTube partnership program. The partnership program offer is only extended to channels that produce videos generating tens of thousands of views. If a YouTube partnership program is offered to ICG, a short 5-30 second commercial will play prior to the start of any channel videos in exchange for $2-5 per 1,000 views to ICG(the channel owner).

Lastly cost/pay-per-click (CPC/PPC) and cost/pay-per-impression (CPI/PPI) advertising is not a part of this strategy, nor is it the belief of this team that it would generate any real positive returns, or prove to be an effective advertising channel. It is important when representing a municipality and/or historic and international sporting event that it is best to err on the

side of less advertising toward your target market, that would not expressly be to the benefit of attendance to the ICGs in August 2013.

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Google Adwords and Google Adsense are the dominant forms of CPI and CPC on the internet.

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Cost analysis 2012-2013

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Assumptions we made

Individual cost assumptions were as follows;

Labour Facebook // The cost is calculated by multiplying the average salary (converted to approximate hourly pay) by our recommended time commitment for administering a Facebook account for ICG.

Level 1: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 2 hours per week administering the Facebook account.Level 2: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 4 hours per week administering the Facebook account.Level 3: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 6 hours per week administering the Facebook account.

Labour Twitter // The cost is calculated by multiplying the average salary (converted to approximate hourly pay) by our recommended time commitment for administering a Twitter feed for ICG.

Level 1: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 2 hours per week administering the Twitter feed.Level 2: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 4 hours per week administering the Twitter feed.Level 3: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 6 hours per week administering the Twitter feed.

Labour YouTube // The cost is calculated by multiplying the average hourly salary of a social media account coordinator (converted to approximate hourly pay) by our recommended time commitment for administering ICG YouTube channel. (Money currently being spent on vibrant media can be spread across to cover YouTube content generation, so existing media projects receive two lives.)

Level 1: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 2 hours per week administering the YouTube channel.Level 2: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 4 hours per week administering the YouTube channel.Level 3: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 6 hours per week administering the YouTube channel.

Labour Wikipedia // The cost is calculated by multiplying the average hourly salary of a social media account coordinator (converted to approximate hourly pay) by our recommended time commitment for creating and maintaining a Wikipedia article for the event.

Level 1: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 2 hours over the life of the strategy creating and maintaining a Wikipedia article for the event.Level 2: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 9 hours (multiple updates to article) over the life of the strategy creating and maintaining a Wikipedia article for the event.Level 3: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 21 hours (frequent updates to article) over the life of the strategy creating and maintaining a Wikipedia article for the event.

Social Media Account #4 // The cost is calculated by multiplying the average hourly salary of a social media account coordinator (converted to approximate hourly pay) by our recommended time commitment for administering a basic social media account.

Level 1: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 2 hours per week administering a fourth account.Level 2: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 4 hours per week administering a fourth account.Level 3: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 6 hours per week administering a fourth account.

Social Media Account #5 // The cost is calculated by multiplying the average hourly salary of a social media account coordinator (converted to approximate hourly pay) by our recommended time commitment for administering a basic social media account.

Level 1: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 2 hours per week administering a fifth account.Level 2: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 4 hours per week administering a fifth account.Level 3: $50,011.00/12/4/5/8 = $26.47 per hour X 6 hours per week administering a fifth account.

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Mobile App Design // The total cost for development of an ICG mobile application was derived from research on various levels of design complexity and their respective costs and an estimate that accounted for the assistance in design and content generation OutBRANDish can offer ICG.

Level 1: $1,000 = Total development costs including hiring a start-up (local) 3rd party developer for a simple design and coding of the application (possibility of only one mobile platform i.e. Apple App Store).Level 2: $4,498 = Total development costs including hiring a mid-market 3rd party developer for a complex design and coding of the application (good quality finished product offered on at least one mobile platform).Level 3: $9,999 = Total development costs including hiring a top tier/experienced (Xomo - London 2012 firm) 3rd party developer for a large, and intricate design and coding of the application (excellent quality finished product offered on at least two mobile platforms).

Social Game Design // The total cost for development of an ICG Facebook/mobile gaming application was found by researching the average cost of designing a game for the Facebook social gaming platform as well as estimates of what previous Olympic event’s gaming applications adjusted for size and increased technology efficiency overtime.

Level 1: $500 = Total development costs including hiring a start-up (local) 3rd party developer for a simply designed game and its coding (Facebook social game app only)Level 2: $4,000 = Total development costs including hiring a mid-market 3rd party game developer for a complex game design (levels/dimensions) and coding (good quality finished product available on at least Facebook).Level 3: $12,000 = Total development costs including hiring a top tier/experienced (Xomo - London 2012 firm) 3rd party game developer for a large, and intricate design (interconnectivity) and coding (excellent quality finished product offered on at least Facebook possibly a mobile platform i.e. Apple App Store).

YQG Advertising // The advertising cost for a diorama (Plastic front, stainless steel enclosure, fluorescent lamps) at baggage claim (990 x 787). The approximate cost accounts for the size and economic condition of the airport and Windsor and is an adjusted estimate for larger international airports.

Level 1: $0 = No advertisement.Level 2: $1,500 = Single high traffic placement that reaches targets at the Windsor airport for 2 months (July-August) ($750 X 2).Level 3: $3,000 = Single high traffic placement that reaches targets at the Windsor airport for 2 months (July-August) ($1,500 X 2).

Via Rail Windsor Station Advertising // (Essentially an adjusted YQG cost estimate, adjusted for the traffic and size of the Windsor station compared to the Windsor airport, while maintaining ad dimensions).

Level 1: $0 = No advertisement.Level 2: $750 = Single high traffic placement that reaches targets at the Via Rail station in Windsor for 2 months (July-August) ($375 X 2).Level 3: $1,500 = Single high traffic placement that reaches targets at the Via Rail station in Windsor for 2 months (July-August) ($750 X 2).

Detroit-Windsor Tunnel (Customs area location) Advertising // The total cost for advertising in this location was calculated using historic cost estimates for an average CBS billboard (Poster) adjusted for the number of impressions the billboard would typically receive at this high traffic location entering the country.

Level 1: $0 = No advertisement.Level 2: $2,235 = Single high traffic placement that reaches targets at the Canadian border for 2 months (July-August) ($1,117.50 X 2).Level 3: $5,000 = Single high traffic placement that reaches targets at the Canadian border for 2 months (July-August) ($2,500 X 2)

† Although the costs of the strategy may not be entirely associated with the implementation of the strategy and the hours listed are only educated guesses on the opportunity cost of paying an employee to spend 6-18 hours a week working on Social media, when their day-to-day functions may include duties other than strategy implementation.

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Section VI: Measuring success

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key success matrices// It is obviously important to put mechanisms in place to measure the success or otherwise of the new strategy. Luckily the recommended platforms and strategies have tracking mechanisms built-in so this task can be as simple as logging in.

As a precursor for monitoring your success on the variety of platforms we have recommended, we would be remise in not explaining Google Analytics, one of the key services ICG will be using to measure its successes for the duration of the strategy. Google

Analytics is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. It can track visitors from all referrers, including search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks, email marketing and digital collateral such as links within PDF documents.

Facebook // Measuring the success of social media tools like Facebook requires a new way of thinking. Where once the effectiveness of the tool may have been judged solely by the number of fans it

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“Companies believe that because they’re on Facebook or Twitter that they’ve evolved. Not true. You only evolve by what people do with it – reading it, sharing it, commenting on it. True evolution only comes from people using your information and engaging

in conversation with you.” Mitch Joel,

Social media expert,author of Six Pixels of Separation, April

2010

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attracted, today it is not the only important measurement. Others include:

➡ The quality of the conversation the page is generating – the number of “Likes”, the number of comments generated (CUIs), the quality of the conversation and whether fan insights later led to change or action. (Tracking through graphing and statistics presented to page administrator from Facebook)

➡ The momentum effect – people telling others resulting in either new followers or mentions on other outposts (Twitter, YouTube etc.) (Monitored through Google Alerts, Twitter

feeds, event tracking to learn where patrons heard about the event.)

➡ The growing and changing demographics – monitor who the page is attracting and potentially targeting messaging to those groups or targeting efforts to recruit under-represented groups.

➡ (optional) Number of times the ICG 2013 Social game is played via Facebook.

Twitter // Measuring the success of the @WEICG2013 Twitter account will require an approach similar to that of measuring the success of

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Facebook. Measures of effectiveness and success will include:

➡ The quality of the conversation the feed is generating – the number of “likes”, the number of comments generated, the quality of the conversation and whether fan insights later led to change or action.

➡ The momentum effect/the number of “Re-Tweets” – People telling others resulting in either new followers or mentions on other outposts (blogs, Twitter etc.) (Monitored through the Twitter feed, event tracking to learn where patrons heard about the event.)

➡ The number of hash tags used – Hashtags are a form of passing on information. People may use hashtags (like #InSportWeAreONE) when talking about an ICG Twitter post. The tag enables others to click on it and jump immediately to the conversation. (Hashtags are trackable through hashtags.org or via Google Analytics.)

➡ Number of followers attracted. (CUIs)

➡ The quality of the conversation the Twitter feeds are generating – the number of comments, replies, queries and overall quality of the conversation.

➡ Clicks on links ICG has posted in its feeds. (Trackable through Google Analytics).

YouTube // YouTube provides excellent analytics on a variety of aspects of individual videos. Measuring the success of the effectiveness of the ICG YouTube channel will include an analysis of the following statistics:

➡ Video views (CUIs)➡ Video ratings (CUIs)➡ Video comments (CUIs)➡ Number of times favorited (CUIs)➡ Links to the video➡ Number of times the video was embedded on

another website or blog

Mobile App // Tracking of the app will be done by simply monitoring the number times it is downloaded (CUIs) from the respective platform store (i.e. Apple App Store, Google Play, Blackberry App World).

www.icg-windsoressex2013.com // embedded into this strategy and its recommendations are synergies with the central ICG Windsor-Essex website. It is essential to remember the website should remain ICG Windsor-Essex’s primary tool used to share information with stakeholders online. References and links back to the main website homepage will be frequent and a feature of every platform we’ve recommended. (Tracking through Google Analytics).

Wikipedia // The article on ICG Windsor-Essex will serve as a portal through which our educated audience can engage with ICG across the platforms utilized, passing through the Wikipedia article should ideally lead that user through the spectrum of ICG social media options where the user can begin to converse with or about ICG. (Tracking through Google Analytics)

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Tools are available, but monitoring is job #1

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Milestone calendar 2012-2014

2012

10 December

Receive social media strategy and review 14 August Open sponsored computer center for visiting athletes and family that provides a channel for athletes who do not own electronic devices personally to participate in the social media strategy (optionally, you may make a condition of use, joining your social media community and starting their own, posting frequently)

2013

14 August Open sponsored computer center for visiting athletes and family that provides a channel for athletes who do not own electronic devices personally to participate in the social media strategy (optionally, you may make a condition of use, joining your social media community and starting their own, posting frequently)Early

JanuaryCirculate strategy through City of Windsor departments, gain approval and sponsorship from Mayor and Council

14 August Open sponsored computer center for visiting athletes and family that provides a channel for athletes who do not own electronic devices personally to participate in the social media strategy (optionally, you may make a condition of use, joining your social media community and starting their own, posting frequently)

Mid January

Begin activating social media accounts and generating content

14 August Opening ceremonies and first Live Stream broadcast

Early February

Begin engaging key influencers and increasing the size of your buzz crowd

14 August Leverage the amount of content being generated at/by the games, posting information constantly and posting rich-content as it occurs across all platforms.

June Achieve at least 50% of CUIs 19 August Closing ceremonies and conclusion of Live Stream broadcast and stock of rich-content

13 July Launch ICG mobile application September Decrease frequency of posts, congratulate winners and inform users of key success statistics generated from the games

Early August

Achieve at least 90% of CUIs December Begin adaptation of mobile app for City of Windsor tourism use

14-19 August

International Children’s Games 2013 in Windsor-Essex commences

2014

14 August Hold information session for athletes and their families on appropriate use of social media and heavily promote and incentivize use (Alternatively develop an information package that can be distributed)

January Begin to dismantle platforms or allow them to become dormant pockets of information

14 August Hold information session for athletes and their families on appropriate use of social media and heavily promote and incentivize use (Alternatively develop an information package that can be distributed)

Late January

End of social media strategy

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Acknowledgment & thanksOutBRANDish Consulting would like to thank all of the individuals and organizations who made a contribution to the successful development of this strategy, whether by providing constructive information, professional guidance and valuable support through the entire term to complete this project.

Without the encouragement and guidance of the following, this project would not have materialized:

➡ International Children’s Games➡ The City of Windsor➡ Essex County➡ The International Olympic Committee➡ The International Children’s Games 2013 Windsor-

Essex Planning Committee➡ University of Windsor➡ Odette School of Business➡ Nora Bertram Romero, Office of the Mayor, City of

Windsor➡ Jason Berrara, Digital designer at City of Windsor

(Mayors Office)➡ Odette Professor Vincent Georgie, Assistant

Professor of Marketing➡ Taylor Global Sports PR & Marketing firm

As the delivery of the strategy progresses, the continued commitment of these and other organizations to advancing through the developing of the strategies and guidelines for the International Children’s Games will be crucial to our success.

Disclosures

OutBRANDish Consulting Group was commissioned by the City of Windsor Council and the Odette School of Business to develop a tactical social media marketing strategy for the International Children’s Games 2013 happening in Windsor- Essex. The City of Windsor council was not involved in the analysis of the data, or development of the strategies observations or conclusions. OutBRANDish Consulting provided this strategy and its materials to Council without input or direction received from the City of Windsor, and maintained full control of the content of the strategy, its analysis, and conclusions.

OutBRANDish Consulting makes no specific claims for the potential financial, operational, or risk factors involved with management decisions taken by a specific organization.

Please note that where the results of analysis are discussed in this publication, the results are based on the application of logic and specific assumptions. These results are not intended to be predictions of events or future outcomes and have been provided solely for the reader’s considerations.

Key contacts in OutBRANDish Consulting GroupTyler Compton ([email protected]) (Project Leader)Olivia Plain ([email protected])Todd Campbell ([email protected])Lisa Birmingham ([email protected])Laya Sebastian ([email protected])

Please direct questions and comments about this report via email.

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©2012, Taylor Global Inc. The trademarks, tradenames and logos used herein are the property of Taylor. No part of this presentation may be used without permission.

SECTION II: SOCIAL [MEDIA] GAMES

Section VII: Appendices

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The social media guidelines for staff apply to those in use of social media tools on behalf of International Children Games Windsor. If you have received permission to access, alter, or view any social media tools please keep the following guidelines and helpful tips in mind:

1. The Guidelines:

1. Be clear. When using social media platforms make sure it is clear when speaking for yourself and when speaking on behalf of ICG Windsor.

2. Be Accurate. Although Social media posts may be primarily made up of personal opinion it is important to do research on the implications of that particular post. Check that your facts and statements are accurate. Additionally, make sure information is consistent with previously released statements via other ICG platforms.

3. Be Discreet. Do not provide confidential information that relates to the City of Windsor or International Children’s Games. Do not provide any personal information or cite/reference people without their consent.

4. Be aware of copyrights. Information and other sources found on the internet may be owned by someone else. Just because it can be found does not necessarily mean it’s free to use. Respect copyright, trademarks and fair use and disclosure laws. Do your research on what can be used and what needs to be referenced.

2. Social Media Etiquette:

2.1 Facebook

a. Facebook is an online community where all users are allowed to access posted material. Be conscious of this with every post and adjust your privacy settings appropriately.

b. Be cautious of being too informal when representing ICG and the City of Windsor. Maintain posts that are consistent with the integrity and values of the organization.

c. Proofread all content that will be posted and released publicly. All posts should be treated as corporate documents and therefore delivered in a professional manner.

Appendix I: Social media guidelines for end-users

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d. Beware of using upper and lower case letters. The improper use of either can drastically affect your desired message.

e. Only use quotations when quoting official records.

f. Refrain from using emoticons unless appropriate to do so

g. Do not post anything that would be considered inappropriate based on the values of ICG and the stature of such an event.

h. Be concise and eye catching. Attempt to communicate message in as few words as possible. Use words that describe the posted material in the best possible way to garner attention.

2.2 Twitter

a. Twitter is an online community where followers are allowed to access all posted material. Be conscious of this with every post.

b. Be cautious of being too informal when representing ICG and Windsor. Maintain posts that are consistent with the integrity and values of the organization.

c. Proofread all content that will be posted and released publicly. All posts should be treated as corporate documents and therefore delivered in a professional manner.

d. Beware of using upper and lower case letters. The improper use of either can drastically affect your desired message.

e. Only use quotations when quoting official records.

f. Refrain from using emoticons unless appropriate to do so

g. Do not post anything that would be considered inappropriate based on the values of ICG and the stature of such an event.

h. Be concise and eye catching. Attempt to communicate message in as little words as possible. Use words that describe the posted material in the best possible way to garner attention.

If you have ANY questions or concerns in regards to ICG social media platforms and/or guidelines to use, please contact your supervisor.

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GENERAL GUIDELINES

(a) Know your audience.(b) Be relevant and objective.(c) KISS – Keep it simple and succinct.

(a) Know Your Audience - On the average webpage, users have time to read at most 28 percent of the words during an average visit; 20 percent is more accurate. Skimming and scanning text is common behaviour utilized by most visitors. A typical reader will spend about 2.5 seconds on your webpage and then move on if there is no “hook” to hold his or her attention.

➡ Before writing a word of web content, ask yourself the following: Who is my target audience? What information are they looking for? Are they likely to read everything that I have written? Is all of the content on the page useful and/or of interest to them? How is this information going to help the reader?

➡ Tip: As a check, read the post as if you were the intended audience and consider what may be lacking – or what may be unnecessary to include.

➡ Consider literacy levels: In order to reach lower literacy users – and create a greater ease for all users – target the lowest literacy level

➡ Word Usage: If a shorter word works, use it. This is especially important on sites like Twitter (140available characters) that use character restrictions for their submissions. Keep language as simple as possible to convey the message clearly to your reader.

➡ Direct Language: Use specific, concrete terms to enhance clarity; avoid using obscure words or phrases unfamiliar to the target audience. Simple sentence structure featuring short phrases and direct conclusions is ideal.

➡ Tone: Write in a conversational, friendly tone and in the first-person (i.e. you, we, us, etc.) where possible, as opposed to one that is authoritative or educational. Readers would rather see the word “you” over “one” when you are directing text to them.

Appendix II: Effective web-writing guidelines

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(b) Be relevant and objective

➡ Feature actionable content/hyperlinks. The reader’s eyes go directly to more actionable content, such as bulleted lists or hyperlinks. Content the reader can select and follow through to a solution or answer. Make sure to include both, where possible, in your content, and make the action easy.

➡ Use bullet lists to break up text when possible within a list.

➡ Use Hyperlinks within your content to link to other pages featuring additional information, which is not quite as relevant or necessary to the topic. This way, readers can choose to follow the links later without disrupting their flow.

➡ Avoid blatant sales pitches. Create a connection with the reader not spam them with offers to see the games.

(c) KISS – Keep it simple and succinct.

➡ Keep posts short. While readers are presumably interested in you and your posts, this interest can wane more quickly when reading online than when reading print. The content should be clear, direct, brief and to the point (quality of information over quantity).

➡ Write brief, meaningful subject lines. Depending on the social media site, the style may differ but the principal remains; if the first line fails to get the visitor’s attention, he or she won’t bother to read the remainder of the message or post. Ensure the headline, summarizes and leads clearly into the scope of the piece, when taken out of context and standing alone.

➡ Communicate information quickly. The most important/time sensitive information should be at the top of your profile/wall. Posts typically are listed in descending order by posting date.

➡ Offer small bits at a time. Focus each post/chunk of content on a single topic, so that readers may easily isolate the information they are looking for. Large blocks of texts are difficult to read online; information must be broken up to be easily digested.

➡ Keywords. Research keywords that relate to the information you’re attempting to convey. Anticipate keyword searches that potential visitors may perform to find your information. Highlight keywords in your posts (Where applicable) in bold – facts and figures that would interests your readers.

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The addition of this appendix is to raise the issue of placing social media restrictions on athletes. Although no official recommendation is made, it is included for the purpose of enlightening the reader on prior problems in Olympic events in regards to social media platforms. At the 2012 London Olympics rule 40 was implemented as part of the official social media strategy which states:

“Except as permitted by the IOC Executive Board, no competitor, coach, trainer or official who participates in the Olympic Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes during the Olympic Games.”

This rule limited athletes to post what they desired on their own social networking platforms. Athletes were angered by this and as a result London’s social media strategy was met with much negative media attention. International Children Games Windsor should look further into the potential options for athletes when it comes managing their own social media platforms.

Appendix III: Social media guidelines athletes

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This document is exclusively informational identified by the use of cautionary terms such as “believe”, “expect”, “forecast”, “project”, “plan”, “estimate” or “intend”. These forward-looking statements are based on all discernible information, facts and expectations available at the time. They can, therefore, only claim validity up to the date of publication.

Whereas every effort has been made to ensure that the information given in this document is accurate, neither OutBRANDish Consulting Group or the Odette School of Business accept liability for any errors, omissions or misleading statements, and no warranty is given or responsibility accepted as to the standing of any individual, firm, company or other organization mentioned.

The paper in this document is made from 50 per cent recycled waste pulp with 50 per cent pulp from well-managed forests. This is a combination of Totally Chlorine Free and Elemental Chlorine Free.

Published December 2012 by OutBRANDish Consulting Group Copyright © OutBRANDish Consulting Group