Water Polo seems to be a lost sport when searching for it during the Olympic games. It doesn’t get the spotlight that other sports get, such as swimming and volleyball, and fans find it hard to stay up on news and results for various events during the games.
USA’s Water Polo team took a proactive approach this year, and launched its own mobile site located at http://usawaterpolo.mobi to help fans know what’s going on at all times. The mobile Web site was designed and produced by Gold Mobile, a leading mobile solutions provider, and the media campaign itself is led by media specialist agency, Kinetic, and its mobile marketing unit, Kinetic Mobile. It’s main purpose is to help Water Polo in general gain popularity and support- while using the 08 Olympics as the perfect catalyst.
The site has already gained over 20,000 visitors since its inception, and most fans (42%) are signing up to receive schedule and scoring updates via SMS. Fans can sign up by texting “OPOLOY” to 51684 to receive the mobile link. Among other things, the site itself features game schedules, match scores, team member profiles, free wallpapers, and more.
“Few national governing bodies have the good fortune to capitalize on the Olympic Games with a targeted message about the merits of their sport,” said Christopher Ramsey, CEO of USA Water Polo. “This campaign breaks new ground and will bring many new young people to water polo, including future Olympians.”
This is yet another prime example of mobile marketing making itself known during the Olympics. The games provide so many opportunities to engage users via mobile that brands are starting to notice and make use. It should be interesting after everything is said and done to see the overall results and the overall effect mobile marketing and mobile interactivity has had on the Olympics.
