Internet communities have always been a fantastic mechanism to maintain interest in events during the ‘off season’. Platforms like Facebook and Twitter, mean that the rules for engaging fans have changed, but not everyone has ‘got it’ yet.
Our Facebook stats for sailing brands and events show that fans can be won 3 ways; organic growth, paid for growth (advertising) and through real-world activity. Of course winning fans is easy (for some) – engaging them is something quite different, and December provides some interesting case studies and insight.
Top 10 Sailing ‘Brands’ on Facebook.
Pos |
Brand |
Fans |
Last Pos |
Growth % |
Growth |
Engagement |
1 |
Sperry Topsider |
117,339 |
1 |
6.08% |
6,730 |
1.84% |
2 |
Volvo Ocean Race |
79,537 |
2 |
7.99% |
5,882 |
5.33% |
3 |
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing |
43,581 |
59 |
1536.54% |
40,918 |
19.46% |
4 |
America's Cup |
42,226 |
3 |
1.6% |
666 |
2.22% |
5 |
Oman Sail |
32,161 |
6 |
15.99% |
4,433 |
3.35% |
6 |
Jessica Watson |
30,109 |
4 |
1.47% |
437 |
3.73% |
7 |
Cammas Groupama |
28,862 |
7 |
4.25% |
1,176 |
3.58% |
8 |
Barcelona World Race Game |
28,544 |
5 |
-0.09% |
-27 |
0.06% |
9 |
Banque Populaire V |
27,761 |
23 |
236.95% |
19,522 |
29.03% |
10 |
North Sails |
25,843 |
8 |
0.89% |
228 |
0.52% |
The biggest news in the Top 10 is that Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing is into 3rd spot after it attracted nearly 41 thousand fans in December. Of those, about 8,500 are ‘talking about’ the Facebook page. Of course 19.5% growth is not organic – the prospect of a trip to Abu Dhabi to see a Coldplay concert on NYE may account for some of the fans, but as the Barcelona World Race Game shows, once someone ‘likes’ a page, they don’t unlike it quickly.
Remarkable real world activity also accounts for the 200% growth in fans for Banque Populaire V. Almost 20,000 Facebook users have tuned into the stories and updates from the boat in the last month as it powers towards breaking the ’round the world’ record. Loick Peyron, skipper of the giant trimaran has also experienced a 12% increase in fans for his personal page.
The entry of Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing and Banque Populaire V to the Top 10 pushes out Oracle Racing and Sailing Anarchy.
Top 10 Engaging Sailing ‘Brands’ on Facebook.
Pos |
Brand |
Fans |
Last Pos |
Growth % |
Growth |
Engagement |
54 |
Team Telefonica |
3,320 |
57 |
19.73% |
547 |
31.27% |
9 |
Banque Populaire |
27,761 |
23 |
236.95% |
19,522 |
29.03% |
3 |
Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing |
43,581 |
59 |
1536.54% |
40,918 |
19.46% |
53 |
Loick Peyron |
3,505 |
54 |
12.09% |
378 |
17.26% |
44 |
Camper ETNZ |
4,830 |
48 |
14.24% |
602 |
9.94% |
14 |
Alex Thomson Racing |
16,108 |
12 |
9.61% |
1,412 |
9.22% |
72 |
Team Korea |
594 |
72 |
10.41% |
56 |
7.58% |
61 |
Team Sanya |
2,651 |
61 |
22.45% |
486 |
6.94% |
2 |
Volvo Ocean Race |
79,537 |
2 |
7.99% |
5,882 |
5.33% |
25 |
Volvo Sailing UK |
8,423 |
34 |
53.09% |
2,921 |
4.35% |
What are the secrets to engaging Facebook fans? Winning helps. Team Telefonica’s success on the water puts them top of our Top 10 yacht racing properties who are most ‘talked about’ in percentage terms. The top 3 properties in terms of actual people ‘talking about’ them are: Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing, Banque Populaire V and the Volvo Ocean Race.
Also in December….
The other big event in December – the Perth 2011 World Championships didn’t provide the springboard that Olympic sailing could have achieved going into an Olympic year. The event itself has 4174 likes, which seems low considering how many athletes, teams and people were involved.
While Volvo Cars UK capitalised on the event through their sponsored UK athletes and apps, growing by 53% (2921 likes) in December, Perth 2011 was a wasted opportunity for others. US Sailing Team Alphagraphics grew by just 81 likes, Skandia Team GBR got 90 and only 45 people ‘liked’ the host Australian Sailing Team on Facebook in December.
The Top 30 yacht racing brands on Facebook league table can be found here…
