Mobile Behavior: an Omnicom Group Company

Soccer, Football, Baseball, Basketball, Tennis, F1, Nascar, the Olympics, Golf, Boxing, Cycling, Cricket, Championships, World Cups, Euro Cups, American Cup, World Series, Playoffs, Finals, Tournaments.... With hundreds of sports, billions of viewers, millions of dollars, why haven't we seen a truly memorable mobile performance?

Sports break down barriers, they are a democratizing force in our culture--all cultures. So is technology--the web has truly flattened our world. Meanwhile, mobile phones can deliver the power of the web to us anywhere, in real time. Bring these forces together, with sports as a common bond, and you have an incredibly powerful platform. We can swap comments, impressions, and thoughts with fellow fans sharing the same experience in real time.

Sports need to step up to the plate and recognize this potential. Whether in a stadium, at home, at a friend’s place, or in a bar, people want to use their phones to interact with what they are seeing, feeling, thinking… and I don’t mean a Twitter update (although, in a 21st century move, the NFL teams have been banning twitter and other social media).

We're seeing some attempts. There are mobile campaigns like NBC’s offering during the Olympics, Crossgates’ 2010 Winter Olympic App, or ESPN’s X-games, but the gap between what could easily be done and what is happening is staggering. Just look at the App Store; there are very few top sports apps and most of the originality has not come from that sector.

However, we are seeing some innovators coming onto the field. University of Glasgow is trying out a new stadium technology that would let fans interact with each other on a closed network. Seer Android at Wimbledon enabled fans to see the game and interact with their mobile at the same time. A startup called HotPotato is also refocusing the sporting event around real-time connections between fans and friends. These ideas are probably bound to meet huge success in the future, but they are not widespread yet, and the first two still require advanced phone features.

Indeed, the mobile sport solution of today must be based on using tried technology (SMS, Bluetooth, apps), but in the idea of a two-way conversation between fans and events. It needs to be quick, easy, relevant, and most importantly respectful of how the sport is played and watched. While football and baseball could see more complex cell interaction (the former has many pauses, while the latter usually has longer games), sports like basketball and soccer would require something simpler.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there are and have been mobile offerings and campaigns for all these sports, but their impact on how we think of those events is insignificant. What about full SMS stats at quarter or half times? Texted comments from players on the bench? In-stadium vendor discounts? Live-sharing with friends at home? Meeting a designated player at the end of the game?

Out of stadium, one could even have chosen locations (like bars) where fans could interact with their rivals in another cities or countries. Let us imagine a world where the mobile interaction is fully integrated into the sporting event. Here is my ultimate fan experience:

I am going to the quarter final between France and Spain at the World Cup in South Africa in 2010. It's game day. I am entering the stadium where a Bluetooth stand will give me the team composition and maybe a discount for drinks. I walk up to my seat where I can receive the lyrics for the top fan songs of each team and a WAP link to purchase jerseys and memorabilia or join the in-stadium SMS feed. Once the game starts, I can get some added info from the pitch with my augmented reality app, be connected to a friend outside the stadium for comments, and enjoy the game. My friend, who is at a bar in France, can receive stats at half time, message Spain fans in Madrid (a dedicated moderated kiosk), and download the song of the teams playing. We are both in the moment, in the game, and yet we are adding a little more engagement to the whole experience.

Mobile offerings have relied too much on all-encompassing info hubs like CBS Sports Mobile, Yahoo’s portal, or AT&T’s Fan Zone, and those tend to overlook the fact that fans are not just spectators, they are actors. Marketers need to take a step back from the classic ad-ridden, promo-saturated mobile interaction when it comes to sports. Sporting events generate passion, shared memories. The mobile needs to be the other actor of that moment, not the commercial break. And as much as fans remember player names, transfers, scores, goals, and tears, they will remember whatever else accompanied that experience--marketers, don't you want that to be your brand?