Following the successful sponsorship activation around the BMW International Open, Nifty again supported a client – a multinational data company – who partnered with the R&A to sponsor The Open Championship.
The client has a strong portfolio of sport sponsorships, which includes delivering innovative sports technologies that enhance the fan experience for renowned competitions around the world including IndyCar and the Tour de France. As a long-term partner of the R&A, the client took this to new levels for the landmark occasion that was the 150th Open at St Andrews. Nifty was tasked with amplifying their activities at The Open, utilising organic and paid social media content, Google ads and graphic design.
Social Media
Nifty led on the production of social media copy for the four days of the tournament itself, as well as pre-event and post-event content. With the debut of some revolutionary sporting technologies at The Open, we aimed to showcase these as much as possible, with a wide range of output demonstrating how these enhanced fan experiences both at the course and at home. We also endeavoured to build credibility among new audiences by showcasing the client’s sporting pedigree, having worked with a range of elite sport tournaments and organisations. Not only did Nifty produce content on behalf of the client, but we also created a series of posts to be distributed by the R&A to promote the partnership.
As well as building a social content plan ahead of The Open, Nifty was also tasked with social listening across the four days of play. This centred on identifying posts about the action at St Andrews, whether that be certain players’ performances, standout shots and the state of play, reacting in a relevant and engaging way to draw attention to the client and its technologies. We would also find brand mentions and address these as appropriate.
The overall organic social content saw 1 million impressions, from which 9,100 engagements and 2.9k click-throughs were generated.
Paid Media
The overarching objective of our PPC activity at The Open was to reach as many people as possible. With content from the client’s technology experts through to professional golfers and their partners at the R&A, we ran promotions covering a variety of topics including technological innovation, brand partnerships and sustainability. These PPC ads were distributed across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google and YouTube.
There were 84,000 clicks on ads across all channels, with 30.2 million impressions generated as well as 4.5 million engagements.
Graphic Design and Video Editing
Nifty was also on-hand for creative support for The Open campaign. There was an array of video content from the team on the ground at St Andrews, including interviews with players and behind-the-scenes insights into the client’s technology, which we were required to edit for multiple channels. As well as video, a variety of blog and social media graphics had to be designed. Nifty was working to tight deadlines to turn these around quickly, with these creatives playing a pivotal role in the content plan for the week.